Amidst controversy over fall in output from RIL's KG-D6 gas fields, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) on Wednesday appeared to favour scrapping the present system of contracts and instead asking firms to bid for the share of oil and gas they can offer to the government.
Reliance Industries on Saturday said it had never contested the government's right to get the company's spending on KG-D6 gas fields audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General but hoped it will not be subjected to a performance audit."RIL has at no time contested the government's right to conduct an audit by any agency, including the CAG, as provided in Section 1.9 of the Accounting Procedure of the PSC," the company said in a statement on Saturday evening.
Bangladesh currently faces a daily shortfall in gas supplies of 500 million cubic feet
Pradhan said a National Data Repository which will store information on all sedimentary basins of the country is being pursued on top priority.
The output was behind target in 2015-16 as well and the government is yet to issue a cost disallowance notice for that
According to industry experts, the consumption of petroleum products in the month of April was only 30-40 per cent of what it had been prior to the lockdown. Due to this, refineries were forced to bring down their capacity too.
The government cannot exercise its sovereign rights twice over.
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Mayank Ashar talks about India's business environment.
Gas pricing guidelines stipulate that a new gas price will apply to all producers except RIL.
With 3,000 tonnes of imported onion entering the market over the next fortnight, the price should start cooling off. Soon after, the new crop of onions will arrive, further reducing prices.
Government had proposed a revised investment plan for the main gas fields in the KG-D6 block.
RIL has maintained it had followed the production sharing contract (PSC) in letter and spirit and done no wrong and it has drilled all wells within its boundary.
It calculated that the government should have got an additional profit share of $ 115.263 million.
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The 25-year production sharing contract, however, ends in 2029.
RIL has denied knowingly producing any gas from the ONGC block
In the 38-page report, across 10 chapters, RIL explained how it entered the exploration and production business; the history of the New Exploration and Licensing Policy and the introduction of production-sharing contracts.
They also voiced concerns over a double penalty being sought to be imposed on them for KG-D6 fields output not matching targets.
Gas price hike seems to be a distant dream for Reliance Industries and its partners--Niko Resources and BP.
The govt auditor also indicts DGH and management committee of D1 and D3 fields
Weak production outlook, low crude oil prices and regulatory issues could keep the scrip in check
Oil Min rejects RIL arbitration notice.
While a new formula for pricing of all domestically produced natural gas was notified on January 10 and published in Gazettee on January 17, the Election Commission last month asked the government to defer its implementation till general elections are completed.
The near-doubling of gas prices to $8 per million British thermal units that will kick in from next month will accrue to all producers in the country.
The government has formed a four-member panel of secretaries to suggest a new gas pricing mechanism.
Submits revised proposal to CCI as Birla Corp deal fails
Iran on Thursday ordered a release of an Indian tanker seized by it in Persian Gulf while carrying crude from Basrah in Iraq and taken to its Bandar Abbas Port 24 days ago.
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.
Sources said the Cabinet had in December last year stipulated that the new gas rate will apply to all producers excepting eastern offshore KG-D6 block where the contractor, which is fighting government against levying penalties for output shortfall, will have to give bank guarantees equivalent to the incremental revenue it would get from the new rates.
Government has put on auction the gas discovery area it snatched from Reliance Industries in KG-D6 block and the field that Cairn India is seeking to regain around its Rajasthan block.
The government on Thursday decided to join the arbitration initiated by Reliance Industries and its partners over delay in revision of natural gas prices, and named former Supreme Court judge G S Singhvi as its arbitrator.
As CAG found Reliance Industries was being favoured in gas exploration deal to the government's detriment, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the then top auditor Vinod Rai that audit should not hurt the private sector and RIL was one of the biggest and most respected.
CAG had in its previous reports slammed Oil Ministry and its technical arm DGH for not exercising enough control and vigil over KG-D6 block.
RIL's Dhirubhai-34, or R-Cluster field, in the flagging KG-D6 block was to produce about 13 million standard cubic metres per day of gas, equivalent to present day output from D1&D3 as well as MA fields, by 2017-18.
The government had allowed companies in February last year to launch probe missions to find more oil and gas within already-producing areas.
Mayank Ashar, managing director and chief executive officer, Cair India, says the reform momentum should continue and the industry should do its part too.
The pricing and marketing freedom for exploitation would be capped by a ceiling price.
A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam sought response from CBI on the petition filed by Civil society members including former Cabinet Secretary T S R Subramanian and ex-Naval chief Admiral L Ramdas seeking probe by the agency in the alleged 'collusion between RIL and the political establishment'.
A Texas company will submit a report by June on whether a company controlled by RIL 'stole' natural gas from the wells where ONGC is contracted to operate in the KG basin, as alleged by ONGC.
Pooling will also kick-start projects of Reliance Power, Torrent, Lanco.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted six weeks time to Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to respond to the final CAG report which found alleged irregularities including in payments made to the contractors on drilling of D6 wells at the Krishna-Godavari basin.
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