Reliance Industries Ltd said on Monday it has made two new natural gas discoveries in its east coast blocks. "These are in the well KG-D6-P2 in block KG-DWN-98/3 (KG-D6), and in the well NEC 25-A5 in block NEC-OSN-97/2 (NEC- 25)," the company said.

RIL successfully completed drilling of well KG-D6-P2, the 22nd exploratory well in KG-D6. "This well lies... about 6 km west of the earlier P1 natural gas discovery (Dhirubhai 23). The well encountered two gas-bearing zones.

"Both these zones are channel fan complexes. The data obtained from logging and modular dynamic testing corroborates the presence of hydrocarbons. This well has been notified to the DGH and authorities concerned as a new discovery, namely Dhirubhai 31, which is the 17th discovery in this block," it said.

Reliance also found gas reserves in well NEC-25-A5, seventh in the block NEC-OSN-97/2.

"The well lies in the Mahanadi Basin approximately 12 km northwest of the earlier natural gas discovery NEC-25-A1 (Dhirubhai 9).

Based on the evidence of data obtained from MDT, the presence of hydrocarbons is confirmed. This well too has been notified to the DGH and the authorities concerned as a new discovery, namely Dhirubhai 32, which is the seventh discovery in this block," it said, adding the commercial viability of the discoveries is currently under evaluation.

These recent discoveries demonstrate the further upside potential of the blocks in the Krishna Godavari and Mahanadi Basins.