Reliance Industries Ltd, on Thursday announced that it has struck gas off the Orissa coast in Bay of Bengal.

The company estimates in-place reserves of 4-5 trillion cubic feet in the field, RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani said while addressing the annual general meeting in Mumbai on Thursday.

Reliance has also acquired Trevira, a European polyester firm with 1.8 million capacity, Ambani said. Reliance, which plans to enter the East European market via Trevira, will bring these speciality polyester products to Asia also. Ambani said Reliance will build an additional half a million tonne per year of polyester capacity.

Announcing that Reliance has commissioned 75 retail fuel outlets, Ambani said RIL has drilled seven information wells in five cola based methane blocks.

Ambani said Reliance would invest Rs 2,500 crore (Rs 250 billion) in exploration and production of oil and gas over the next 24-30 months.

Reliance had struck oil in an onshore block in Yemen, where it has 25 per cent interest. The four wells were drilled in this offshore exploration block and three discoveries were made, he said.

The share of recoverable oil reserves for Reliance from this block is estimated to be about 50 to 60 million barrels and the company is taking steps to bring it to production during this financial year, the RIL chairman said.

On the improving sourcing of crude supplies for refinery, he said, "Our plan is to achieve 30 per cent energy security for Jamnagar refinery within the next ten years and upto 50 per cent by 2020."

This would be achieved through acquisition of small and medium sized oil companies and participation in exploration and development projects, he said adding geographically, the regions of focus are Africa, Middle East, Australia and Latin America.

Commenting on the high crude oil prices, he said refining activity was not being affected by the surge in global crude prices.

Reliance has increased its refining capacity at Jamnagar refinery from 27 million tonne to 32 million tonne. It would procure cheap crude and convert into best quality crude to improve profit margins, he said.