Reliance Industries to supply 3 times more natural gas to NTPC

State-owned power utility NTPC Ltd has tripled the volume of natural gas it buys from Reliance Industries at the government-approved price of USD 4.2 per mmBtu, to 1.81 million standard cubic meters a day.

NTPC, which till last month was taking 0.61 mmscmd from RIL’s eastern offshore KG-D6 field, has begun drawing an additional 1.2 mmscmd of gas to boost power generation, sources in know said.

In October, the government had allocated an additional 3.85 mmscmd gas to NTPC. Since NTPC did not want to use the KG-D6 gas at its Kawas and Gandhar power plants in Gujarat that are connected with pipelines ferrying KG-D6 gas from the Andhra coast, a complex swap arrangement was worked out with state-owned gas utility GAIL India.

Under this arrangement, GAIL diverted gas from other sources to NTPC plants and supplied RIL gas to its existing customers.

Source:
http://reliance-news.blogspot.com/2010/03/ntpc-trebles-natural-gas-procurement.html

Mukesh Ambani’s RIL gets Dutch Govt. Support for LB bid

The Dutch Government’s Nodal Investment Agency says that they will support RIL’s for LyondellBasell if the deal goes through. The Netherlands, which is supporting Mukesh Ambani’s $12 billion plus bid for the Rotterdam based pet-chem giant, is the parent country of LyondellBasell.

Bass Pulles, Commissioner of the Dutch Foreign Investment Agency, which facilitates investments in an exclusive interview with ET Now’s Sumit Chaturvedi, in Hague, Netherlands said the government will support RIL’s bid for LyondellBasell. “Since RIL is a foreign company, and so is LyondellBasell, we do offer assistance in the process which surrounds the take over, for instance speeding up immigration procedures or giving a warm shoulder from the ministry”, he said.

Reliance Industries Limited submitted an all-cash non-binding bid to buy a controlling stake in LyondellBasell in 21^st of November, 2009. The bid came after LyondellBasell, the third largest petrochemical company in the world, filed for bankruptcy in January, 2009. The deal, if consummated, would facilitate growth of Reliance’s core business. As LyondellBasell has large petrochemical capacities coupled with a good tech portfolio as well as joint ventures in the Middle East, it would help Reliance Industries grow and reach the Western markets.

In December, 2009 Reliance Industries stated that it had no intentions of buying any of the debt from LyondellBasell. The month of January, 2010 witnessed Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries stepping up its offer for the acquisition by offering $13.5 billion instead of the earlier $12 billion.

The Netherlands government support comes as a shot in the arm for Mr. Mukesh Ambani as he prepares to bid for the Rotterdam based LyondellBasell. When asked why the vote of confidence, Pulles said, “They might consider to reinvest again, they might send out positive message to other companies back home or they might inform us on any other strategic developments in their industry.”

The Netherlands is home to global brands like Philips, ING Bank and wants to attract more talent and capital from India. They already have big investments from over 120 odd companies in India such as Infosys and TCS. If Mukesh Ambani does tide over the resistance from some lenders of LyondellBasell, he can be rest assured about support from Dutch Authorities.

Reliance Increases Fuel Sales in India to Meet Rising Demand

Reliance Industries Ltd., operator of the world’s largest refining complex, increased its share of sales in India to meet growing demand for fuels.

The Mumbai-based energy explorer and refiner sold 20.65 million metric tons of fuels in the South Asian nation in the nine months ended Dec. 31 compared with 8.01 million tons a year earlier, according to Bloomberg calculations based on export figures released by the company today. The numbers were confirmed by a Reliance spokesman, who declined to be identified in line with company policy.

Reliance, which can process 1.24 million barrels of oil a day, increased its share of fuel sales in India as the global recession cut demand for gasoline and diesel in the U.S. and Europe. The company gave up the export-only status of its first refinery in April after completing in December 2008 a 580,000 barrel-a-day refinery that caters to overseas customers.

Domestic sales as a share of output rose to 47 percent in the nine months ended Dec. 31, compared with 33 percent a year earlier, according to data released by the company. Customers include Indian Oil Corp., the largest state-run refiner, which started purchasing diesel and gasoline from Reliance in April.

