Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has announced an oil discovery in the deepwater block KG-DWN-98/l (KG-D4) located in the Krishna Basin.

The company said that this is the first time an oil discovery has been made in the Krishna deep-water basin for which RIL was awarded the block under the first round of NELP bidding.

RIL holds 100-per cent participating interest in this block, which spans over an area of 8100sq km.

The oil find in this exploration block marks a new beginning in this basin. The well was located at a depth of 565 meters and was drilled to a target depth of 3595 meters. The well encountered elastic reservoir with gross oil column of more than 20 meters in the mesozoic section.

During the drill stem testing (DST), the well flowed 596 barrels of oil per day. This discovery, named ''Dhirubhai - 36'' has been notified to government of India and the directorate general of hydrocarbons.

The company said in a statement, "Encouraged by its earlier successes in the Godavari and Cauvery deeper mesozoic plays, Reliance continued its exploration effort in Krishna offshore."

This oil discovery comes after nearly two decades of exploration history with, more than 30 exploratory wells drilled by various operators in this geologically complex basin. The potential commercial interest of the discovery is being ascertained through integration of additional data and analysis.