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.
According to sources, the government has provided a list of 20 companies to Reliance Industries for sale of gas as per the gas utilisation policy. Some of these companies include Nagarjuna Fertilizer & Chemicals, Chambal Fertilizers & Chemicals, Tata Fertilizers and Oswal Chemicals & Fertilizers among others.
Mukesh Ambani-led RIL has sought to lift the sty as it claims it's ready to produce gas next month. Arguing before the court against vacation of the stay, RNRL senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi said, "There is no immediate supply of gas. Let the directorate general of hydrocarbons make a statement when the company is ready to produce the gas."
The government told the court that price of gas, determined by an empowered group of ministers, is applicable to all the buyers, whether they are government companies or private. The government will file an affidavit to this effect on Tuesday.
The development plan under preparation is for earlier find in KG-8 well in June 2005. GPSC believes it will take two years from the date all approvals are in place, including the one for development plan, which details investments and volumes to be produced, for starting production from the block KG-OSN-2001/3 off the Andhra coast.
Reliance Industries Ltd has decided not to use its allocation of gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin's D6 field for petrochemical production; it will, instead, swap it with gas available from other sources. It will use D6 gas only for power generation.
Reliance Industries on Friday said it will drill three more wells in the Krishna Godavari basin bloack where the first exploratory well was abandoned owing to poor gas find.
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.
HPCL's Vizag refinery in Andhra Pradesh was to receive the consignment of 65,000-70,000 tonne on November 17, but the ship carrying the oil could not offload it due to bad weather. The MA-1 oilfield started production in September. The company sold the first consignment to HPCL at a $5.34 a barrel discount to Nigerian crude grade Bonny Light.
The Union government today filed a fresh affidavit in the Bombay high court, which is hearing a dispute over supply of gas from Krishna Godavari basin, stating that any sale price less than $ 4.2 per mmBtu is not compatible with decisions taken by a ministerial panel.
Reliance Industries has already stepped up gas production from 28 mmscmd in June to about 36-37 mmscmd now. The production will soon reach 42 mmscmd once the supply to the Dabhol power plant is increased in the first week of October, said a company official.
Lawyer T S Doabia told the court the government's approval was necessary for the rate at which RIL sells the gas to other private parties. The division bench of Justices J N Patel and K K Tated pointed out that, according to RNRL, the government stated in Parliament it would not be fixing the gas price, except for its own share. When told this was not contrary to what Doabia was saying, the court asked him to file an affidavit, clarifying the government's position.
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 Bombay high court on Monday suggested that the warring Ambani brothers could approach an independent body to resolve their dispute relating to supply of natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin. "The MoU is not able to resolve the issue and we would suggest both the parties to approach an independent body for the same," observed justice J N Patel.
RIL's KG basin started pumping gas in April and is currently producing 37-38 mscmd.
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.
Fertiliser, power plants plan expansion in anticipation
Some documents not yet provided, spokesperson tells DNA Money. Murli Deora's Petromin says report submitted! ADAG once again asks for tabling of report, shows 'proof' govt appointed auditors of RIL expense sheet have conflict of interest.
A day after Reliance Industries Ltd announced sale of 30 per cent interest in its 23 oil and gas blocks, Canada-based Niko Resources, RIL's partner in three fields - D6, NEC 25 and D4 - on Tuesday said it has the option to increase its stake in the fields by up to 30 per cent from current working percentages.
Two weeks ago, RIL chief Mukesh Ambani instructed his senior executives to get ready for production by October, almost two-three months ahead of the earlier planned schedule, as the refinery at Jamnagar, the East-West pipeline and facilities at KG basin are nearing completion, said sources. RIL is developing the largest gas find in the world in KG basin, with estimated gas reserves of 11.5 trillion cubic feet (TCF).
Justice Roshan Dalvi sought to recuse herself from the case involving Reliance Industries Ltd and state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation over the supply of gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin on Wednesday.
A division bench of Justices J N patel and K K Tated was hearing a case regarding the dispute between Anil-led Relaince Natural Resources Ltd and Mukesh's Reliance Industries Ltd over the gas supply master agreement (GSMA) whereby RIL will be supplying gas for RNRL's power plants.
Reliance Industries on Wednesday assailed reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General and expert P Gopalakrishnan, which have alleged the company got undue benefits pertaining to Krishna-Godavari basin gas and its pricing.
The fertiliser plant would use natural gas from the company's prolific gas field off in Krishna Godavari basin off the Andhra coast as feedstock.
Reliance Industries has put the cost of producing natural gas from its prolific Krishna Godavari basin fields at $2.9 per million British thermal unit and the firm will earn a pre-tax return of 13 per cent.
In addition to undertaking to validate prospects identified by the joint venture, GCA employed a play-based exploration methodology on the D3 block to address both the current prospect inventory and the 'yet to find' resource potential. In D3, GCA estimated 9.5 Tcf of inplace reseves. D-3 and D-9 blocks in the same KG basin may hold 9.5 Tcf and 10.8 Tcf of gas reserves respectively, UK-based Hary Oil and Gas Plc said.
It would be complete by 2012 with a total investment of over Rs 11,300 crore, including an estimated Rs 2,300 crore from RIL and Rs 9,000 crore from GAIL. Analysts say refineries -- Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, Chennai Petroleum Corporation, Essar, Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation -- located in the vicinity of these pipelines would benefit as they would be able to substitute costly fuel oil with cheaper gas.
Reliance Industries is in talks with global energy majors, like British Gas of the UK, Chevron Corp of the US, Exxon and Shell for a possible stake sale in its Krishna-Godavari basin gas fields. RIL is looking for a strategic partner for its KG-D6 gas block to get deep sea exploration technology. The percentage of stake to be divested has not been firmed up & may depend on the value that the partner was bringing in. The block contains over 50trillion cubic feet of gas reserve
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.
After the euphoria over the recent oil and gas discoveries made by upstream behemoth Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
In the past months, we have awarded 44 blocks, which is the highest ever, says Petroleum Secretary R S Pandey.
Reliance's entry into the club of integrated energy majors, courtesy the start of oil production in the Krishna-Godavari basin, marks a strategic inflection point for India, as it comes some three decades after the last major find at Bombay High went into production.
Reliance Industries will account for about 40 per cent of the country's energy production in the next 18 to 24 months, putting the company on track to earn a quarter of its profit from oil and gas production, from 5 per cent now.
The government is likely to clear the price quoted by Reliance Industries Ltd for its gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin without seeking to control the price.
The fuel from the KG basin will prune Rs 114,000 crore (Rs 1,140 billion) from the country's import bill. The price of $4.2 per million British thermal unit (mBtu) approved by the government for selling gas implies potential savings of about Rs 85,000 crore (Rs 850 billion) for consumers, said Ambani. Ambani's statement on gas pricing comes even as the government is considering a revision of the floor price of $4.2 mBtu that was approved in September 2007.
With the price of gas from its fields in the Krishna-Godavari basin expected to be higher than rivals, Reliance Industries is targeting automobiles and domestic users because power and fertiliser plants may not be able to afford it.
Reliance Industries found huge natural gas reserves in the very first well it drilled, which subsequently proved to be the world's second largest deepwater discovery in the last decade.
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.
$5.2bn will be spent on gas production, while a larger chunk of $7bn on building gas pipes.
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