“Buying fuels from Reliance reduces our costs,” Gyan Chand Daga, marketing director at Indian Oil, said by telephone from Mumbai today. “Demand for fuels is growing and we need to meet that gap.”

India’s oil product sales grew 3.2 percent in November from a year earlier, compared with a 2.7 percent contraction in demand in major industrialized economies, the International Energy Agency said in its latest monthly report.

Retail Outlets

Reliance has reopened more than 600 retail fuel outlets in India, according to today’s statement. The company mothballed its 1,433 gas stations nationwide as crude soared to a record in 2008, unable to compete with state-owned refiners that sold motor fuels below cost.

The revenue loss for state refiners on sales of motor fuels declined after crude fell from a record in July 2008. Indian Oil said in August it lost 2.30 rupees on every liter of diesel sold compared with a shortfall of 13 rupees a liter in September 2008.

The government partly compensates state refiners for selling fuels below cost without extending the benefit to private refiners, including Reliance and Essar Oil Ltd.

Source:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=auw0zfU5yliU

Reliance becomes first Indian company to produce Euro IV compliant diesel

Unlike 2005, when the country’s private refiners were late in producing Euro-III compliant fuel, this time the private sector has taken a lead, with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) becoming the first Indian refinery to produce Euro-IV compliant diesel.

The first cargo of 25,000 tonnes of Euro-IV grade diesel from RIL’s refinery at Jamnagar was shipped by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) on Friday, said an informed source. This is also the first coastal supply of Euro-IV diesel for the Indian market.

Sources said RIL was also gearing up to produce the higher grade of petrol. With the private refiner now ready to produce the higher grade, it will be easier for oil marketing companies to ensure the availability of Euro-IV diesel at the retail outlets of all 13 major cities of India by April 1, the target date.

An RIL spokesperson confirmed the sale of diesel. He did not give details on total production, citing trade confidentiality reasons.

Indian Oil Corporation, the biggest oil marketer, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd have recently floated tenders to import 120,000 tonnes and 60,000 tonnes of Euro-IV diesel, respectively.

Government policy calls for petrol and diesel meeting Euro-IV standards are to be supplied in 13 cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmadabad, from April 1. Euro-III grade fuel is to be supplied across the rest of the country from the same day. The former deadline will be met. Sales of Euro-III will begin in a phased manner between April 1 and October 1.

Source:
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ril-refinery-first-to-produce-euro-iv-auto-fuel/383580/

PTL Solar launches Dubai Reliance Solar dealership

Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, inaugurated the first exclusive international Reliance Showroom at the Dubai Creek Towers in Deira. Rabindra Satpathy, President of Reliance Solar Group was also at inauguration ceremony and informed that PTL solar is appointed as exclusive distributors for the Middle East and Africa region for Reliance Solar Group which is a part of Reliance Industries Ltd.

PTL Solar, experts in solar street lighting solutions and part of Green Energy, has become the exclusive distributor in the Middle East and Africa for Reliance Solar Group, part of Reliance Industries, one of India’s largest private sector enterprises. PTL Solar is highly commended and appreciated at the Power Generation and Water Solutions Middle East Awards 2009 for ”ENERGY EFFICIENCY” AND “POWER GENERATION AND WATER SOLUTIONS INNOVATION OF THE YEAR AWARD 2009“:. The company is also expert in solar street lighting solutions and part of Green Energy LLC.

Business partners, suppliers, and customers of PTL Solar, as well as a few members of a delegation from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) also attended the event. Prabissh Thomas, Managing Director of PTL Solar, briefed guests about the offerings of the showroom and the details of the distributorship agreement with Reliance Solar Group.

Reliance Solar Group specialises in solutions ranging from solar lanterns, home lighting and street lighting to water purification, refrigeration and solar air conditioners — all based on solar energy.

As part of its campaign to transform the existing lighting system into solar-based applications, PTL Solar has supplied its solar energy outdoor lighting units GRENlite to Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) as well as Tecom Investments’ Dubai Outsource Zone and Dubai Internet City.

