Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the nation's largest oil firm, has walked away with half of the natural gas that Reliance Industries Ltd and its partner bp of the UK offered in the latest auction of the fuel used to generate power, produce fertilizer, turned into CNG and used for cooking purposes. IOC got 2.5 million standard cubic meters per day out of the 5 mmscmd of gas auctioned last month, sources with knowledge of the matter said. The oil refining and marketing company, which was the top bidder even in the previous auction of gas from the eastern offshore KG-D6 block of Reliance-bp, bid the volumes on behalf of seven fertilizer plants.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on the third increase in the LPG rate since May and the fourth this year.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation had in 2007 farmed out 15 per cent stake in the KG-DWN-98/2 block, which sits next to Reliance Industries' KG-D6 block, to Brazil's state-controlled oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA or Petrobras.
Reliance Industries on Wednesday assailed reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General and expert P Gopalakrishnan, which have alleged the company got undue benefits pertaining to Krishna-Godavari basin gas and its pricing.
RIL had drawn 58.67 bcm of gas from four wells.
Reliance Industries (RIL), India's largest company by market capitalisation, will begin producing gas from its Krishna- Godavari (KG) field, which is off the country's east coast, "by December" this year, a senior executive said.
It added this wasn't aimed at benefiting Reliance Industries Ltd alone.
Reliance Industries may sell one-fourth of the 40 million standard cubic metres per day of natural gas production likely from its gigantic Krishna Godavari field off the Andhra coast to Dabhol Power project in Maharashtra after its revival.
According to sources, the government has provided a list of 20 companies to Reliance Industries for sale of gas as per the gas utilisation policy. Some of these companies include Nagarjuna Fertilizer & Chemicals, Chambal Fertilizers & Chemicals, Tata Fertilizers and Oswal Chemicals & Fertilizers among others.
The Union government today filed a fresh affidavit in the Bombay high court, which is hearing a dispute over supply of gas from Krishna Godavari basin, stating that any sale price less than $ 4.2 per mmBtu is not compatible with decisions taken by a ministerial panel.
Reliance Industries will not "scale down" production from Krishna Godavari basin to accommodate RNRL's future needs, nor would it renegotiate the government-approved price of the gas, the Bombay High Court was told on Thursday.
Higher price will lead to hike in fertiliser subsidy while a lower price will hit returns.
Mukesh Ambani-led RIL has sought to lift the sty as it claims it's ready to produce gas next month. Arguing before the court against vacation of the stay, RNRL senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi said, "There is no immediate supply of gas. Let the directorate general of hydrocarbons make a statement when the company is ready to produce the gas."
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) plans to invest USD 2.894 billion (about Rs 15,340 crore) in developing its ultra-deepsea UD-1 gas discovery in the Krishna Godavari basin by 2016-17.
The government is likely to clear the price quoted by Reliance Industries Ltd for its gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin without seeking to control the price.
Shares of Reliance Industries plunged on Friday after a court ruling that the Mukesh Ambani-led company can not sell its KG basin gas to any company except NTPC and Anil Ambani group's Reliance Natural Resources.
RNRL and Mukesh Ambani's RIL are fighting a legal battle over the terms of gas supply agreement for Anil Ambani Group's gas-based Dadri power project. Two weeks ago, government lawyer Mohan Parasaran had stated in the court that the Empowered Group of Ministers had decided that $4.2 per mmbtu would be the minimum price of KG basin gas.
Commenting on the EGoM decision regarding supply of KG gas to upcoming power projects, RIL counsel Harish Salve said, "Government has no right to allocate gas." He clarified that his client was opposed to this stand of the government.
Mukesh Ambani controlled Reliance Industries fears that gas supplied to Reliance Natural Resources, belonging to younger brother Anil Ambani, would be traded to a third party as RNRL does not have a power plant, said Harish Salve, the legal counsel of RIL.
Reliance Industries Ltd will invest $8.84 billion in producing 80 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) of gas from its KG-D6 block in Krishna Godavari basin.
The high court is hearing a dispute between Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and Anil Ambani's Reliance Natural Resources over a gas sale agreement, in which the government has intervened. NTPC has filed a separate suit against RIL, seeking that RIL execute the contract of gas supply.
Reliance Industries is believed to have signed agreements to sell gas from its eastern offshore KG D-6 fields to six power producers, including GVK, in Andhra Pradesh.
Needed, it says, for covering its return and risks; also wants govt to stick to contract on output sharing
Shares of Reliance Natural Resources Ltd on Friday surged over nine per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the Bombay High Court issued an interim order restraining Reliance Industries from selling natural gas from KG gas field to a third party.
A better system of operating central and state PSEs, and indeed all commercial activities of the government, would require eliminating the current system that oversees them.
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.
Reliance Industries on Friday hit out at Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) for suing it over KG gas dispute, saying some elements in the state-owned firm may be "misleading" the chairman D K Sarraf to hide their failure in developing the discoveries made over 13 years.
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