Downstream oil sector regulator Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board had been pushing for cancellation of the authorisation given to RGTIL.
Industrialist Anil Ambani on Tuesday dared the petroleum ministry to take back the ownership of gas fields from Reliance Industries Ltd if it seriously believed that terms of the contract were violated by Mukesh Ambani-led firm, which he alleged was wanting to make a super-profit of Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion).
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.
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.
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.
Monday's meeting of the empowered group of ministers on pricing of gas from Reliance Industries' D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari basin has proved inconclusive.
The Petroleum Trust, one of the promoter entity in RIL, sold 1,50,00,000 equity shares of the company at an average price of about Rs 2,125 per share, Reliance Industries said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
RIL will initially start gas production from eight wells, with an initial output likely to be 5 mmscmd (million standard cubic metres) per day. Bombay high court had last week allowed Reliance to sell gas from KG-D6 at $4.20 per million British thermal units in accordance with the government's gas utilisation policy, which gives priority to fertiliser units followed by existing power plants.
Of the total investment announcements, tracked by an Assocham Eco Pulse study during August and September this year, the petroleum sector attracted Rs 53,300 crore (Rs 533 billion) with Indian Oil Corporation and the Reliance Group planning to pump in Rs 43,500 crore (Rs 435 billion) and Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion) respectively.
Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, speaking on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address, charged the government with not delivering on its various promises, including generating two crore jobs per year.
Petroleum secretary RS Pandey declined to comment on the court verdict till the Government received a copy of the order. The Bombay high court on Monday upheld Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Natural Resources Ltd's contention to buy 28 mscmd of gas from Reliance Industries Ltd at USD 2.34 per mmBtu for 17 years.
The entry of a new developer through competitive bidding would delay the development of discoveries by at least 10 years.
India's reforms are business-friendly rather than market-friendly, says T N Ninan.
Shah said India's goal is to become a $ 5 trillion economy in the next five years and without contribution from the energy and petroleum sector, this goal can't be achieved.
RIL is peeved with the govt for blocking of approvals and non-revision of gas price produced from its underperforming KG-D6 block.
Their first target would be bulk buyers.
Even as India is mulling legislation to make energy-efficient air conditioners and refrigerators, consumer durable manufacturers are already thinking beyond that.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your stockmarket queries.
The India story got stronger on the global arena with the country expanding its presence on the elite list of Fortune Global 500 companies, as the PSU banking major State Bank of India has become the sixth domestic firm to feature in the league.
Reliance India Limited, which has secured a licence to set up 5,849 petrol stations, will set up its first 500 by March next year, petroleum secretary B K Chaturvedi said on Tuesday.
Reliance Industries on Monday said its city gas would be cheaper by almost 33 per cent compared to liquefied petroleum gas being supplied by oil PSUs.
Gas pricing guidelines stipulate that a new gas price will apply to all producers except RIL.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh owes an explanation to citizens on why Jaipal Reddy was shifted as minister of petroleum and natural gas.
Though the NDA government had been trying to privatise 20 companies, a decision for which was taken in 2017, and included national carrier Air India, the investor community evinced little enthusiasm for any of them. Now, with an in-principle approval for privatisation of BPCL, CCI and SCI, the government has taken the plunge again.
Essar has announced a $6bn expansion plan to more than triple capacity at its refinery, while Reliance, at its site a few kilometres away, is working on plans to almost double capacity.
The Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas in its report tabled in Parliament today asked the ministry to strictly monitor implementation of directions issued to RIL for reversing the trend of falling gas output from the Bay of Bengal field.
The Reliance Industries special economic zone at Jamnagar in Gujarat, which had been given a sector-specific status (petroleum and petro-chemicals) earlier, was today modified to a multi-product zone by the board of approval, which met in New Delhi.
Reliance Industries Ltd will give Rs 750 crore (Rs 7.5 billion) discount on LPG and kerosene to public sector petro retailers in 2005-06.
RIL stated on Saturday that it had never contested the government's right to get spendings on the flagging KG-D6 gas fields audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India but added that the consent must not lead to a performance audit of a private firm.
Directorate General of Hydrocarbons Director General Rajiv Nayan Choubey did not take calls made for comments.
"You have made India and Indians proud by putting Gujarat on the global map. Gujarat is blessed to have an inspiring leadership like you," said Mukesh Ambani.
The government is working on a plan to pass on part of the revenue loss public sector oil marketing firms are incurring on sale of liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene, to refiners, including Reliance Industries Ltd.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
The tankers carrying fuel from terminals to dealer outlets would not just have global positioning system (GPS) tracking but also an electronic key (e-key).
The shift comes as the gap between the international benchmark Brent and the Middle East price marker narrows
The company had initially objected to audit by CAG for time barred years as per Production Sharing Contract and had not accepted the 'exceptional circumstances' advanced by the ministry