In addition, the company has installed solar car park lights for Nakheel in the Waterfront project, as well as illuminated the first automotive factory in the UAE for heavy vehicles assembled by Scania.

India’s crude output to rise as Reliance’s KG D6 expects an increase in production

Reliance Industries and Cairn India will help increase nation’s crude oil output by 11 per cent and natural gas production by 53 per cent in 2009-10, oil regulator Directorate General Hydrocarbons (DGH) said today.

Speaking at an Assocham conference, DGH Director General S K Srivastava said the country’s gas production would double next year when RIL’s KG-D6 fields’ reach peak output.

KG-D6 field is expected to reach peak output of 80 million standard cubic meters per day by mid-2010.

Srivastava, according to an Assocham statement, said oil production from Cairn’s Barmer basin field in Rajasthan is expected to contribute about 18 per cent of the country’s total oil production in near future.

India’s crude oil production has been stagnant around 32 million tons for past few years and output from Barmer and KG-D6 fields would raise nation’s oil production.

“…After stagnant production for over a decade, in 2009 -10 crude oil production is likely to increase by 11 per cent and natural gas by 53 per cent over previous year,” he said.

Cairn’s Rajasthan field is currently producing about 20,000 barrels per day while RIL is pumping out 10,000 bpd from KG-D6.

On the new discoveries, he said increased exploration would result in new discoveries by 2015-16 which would require investment to an extent of USD 25 billion.

He also said that besides conventional oil and gas, the government is actively pursuing other fossil fuel alternatives such as gas hydrates, coal bed methane (CBM) and oil shale.

“The DGH is in the select League of Nations pursuing hard to commercialise gas production from gas Hydrates. Oil share resources are currently under evaluation,” Srivastava added.
He, however, regretted that in 8th round of NELP, the Petroleum Ministry could award only 36 oil and gas blocks out of identified 70 blocks due to adversaries of global turmoil.
“Unfortunately, the Ministry will not be able to offer the unbid 34 blocks to prospective investors in the current fiscal as it requires several inter-governmental approvals which take a good deal of time,” Srivastava said.

He remained non-committal by what time the unbid blocks will be awarded for oil & gas production.
Speaking on the occasion, D M Kale, Director General, ONGC Energy Centre said that his Corporation is spending Rs 10,000 crore annually to arrest 2 per cent decline in crude oil production.

Source:
http://oilandgasindia.blogspot.com/2010/01/crude-oil-production-to-go-up-11pc.html

Reliance to drill six new wells in KG

Reliance Industries  intends to drill six additional exploration/appraisal wells in the KG-D6 block in 2010. It has proposed to invest $1.5 billion (approx Rs 6,975 crore) more in the proposed block in developing satellite gas finds.

“Six additional exploration/appraisal wells will be drilled this year,” said Niko Resources, the

junior partner in RIL-operated KG-D6 block.

RIL has till date made 19 discoveries– 18 gas and one oil–in deep-sea block KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6. Of these, it developed Dhirubhai-1 and 3 gas fields in the first phase at an investment of USD 8.836 billion.

It has now proposed to invest another USD 1.5 billion in bringing to production four satellite finds in the block.

Dhirubhai-1 and 3 fields, which began gas production in April last year, hold 10.03 Tcf of reserves and are currently producing about 60 million standard cubic meters per day. The peak output of 80 mmscmd likely this year, would double gas availability in the country.

The Mumbai-based firm had in July 2008 proposed to develop 9 discoveries adjoining these two giants at a cost of USD 5.91 billion. But after more techno-commercial viability studies, it decided to narrow down to four finds that can be put to production in next 4-5 years.

Reliance Industries has already submitted a field development plan to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons for the four discoveries that it estimates hold 0.6 tcf of recoverable reserves.

RIL holds 90 per cent interest in the block and the remaining 10 per cent is with its other partner Niko Resources.

