<p>With a view to give boost to agriculture sector, achieve import substitution, promote effective waste management and reduce environmental pollution Government has been blending ethanol in petrol. With
Amidst a row over CAG audit of Reliance Industries’ KG-D6 gas block, the Rangarajan Committee has said official auditor CAG need not audit RIL’s CBM blocks as they are governed by different contractual regime. A panel headed by Chairman of Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, C Rangarajan, said in its report last week that Coal Bed Methane (CBM) blocks do not have elements of cost recovery and so CAG audit “may not be required”.
A panel headed by Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chairman C Rangarajan has proposed creating a mechanism to carry out "concurrent audit" of blocks where companies have invested over $1 billion,
The panel, headed by Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council Chairman C Rangarajan, was tasked to suggest design of future contracts for exploration and production of oil and gas The Rangarajan committee is believed to have suggested a complex pricing formula that will lead to near-doubling of the natural gas price to about $8 (Rs 439). However, it is unclear if this will override the price discovery mechanism set out in current oil and gas contracts.
The oil ministry has approved further exploration in Cairn India's operational oilfields in Rajasthan to increase production. “The proposal was pending with us for more than one and a half years. According to the existing PSC, the contractors are not prohibited for exploration in producing fields, however, we have given our approvals,” a senior oil ministry official said. "Cost-recovery shall be permitted only after commercial viability of finds are established," the official added. Anil Agarwal earlier wrote a letter to oil minister Veerappa Moily seeking permission to explore remaining potential resources in India's biggest onland oilfield. The company plans to ramp up production from its Rajasthan block to 3,00,000 barrels per day.
For the past 29 months, the court case between NTPC and Reliance Industries (RIL) on two gas-based power plants in Gujarat has not come for hearing at the high court here. NTPC took RIL to court in December 2005, after the latter would not sign a gas sale and purchase agreement (GSPA) because of a dispute over a clause relating to unlimited liability. It contends expansion of its Kawas and Gandhar olants have been delayed indefinitely, thanks to RIL.
EXPLORING REFORMS Wants cost-recovery clause removed, end to govt role in micromanaging fields, tax holiday extension The Rangarajan panel has recommended the end of the controversial system of oil
Close on the heels of the government rejecting the standing committee on finance's decision to keep 26% FDI cap in the insurance sector, fresh tension is brewing between the parliamentary panel on petroleum and natural gas and the Centre over a proposal to limit the sale of subsidised cooking gas to individuals with an annual income of less than R6 lakh. While the panel has favoured this formula to make the government's subsidy scheme more targeted, the Centre has quietly buried the proposal. If the House panel's proposal is implemented, households with any one individual earning more than R 6 lakh a year would not eligible for subsidised cooking gas and would have to buy the fuel at market prices.
The committee for strict monitoring of KG D6 block operator The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas has expressed its disappointment over the Petroleum Ministry’s failure to initiate penal action against Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) for its failure to achieve the production outlined under the Field Development Plan (FDP) for the KG D6 block. “The Committee is disappointed that the reply of the Ministry does not indicate any penal action on the operator for shortfall in achieving the FDP that will arrest the decline in natural gas production.
The coal ministry is likely to move a cabinet note seeking permission for Coal India to extract coal bed methane (CBM) in its leasehold areas, the chairman of the state-run miner has said. The development
The world’s largest coal producer Coal India Ltd (CIL) may diversify into coal-bed methane (CBM) and shale gas. Amid the turf war between the petroleum ministry and coal ministry over the authority over natural resources like CBM and shale, the Kolkata-based coal major today cautioned that due to practical and safety issues, it does want any other player to do operations in its lease-hold areas. Though current rules forbid coal miners to venture into CBM, reports suggest that the petroleum ministry has given in-principle approval for a new policy on CBM in coal mining areas.
