The government has slapped a $2.81 billion (about Rs 24,500 crore) demand notice on Reliance Industries and its partners, including BP Plc for gains made from producing and selling natural gas that may have migrated from neighbouring block of state-owned ONGC. This follows the Delhi high court's decision on February 14, overturning an international arbitration tribunal ruling that held the duo not responsible for paying any compensation for the gas they produced and sold which had allegedly migrated from adjoining fields.
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.
At a time when crude oil and natural gas prices are sky-high, public sector behemoth ONGC's haphazard planning and mismanagement in developing showpiece deep-sea KG-D5 block is costing the nation over Rs 18,000 crores due to the delayed output of oil and gas, government officials said. ONGC was originally to start gas production from the Cluster-II fields in block KG-DWN-98/2 (KG-D5) in June 2019 and the first oil was to flow in March 2020. But these targets were quietly shifted to end-2021 because of deferments in awarding the fragmented work packages of the project, two officials with direct knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity.
ONGCt has made another significant oil and gas discovery in its Krishna Godavari basin.
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.
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.
The government will now examine the report and decide on how and to what extend should ONGC be compensated for its gas being produced by RIL.
Reliance concealed and did not reveal the data to ONGC.
Experts say finding a solution within the high court-mandated timeline of six months may be tough.
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.
An expert panel approved policy for development of gas fields.
The committee said whatever benefit RIL received in terms of the migrated gas is liable to be returned to the government.
Credit Suisse said $5.6 may work for Reliance Industries' R-Series gas field in the KG-D6 block but the economics for its satellite fields and NEC-25 block are uncertain.
The stage for negotiations to settle the Krishna-Godavari basin dispute is long over, says a government official
According to a source close to the development, the government is set to come out with a notification in this regard by the end of this week.
RIL has maintained it had followed the production sharing contract (PSC) in letter and spirit and done no wrong and it has drilled all wells within its boundary.
A report, by DeGoyler and MacNaughton, has put a question mark on the future production from the five ONGC discoveries.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has deployed the best-in-class technologies in its Improved Oil Recovery and Enhanced Oil Recovery schemes on these fields.
A Texas company will submit a report by June on whether a company controlled by RIL 'stole' natural gas from the wells where ONGC is contracted to operate in the KG basin, as alleged by ONGC.
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