Source:
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/02061932.htm

Reliance to invest $1.5 bn more in KG-D6

RIL has proposed to invest an additional $1.5 billion in bringing to production four gas discoveries adjoining its prolific gas fields in Krishna-Godavari basin in the country’s east coast.

Reliance  had in July 2008 proposed to develop nine satellite discoveries in the Krishna Godavari basin block at a cost of $5.91 billion, but later narrowed it down to four finds that can be put to production in the next 4-5 years.

The company last week submitted a field development plan (FDP) to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) for the four discoveries that it estimates hold 0.6 trillion cubic feet of recoverable reserves, government sources said.

The sources said, plans to produce 10 million standard cubic meters per day of gas from the four fields for 6 years.

Reliance has till date made 19 discoveries in deep-sea block KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6 — 18 gas and one oil. Of these, it developed Dhirubhai-1 and 3 fields in the first phase. The two fields, which began gas production in April last year, hold 10.03 Tcf of reserves.

Reliance Industries has so far invested $5.8 billion out of the estimated $8.836 billion cost of developing D1 and D3 fields over their entire life. The fields are currently producing around 60 mmscmd of gas and envisage a peak output of 80 mmscmd in 2010.
Reliance Group has invested $2.234 billion in developing the MA oil field in the block that is currently producing about 10,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Source:
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/reliance-proposes-15-bn-more-investment-in-kg-d6/82191/on

Reliance’s third successive gas discovery in KG Basin

Reliance Industries (RIL), the country’s largest private sector company, has announced its third successive gas discovery in the exploration block KG-DWN-2003/1 (KG-V-D3), of NELP-V. The deepwater block KG-DWN-2003/1 is located in the Krishna basin, about 45 kilometers off the coast in the Bay of Bengal. The block covers an area of 3288 square kilometres. Reliance Industries holds a 90 per cent participating interest (PI) and Hardy Exploration and Production India Inc holds the rest.

The well KGV-D3-R1, the third in this block was drilled at a water depth of 1982 m and to a total measured depth of 4113 m. The objective was to explore the Miocene deep water lobe and onlapping wedges play fairway. Three reservoir zones were encountered at Miocene Level having gross thickness of 4, 23 and 16 metres. The potential of these were evaluated through a wire-line based technology called Reservoir Characterization Imager (RCI).

The discovery namely “Dhirubhai – 44” has been notified to the government of India and the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons. The potential commerciality of the discovery is being ascertained through more data gathering and analysis.

The discovery supplements RIL’s understanding, of the petroleum systems within the block. 3D seismic has been acquired over the entire block area. Besides the above discoveries, several prospects have been mapped at different stratigraphic levels to fulfill the balance minimum work commitment of three wells.

RIL is likely to drill three additional exploration wells on the block before the end of 2010. In August 2005, Reliance and HEPI were awarded D3 block under NELP-V. Reliance is the operator of the block.Exploration drilling commenced on this block in 2008.

Source:
http://ril.com/downloads/pdf/PR22122009.pdf

Ambani Gas Row – Government has every right to regulate gas price: RIL

Reliance Group counsel Harish Salve made this assertion before the three-member bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, in his counter-arguments in the legal battle with Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) over gas supplies from the Krishna-Godavari basin.

“If I challenge the gas utilization policy and the court says ‘sorry, you do not have the power’, the government will discover the power elsewhere,” Salve told the bench, which includes Justice B. Sudershan Reddy and Justice P. Sathasivam.

“The government is opening various sectors to private players. If we do not behave responsibly, we may earn profit for 15 days, but will eventually be out of business.”

“The only suitable agreement for supply of gas to the REL’s Dadri power plant is supply of gas under the gas utilization policy and at the price arrived at as per the formula approved by the empowered group of ministers,” he said.

This decision by the ministerial group is applicable to all the gas produced by RIL, Salve said, adding this compelled his client to supply gas to specific customers, in defined quantities and at the notified price.

The government has also specified that a firm commitment on gas supplies can be made only for five years, based on the ministerial panel’s recommendations, he said.

Source:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/oil-gas/Government-has-every-right-to-regulate-gas-price-RIL/articleshow/5348440.cms