In a strategic move to boost offshore energy exploration and operational efficiency, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) and Reliance Industries Ltd have signed an agreement to share resources such as supply vessels used in finding and producing oil and gas.
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.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries has retained its position as the highest-ranked Indian company on the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list, according to the latest rankings released by the publication. The oil-to-telecom-and-retail conglomerate has been ranked at No.88 on the latest list, down from 86th position in 2024.
As the government began consultations with stakeholders on raising gas prices, gas producers and consumers met a committee of secretaries separately with their pleas on the issue.
The newer gas finds will help turn the tide for ONGC, which has seen oil and gas output stagnating in recent times.
The OilMin is likely to announce the price for next six months soon.
Russian oil giant PJSC Rosneft Oil Company is in early talks with Reliance Industries for sale of its 49.13 per cent stake in Nayara Energy, which operates a 20-million tonnes-a-year oil refinery and 6,750 petrol pumps in India, sources said. Reliance has held preliminary talks for acquisition of Nayara, which will help it overtake state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to become India's No.1 oil refiner as well as give a meaningful presence in the fuel marketing space.
Reliance Industries has acquired five oil and gas exploration blocks, earlier awarded to Ireland's Tullow Oil for over £1 million, as part of efforts to consolidate its position in exploration and production business.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that it has suffered loss of gas worth Rs 30,000 crore as a result of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) exploiting gas from its natural gas block in Krishna-Godavri basin. RIL contended before the court of Justice Manmohan that an independent expert panel can determine whether its gas well is interconnected with that of ONGC and what is the quantum of gas withdrawn by RIL and other issues raised by the PSU. The Centre, represented by advocate Neeraj Chaudhari, meanwhile submitted before the court that as per a meeting held between the two companies and Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), it has been decided to appoint an expert panel. After going through the minutes of the meeting, the court asked ONGC to file its counter to the same and listed the matter for further hearing on August 12.
India on Tuesday opened its largest oil and gas bid round, offering 25 blocks covering 1.91 lakh square kilometers mostly in offshore area, as the government looks to boost domestic production to cut imports and help energy security. Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched the 10th bid round under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) at the India Energy Week (IEW) in Mumbai.
India, the biggest contributor to world demand for oil, will bring into effect in an overhaul of its drilling policy. This comes after more than a year of preparation and will boost the exploration and development of India's oil and gas sector along with increased participation by foreign drillers
India's biggest oil and gas bid round attracted four bidders that included state-owned ONGC and OIL and private sector Vedanta Ltd, with most blocks getting just two bids, according to Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). The OALP-IX bid round, where 28 blocks or areas spread over 1.36 lakh square kilometre were offered for finding and producing oil and gas, for the first time saw Reliance Industries Ltd-bp plc combine bidding together with ONGC for one block in Gujarat offshore.
Global supermajor BP Plc's exclusivity with Reliance Industries Ltd has ended but the energy giant will continue to pursue oil and gas as well as mobility ventures in India with the Mukesh Ambani firm owing to an unwritten strategic partnership, BP's outgoing India head Sashi Mukundan said. BP in 2011 spent $7.2 billion to acquire 30 per cent interest in 23 oil and gas blocks of Reliance. Eastern offshore KG-D6 block was the cornerstone of the deal that also provided for a 10-year exclusivity period which meant that BP would take up energy projects or investments in India only in partnership with Reliance.
Oil ministry had previously proposed a 30 per cent hike in price of gas produced by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India Ltd to $2.3 per mmBtu but finance ministry wants these rates to be brought on par with RIL, sources in the know of the development said.
The 62 per cent increase in natural gas prices by the Indian government will boost the profitability of upstream companies in the country and support their investment spending, Fitch Ratings said on Tuesday. The price for gas from fields that were assigned by the state to oil companies, mainly Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL), increased to $2.90 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) for October 2021-March 2022, from $1.79 per mmBtu in the previous six months. "Higher gas prices will increase the input cost for key end-consumer sectors, to the extent the price hike is passed on," Fitch said.
Reliance Industries, India's largest company by market capitalisation, and GAIL India, the largest transporter and marketer of gas, have sought licences to sell natural gas to households and vehicles across 60 cities in India.
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.
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.
Reliance Industries and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation will present their views as producers on pricing of natural gas on Tuesday to a panel of top government officials formed to resolve the vexed issue.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries has maintained its highest ranking among Indian corporates in the latest Fortune Global 500 list, jumping 16 places to rank at number 88. Reliance was ranked at number 104 in the 2022 ranking and in the 2023 ranking it is placed at number 88, according to the publication. The company has gained a whopping 67 places in the last two years from number 155 in 2021.
UBS Investment Research in its latest report estimated that ONGC and GSPC may get at least $5.5 per million British thermal unit for natural gas they will pump out from their respective Krishna-Godavari basin blocks. RIL is to get a fixed price of $4.2 per mmBtu for gas it would produce from Dhirubhai-1 and 3 fields in KG-D6 block from December-January, for the next five years.
The joint operators of the Panna/Mukta and Tapti oil and gas fields, British energy firm BG Group, Reliance Industries Ltd and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, have hiked the price of natural gas produced from the Tapti field.
In a note for the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the ministry has proposed raising gas price for state-run firms immediately and that for RIL from April 2014, sources privy to the development said.
Fertiliser, power plants plan expansion in anticipation
Petroleo Brasileiro SA or Petrobras, Brazil's state-controlled oil firm, has offered ONGC its 15 per cent interest in the Krishna Godavari basin block that sits next to Reliance Industries prolific KG-D6 fields without any cost.
The government on Friday awarded 20 oil and gas blocks for exploration and production -- 14 of which went to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and partners.
It will be Reliance Industries' gigantic gas find on the east coast versus the imported LNG offered by ONGC and Indian Oil Corporation in the tender for supply of gas to the 1400 MW power plant in Karnataka.
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.
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 struck a large gas field in the Krishna-Godavari basin in Bay of Bengal, home for the gigantic gas find of Reliance Industries Ltd.
Investors in Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications have reaped a windfall with the company adding over Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) in its market cap since its listing on the bourses last year.
The government on Monday scrapped 30-month old windfall profit tax on domestically-produced crude oil and on export of jet fuel (ATF), diesel and petrol following a decline in international oil prices. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary tabled a notification in Rajya Sabha scrapping the levy on crude oil produced by firms like state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and exports of fuels done by companies like Reliance Industries Ltd.
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.
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
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation is set to win seven of the 20 oil and gas blocks auctioned in January while Reliance Industries would bag six.
The state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has walked away with bulk of the 21 oil and gas exploration blocks in the fourth round of new exploration licensing policy.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation said on Tuesday it was making an annual loss of Rs 700 crore (Rs 7 billion) on sale of gas at administered prices even as Reliance Industries stated it followed a transparent process to discover the price of gas.
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