Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), the operator of the KG-D6 gas block, has told the government it cannot comply with its latest directive on prioritising gas supply.
In a free-wheeling interview with Jyoti Mukul, Sibal makes a case for his innocence and blames the media campaign by the Anil Ambani group for the current controversy.
"I am not of the view that diesel price deregulation is inevitable and that is the position taken by petroleum ministry right now. Given the inflationary situation right now, we don't want to do that...," chief economic adviser Kaushik Basu told reporters on the sidelines of a CII event here.
Continuing its attack on Petroleum Ministry, Anil Ambani group on Thursday criticised it for its failure to attract top global players for oil and gas exploration and production due to lack of sanctity attached to concluded contracts.
A massive drone strike on the world's largest crude-processing facility operated by Saudi Arabia's Aramco has driven oil prices to their highest level in nearly four months. The attack has knocked out over half of Saudi Arabia's production as it cut 5.7 million barrels per day or over 5 per cent of the world's supply.
Delhi may become the first state to move to direct cash pay-outs of subsidies on kerosene sold through the public distribution system (PDS). The petroleum ministry said it has "welcomed" a proposal to this effect from the Planning Commission, which acted on a plan suggested by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
Sea Vigil-22 will cover the country's 7,516 km-long coastline and exclusive economic zone with the twin aim of checking preparedness of various agencies to deal with any eventualities and bolster overall maritime security.
The Petroleum Ministry has allocated additional natural gas from Reliance Industries' eastern offshore gas fields to three power plants to meet electricity deficit in northern states reeling under drought.
After natural gas prices, the government looks set to bite the bullet on auto fuel prices, with a panel of ministers scheduled to meet on June 7 to decide on freeing petrol and diesel prices.
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) may have won a large oil block in Venezuela but the Petroleum Ministry wants Reliance Industries to join the project to give stability to the venture.
Cairn India can produce up to 2,40,000 barrels per day from its prolific Rajasthan fields, equivalent to output from the nation's largest oilfield of Mumbai High, the company has informed the government.
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."
As per the current market price, the government is expected to fetch Rs 5,300 crore (Rs 53 billion) by selling 10 per cent equity or 24.27 crore (242.7 million) shares at discounted price to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India Ltd.
The Prime Minister's office is understood to have declined an extension to Subir Raha, the high profile chairman of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.
The petroleum ministry has said that fuel prices should go up by Rs 10.43 a litre and cooking gas price by Rs 114.45 per cylinder, with the Left parties opposing the move.
The CII feels the 20-year scheme was introduced to boost domestic industry and provide a platform to Indian industry to compete with their foreign counterparts.
A couple of months after exiting the Petroleum Ministry, Mani Shankar Aiyar on Thursday lashed out at the way the top bureaucrats functioned in the ministry.
'Inter-ministerial coordination, information on the proposed PSUs, and due diligence are taking longer than expected to conclude the process.'
Companies such as ONGC and Reliance have not been able to meet their work commitments for the blocks they had won under the New Exploration Licensing Policy rounds because of a crunch in availability of deep-sea drilling rigs. The official said oil ministry is moving a note for the consideration of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for giving a drilling holiday from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2010, for 33 blocks awarded in the fifth round of NELP.
Under attack for alleged favours granted to Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, director general of hydrocarbons, VK Sibal has sought protection from the government fearing a threat to his life from Anil Ambani group - a charge denied by ADAG.
'The days when less government, more governance were spoken of are well and truly behind us.' 'More government, it is now believed, means more governance,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
IOC, in the annual performance memorandum it signs with the petroleum ministry, stated that the Navratna oil companies should be granted freedom to fix retail selling price of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene.
Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Natural Resources has filed an affidavit in the Bombay High Court in the case involving Reliance Industries, refuting the petroleum ministry's stand that the government-approved price of $4.2/million metric British thermal unit (mmBtu) is the selling price of gas.
The government has asked Reliance Industries to supply natural gas from the company's eastern offshore D6 fields to the beleaguered Dabhol power plant, a segment that gets top preference for gas allocation along with fertiliser units.
The government may give poor people LPG stoves free of cost as part of its blueprint to expand domestic cooking gas coverage to at least three-fourth of the population.
The finance ministry has asked state-run oil companies to shell out an interim dividend of Rs 2,600 crore (Rs 26 billion) for the year to March 2003, a government official
Government's counsel Mohan Parasaran has said he was left out of the details of a special leave petition filed by petroleum ministry in Supreme Court seeking annulment of a family MoU between Mukesh and Anil Ambani group firms on gas supply.
The medium-term scenario for oil marketing companies (OMCs) is high risk due to the surging crude and gas prices. Apart from OPEC-plus cutting production, the Hamas-Israel conflict has caused fears of supply disruption. The July-September quarter of 2023-24 (Q2FY24) saw positive surprises for OMCs. Strong gross refining margins (GRMs) more than offset weak marketing margins.
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