Reliance Industries has divested its 30 per cent stake in an oil and gas block in Peru to Australia's Woodside Petroleum and Pluspetrol of Argentina to trim its overseas properties.
RIL will get $ 7.2 billion for the stake sale in 21 blocks and could get further $1.2 billion as performance payments based on exploration success resulting into development of commercial deliveries.
In a major relief to Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd, the Bombay High Court Friday allowed the sale of gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin at $4.20 per million British thermal unit (mBtu) and reserved final judgment on a case brought by Anil Ambani-run Reliance Natural Resources Ltd.
The main issue in the case is terms of Gas Supply Master Agreement whereby Mukesh Ambani-led RIL is to supply natural gas from its Krishna Godavari reserves to Anil Ambani's RNRL. Both parties have filed appeals before division bench, not satisfied with single judge's verdict last year.
In its first decision, the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) on Wednesday cleared Reliance Industries' producing KG-D6 block and gas discovery area NEC-25 along with 3 other areas where the Defence Ministry had either barred oil and gas activity or put stringent conditions on that.
It added this wasn't aimed at benefiting Reliance Industries Ltd alone.
RIL has been selling gas from KG-D6 at the same price since it started production in April 2009.
The Prime Minister's Office on Thursday forwarded to Oil and Petroleum Ministry a letter written by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in which he has demanded that the decision to hike gas price extracted from KG basin be kept in abeyance till completion of a probe into the issue.
The higher MAT and confusion over whether its gas is eligible for a tax holiday have hurt the stock.
ONGC takes Reliance to court, alleging years of stealing from its offshore block and a sleeping govt, right after it was agreed there would be a probe by experts.
The discovery was made in block KG-DWN-2003/1, lying about 50 km from Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh, a company statement said. The block was awarded to Reliance Industries in the fifth round of auction under the New Exploration Licensing Policy.
The Mumbai terror attacks may derail Reliance Industries' plans to start natural gas production from its eastern offshore D6 field from January 2009, as several ex-pats have refused to return to India citing safety reasons.
Petronet LNG, which operates a recently expanded ten-million-tonne gas regassification plant in Dahej on the west coast, is exploring a swap option with the gas from the Krishna-Godavari field (K-G D6) on the east coast owned by Reliance Industries Ltd.
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.
Although the Oil Ministry has the authority to decide on Reliance selling 30 per cent interest to BP in 23 exploration blocks, including the prize eastern offshore KG-D6 gas fields, the ministry on Tuesday decided to refer the deal to the CCEA, sources privy to the development said.
Gas production from the country's biggest gas block is less than a year away, but Reliance Industries (RIL), operator of the block in the Krishna-Godavari basin, and Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL), the biggest buyer of gas from the block, have not made headway on renegotiating the sales agreement.
By 2008, China's carbon dioxide emissions represented 22 per cent of global emissions from fossil fuels, exceeding the US share of 19 per cent and the European share of 15 per cent.
The numbers hidden behind the results tell a story of zero-return businesses and lower prospects for the core units
The Supreme Court, on Friday, will pronounce its verdict on the nation's most talked corporate battle over gas supply, outcome of which will shape the future of flagship energy firms run by brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani.
The Empowered Group of Ministers, which had its third meeting on Wednesday morning was near unanimous on the need to honour the government's commitment allowing marketing and price freedom to investors investing in oil and gas hunt.
Oil ministry, CAG, SAT make things difficult; firm says always had transparency with govt agencies.
India Gas Solutions the equal joint venture between the two companies, is looking to sell LNG to five power producers in Andhra Pradesh - GMR, GVK, Lanco Infratech, Sravanthi Energy and Konaseema Gas.
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.
Based on the panel's formula, the base price of domestic natural gas comes to around $7.4 per million British thermal unit (mBtu), but the pricing formula proposed by RIL, officials say, translates the price into $13-14 an mBtu.
On April 29, the Bombay High Court will start hearing the case between the warring companies, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL), to reach a quick decision on who will get access to the huge volumes of gas to be produced from RIL's block in the Krishna-Godavari basin. The court will also decide if the central government will be admitted as a party to the case. RNRL would oppose the central government's move to become a party to the case.
Ambani-owned Reliance Energy is likely to bid for potential gas bearing blocks on offer under NELP-VI
The price would increase from $4.2/mbtu to $10/mbtu if Rangarajan formula is accepted.
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.
The company discovered 3.75 trillion cubic feet of in-place gas reserves under coal seams in Sohagpur coal bed methane (CBM) blocks in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh, senior officials said.
The quantities and price of $4.2 per mmBtu for gas under the GSPAs signed for five years are as approved by the government.
Citing the May, 2010, Supreme Court ruling that upheld the government's right to frame gas utilisation policy, the ministry last week wrote to Reliance directing it to first supply natural gas from its KG-D6 fields to priority sectors like fertiliser and power, official sources said.
RIL has complained the to power ministry about NTPC's reluctance to sign an agreement to buy gas from it and said that the power PSU stands to lose Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion)on buying imported LNG.
Reliance Industries will invest $1.7 billion in a project in the United States for extracting gas from shale, a sedimentary rock, in joint venture with Atlas Energy Inc.
Natural gas producers like Reliance Industries will need government approval for the formula used to calculate the price of the fuel, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Tuesday.
Higher price will lead to hike in fertiliser subsidy while a lower price will hit returns.
Reliance Gas Transportation India Ltd, the pipeline company wholly owned by Reliance Industries promoter Mukesh Ambani, has decided to write to the finance ministry, seeking a restoration of profit-linked tax benefits the Budget has replaced with an investment-linked tax break.
The agreement, which will be reviewed at the end of five years, will boost profitability of the steel firms who had been buying expensive LNG or naphtha to meet feedstock shortage at their plants, a senior official said. The ministry of petroleum and natural gas had last week asked Reliance to sell natural gas to steel firms like Essar, Ispat and Vikarm Ispat to help the nation's most prolific gas field to produce at optimum level.
Reliance Industries' eastern offshore KG-D6 gas field has seen output drop to 29 million units a day, against a planned 80 million units, causing acute shortage in power generation, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy said on Tuesday.
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