Prices of natural gas, which is used to generate electricity, make fertiliser and is converted into CNG to run automobiles, is likely to rise to record levels at the rate review scheduled this week, sources said. The government-dictated price for natural gas produced in the country is to be revised on October 1. After factoring in the spike in energy prices witnessed in recent months, the rate paid for gas produced from old fields such as of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is likely to rise to $9 per million British thermal units from current $6.1.
CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta on Tuesday welcomed Arvind Kejriwal government's move to file criminal cases against Reliance Industries and Union minister Veerappa Moily, among others, on gas pricing issue.
The Delhi high court has rejected a government challenge to an arbitration panel award that had ruled in favour of Reliance Industries Ltd in a dispute over gas migration from fields operated by state-owned ONGC in the KG basin. The government had slapped a provisional penalty of $1.55 billion on Reliance for "unjust enrichment" from gas migrating from the ONGC-operated KG-D5 block to the private firm's adjoining KG-D6 area. It had sought $175 million in additional profit petroleum from Reliance and its UK partner BP Plc.
The company seeks appointment of independent international experts to verify its claims.
Congress MP Shantaram Naik has also given a privilege notice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in the Rajya Sabha in the AgustaWestland issue.
UB group chairman Vijay Mallya on Tuesday said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was pursuing "unconventional methods" to attain his objectives while asserting that there should be no "witch-hunt" against industrialists.
The company's junior partner in block KG-DWN-2003/1 (or D3) Hardy Oil and Gas said there were 'unresolved mechanical issues' with Transocean's rig 'Deepwater Expedition' which was drilling an exploration well on the block.
The Bombay high court on Monday suggested that the warring Ambani brothers could approach an independent body to resolve their dispute relating to supply of natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin. "The MoU is not able to resolve the issue and we would suggest both the parties to approach an independent body for the same," observed justice J N Patel.
RIL is likely to take about six months to one year to estimate the oil and gas reserves available from the new discovery.
RIL's KG basin started pumping gas in April and is currently producing 37-38 mscmd.
State-run gas utility GAIL India Ltd buys 0.9 million standard cubic meters per day of output from Ravva Satellite fields at $4.30 per mmBtu. The new price sought by the Ravva consortium is 60 per cent more than the maximum price of $4.20 per mmBtu approved for RIL's KG-D6 fields for five years to March 2014.
India Against Corruption on Wednesday brought Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani in its line of fire alleging that the United Progressive Alliance and the previous National Democratic Alliance governments had favoured his company by giving contract on gas exploration in KG Basin and concessions at a huge cost to the exchequer.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has told oil regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) that its KG basin block may hold about 3 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves from which it plans to produce 25-30 million unit a day by 2016.
RIL has discovered more gas in Krishna offshore basin. The company has named this block Dhirubhai - 38.
$5.2bn will be spent on gas production, while a larger chunk of $7bn on building gas pipes.
RIL counsel said the government had lured RIL to explore, develop and produce gas in the KG basin, before saying the gas produced was a natural resource of the nation, and imposing unviable price control.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries may tie up to build a common gas processing unit as the two firms have discovered huge reserves in the Krishna-Godavari basin
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani met top government officials on Tuesday, including Cabinet Secretary and Principal Secretary to the prime minister, to explain his company's approach to pricing of natural gas to be produced from KG basin.
The FIR by the ACB was registered a day after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the agency has been told to probe their alleged collusion over hike in prices of natural gas from KG basin.
The company has already received an approval to spend Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) for commercialising two of its biggest gas discoveries in the D6 block located in the KG basin. "In a letter to oil regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, the company has submitted one more development plan for Rs 10,000 crore as additional capex (capital expenditure) for the block.
RIL expects oil and gas sales from the Krishna-Godavari basin to boost its revenues and profits significantly. The company started test production of oil from the basin around 10 days ago. The cost of production per barrel of oil is not known. RIL's share price on the Bombay Stock Exchange has fallen 9.3 per cent in the last month as world markets have tumbled on fears of an economic crisis.
Reliance Industries has created history by flowing oil from the nation's first deep-sea oilfield, but gas production from the eastern offshore KG basin will begin in January, four months behind the deadline. Reliance began oil production from its predominantly gas-rich KG-DWN-98/3 or D6 block on September 17 with initial oil flowing at the rate of 5,500 barrels per day, the company Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced on Sunday in Mumbai.
Among the documents that Arvind Kejriwal handed out in his press conference on Wednesday, was a page from the letter from the former minister of petroleum and natural gas, S Jaipal Reddy, and marked as annexure 5, to Reliance Industries about its KG Basin oil extraction
The price would increase from $4.2/mbtu to $10/mbtu if Rangarajan formula is accepted.
The total capacity of gas-based stations in India is 18,830 MW of which 15,529 MW is fed with gas from RIL.
Once all formalities are completed, the ONGC consortium will spend about Rs 1,700 crore (Rs 17 billion) on developing these three blocks, sources indicated.
It's mostly fun and games at annual general meetings of companies, but sometimes it is also a bit ugly. . .
With over half the Plan funds that Parliament approves being spent through non-government channels, to cite the figure in CAG Vinod Rai's presentation to the Planning Commission, members of the Parliament have no way of knowing whether the money is properly spent.
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has said issue of bonus shares after a 12-year hiatus was just fulfilment of the company's commitment to reward shareholders after completion of important projects.
RIL declined to comment on this or related allegations, saying the entire issue was in court.
RIL president and CEO (Oil and Gas) PMS Prasad, who met petroleum ministry officials to discuss under capacity production from the company's KG basin fields, said: "We have time till July 15 to decide. . . we are still evaluating our options."
Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday put state-owned ONGC and OIL on notice saying oil and gas reserves they hold need to be monetised through joint ventures with domain experts or the government will take them away and auction them. Speaking at BNEF Summit, he said state-owned firms cannot indefinitely sit on resources when the nation is a net importer of oil and gas. Despite India bidding out acreages to private and other companies since the 1990s, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) hold a "sizeable number of acreage for years," he said.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) is expected to complete the special audit of the accounts of KG Basin oil and gas fields of Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) by February next year, a top official said.
The government told the Bombay high court on Friday that the empowered group of ministers decided that Mukesh Ambani-led RIL will start supplying gas from the KG basin to Anil Ambani's Dadri power project and other upcoming power plants once it is ready to begin operations.
RIL on Monday submitted a commerciality report for the Dhirubhai-39 discovery in block KG-DWN-2003/1, about 50 km off Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh, to the oil ministry and the directorate general of hydrocarbons. A company official said the well KG-V-D3-A1 flowed 38.1 million cubic feet per day of gas and the find was later named Dhirubhai-39.
The apex court also heard a plea for bringing back black money stashed in tax havens abroad.
RIL said RNRL has maintained that the May 12, 2005 draft agreement between the RIL and NTPC should be the basis for fixing the price of gas from the KG Basin but it has ignored the provision for government approval.
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the demerger scheme worked out with his brother Anil Ambani was categorical that the gas supplies from the KG Basin to his group was not for trading and meant for promoting power generation plant.
Companies like Reliance Industries, which plans to produce natural gas from KG basin from 2008, will have to invite bids from consumers to discover the price of output under a new exercise adopted by the government.
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