India's brittle energy security is inextricably linked to two opposing paradigms - fossil fuels, and the transition to green energy. The first powers the present; the second paves the way for Viksit Bharat in 2047.
Cairn India, which had made four discoveries in the KG-DWN-98/2 block before selling 90 per cent out of its 100 per cent stake in the block to ONGC in 2005, has written to the oil regulator DGH saying the state-owned firm is grossly overstating the reserves in block, sources said.
While Mukesh Ambani-led RIL has nominated former Justice Bharucha as its arbitrator, the Centre chose Justice Khare as its nominee.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday attacked Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party for keeping "mum" on the Reliance gas issue in which Mukesh Ambani is among others named in a first information report filed by the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi government.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted six weeks time to Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to respond to the final CAG report which found alleged irregularities including in payments made to the contractors on drilling of D6 wells at the Krishna-Godavari basin.
Move came in the wake of government's refusal to settle the dispute through arbitration over recovery of cost incurred by the company.
Based on a petition filed by Palem Srikanth Reddy, president of the Jana Palana Party, a division bench comprising justices G Rohini and T Sunil Chowdary issued notices and posted the matter on April 2 for further hearing.
Two weeks ago, RIL chief Mukesh Ambani instructed his senior executives to get ready for production by October, almost two-three months ahead of the earlier planned schedule, as the refinery at Jamnagar, the East-West pipeline and facilities at KG basin are nearing completion, said sources. RIL is developing the largest gas find in the world in KG basin, with estimated gas reserves of 11.5 trillion cubic feet (TCF).
"All requirements including providing bank guarantee have been met by NTPC and gas flow can start as early as tomorrow," an official said.
In addition to undertaking to validate prospects identified by the joint venture, GCA employed a play-based exploration methodology on the D3 block to address both the current prospect inventory and the 'yet to find' resource potential. In D3, GCA estimated 9.5 Tcf of inplace reseves. D-3 and D-9 blocks in the same KG basin may hold 9.5 Tcf and 10.8 Tcf of gas reserves respectively, UK-based Hary Oil and Gas Plc said.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Wednesday asserted in the Supreme Court that it did not receive any favour from the government in the contract for exploration of oil and gas from Krishna-Godavari basin.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is in talks with super majors like ExxonMobil to replace Norway's Statoil and Petrobras of Brazil who have decided to quit its KG basin gas block.
Originally, the company had planned to invest $2.47 billion to produce 40 mmscmd gas. However, with rig prices going up and more reserves being found in the block the company raised the capex and the planned output.
Cairn Energy of UK will invest between $630 million and $859 million to develop its natural gas discovery in the deepwaters of Krishna Godavari basin, off the Andhra coast.
Government has set $4.20-per million British thermal unit as the selling price for D6 gas, but the Bombay high court last month asked RIL to supply gas to firms run by Anil Ambani Group at $2.34 per mmBtu, 44 per cent lower than the price fixed by the government.
For India's upstream sector that has seen no new discovery coming into production.
The fuel from the KG basin will prune Rs 114,000 crore (Rs 1,140 billion) from the country's import bill. The price of $4.2 per million British thermal unit (mBtu) approved by the government for selling gas implies potential savings of about Rs 85,000 crore (Rs 850 billion) for consumers, said Ambani. Ambani's statement on gas pricing comes even as the government is considering a revision of the floor price of $4.2 mBtu that was approved in September 2007.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp, which had last year firmed up an investment of Rs 34,012 crore (USD 5.076.37 billion) in bringing to production 10 oil and gas discoveries in its Bay of Bengal block KG-DWN-98/2 (KG-D5), plans to invest another Rs 21,528.10 crore (USD 3.2 billion) in developing the ultra-deepsea UD-1 find.
BPCL is a high revenue-earning public-sector undertaking (PSU) and plans to privatise it are completely off the table, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday after assuming charge of the ministry for the second time. "Why would we divest ourselves of highly successful Maharatnas like BPCL," Puri said, arguing the Centre was not in favour of divesting its stake in oil PSUs.
Fertiliser, power plants plan expansion in anticipation
ONGCt has made another significant oil and gas discovery in its Krishna Godavari basin.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has discovered natural gas reserves in Krishna Godavari basin off the Andhra coast, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dinsha Patel said on Tuesday.
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha Tapan Sen, in an interview to Rediff.com, explains what he believes are the irregularities committed by Reliance Industries and how UPA government has allowed it to get away with it.
RIL, which had made four consecutive gas discoveries with close to 500 billion cubic feet of in-place reserves in block, proposed immediate relinquishment, its minority partner Hardy Oil and Gas plc of UK said on Wednesday.
After the success of Barmer oil fields in Rajasthan, Cairn India - the second largest oil and natural gas explorer in the country - bets heavily on wildcat drilling.
Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran was replying to the charges made by the parliamentarian Gurudas Dasgupta and Common Cause, a public interest organisation
Reliance Industries has informed oil regulator DGH that four smaller gas finds surrounding the D-1 and D-3 fields in the Krishna-Godavari basin can be commercially exploited.
In a major relief to Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd, the Bombay High Court Friday allowed the sale of gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin at $4.20 per million British thermal unit (mBtu) and reserved final judgment on a case brought by Anil Ambani-run Reliance Natural Resources Ltd.
HPCL's Vizag refinery in Andhra Pradesh was to receive the consignment of 65,000-70,000 tonne on November 17, but the ship carrying the oil could not offload it due to bad weather. The MA-1 oilfield started production in September. The company sold the first consignment to HPCL at a $5.34 a barrel discount to Nigerian crude grade Bonny Light.
The discovery was made in block KG-DWN-2003/1, lying about 50 km from Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh, a company statement said. The block was awarded to Reliance Industries in the fifth round of auction under the New Exploration Licensing Policy.
State-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp's (ONGC) Krishna Godavari basin well that had been leaking natural gas for over two months now, has stoped flowing gas, the government said.
With pricing of natural gas from the KG-D6 block stuck, Mukesh Ambani made the second trip to New Delhi this month to meet top officials.
Reliance Industries Ltd has found new natural gas reserves in Krishna Godavari basin D6 block off the east coast, the company's minority partner Niko Resources has said.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has made a huge gas find in the Krishna Godavari-Basin, ONGC Director Offshore Operations N K Mitra said in New Delhi on Friday.
Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Natural Resources on Friday posted a marginal increase in its net profit for the third quarter and said it hopes to get gas from Reliance Industries' KG-D6 fields once the group's Dadri power plant begins operations.