Page 154 - CW E-Magazine (26-9-2023)

Hydrocarbons

EXPLORATION EXPLOITS

Delhi HC seeks response from Reliance on govt.

appeal accusing company of committing ‘fraud’

Delhi High Court’s division bench gas worth thousands of crores of rupees
has sought a response from Reliance from a common reservoir in the KG-D6
Industries Ltd. (RIL) and others on the block, and taken the matter to the Delhi
government’s appeal that accused the High Court, accusing the oil ministry
conglomerate and its partners of com- and its technical arm of turning a blind
mitting an “insidious fraud” and “un- eye to the issue.
just enrichment of over $1.729-bn” by
siphoning gas from deposits they had Seeking to set aside the inter-
no right to exploit. national arbitration award on July 24,
RIL through counsel Sameer Parekh 2018 that ruled in favour of the RIL-
Attorney General (AG) R. Ven- opposed the government’s appeal, argu- led consortium that includes UK-based
kentaramani and former AG K.K. ing that these issues cannot be reopened BP Plc and Niko Resources of Canada
Venugopal, appearing for the govt., under Section 37 of the Arb Act. Public in the matter, the government said that
argued that RIL, in 2003, knew about trust doctrine and other points raised by “the award strikes at the heart of the
the connectivity of its block with that the govt. have been looked into both by public policy and has given a premium
of the adjoining ONGC block. They the arbitral tribunal as well as the single to a contractor (RIL) that has amassed
also accused RIL of ‘consciously and judge. Citing the Director General of vast wealth by committing an insidious
deliberately’ extracting and selling the Hydrocarbons report, the lawyer argued fraud as well as criminal offence”.
adjoining ONGC gas without the gov- that the study of migration of gas could
ernment’s knowledge. have been done by the ministry in 2009 The government raised a demand
itself, much before the gas block was of $1.47-bn in 2014 upon RIL, the
The senior lawyers also argued given to RIL, but the ministry chose not contractor of KG-DWN-98/3 block in
that RIL had earlier taken a categorical to do so. the KG basin in the Bay of Bengal, for
stand that “there is no connectivity and “disgorgement of unjust enrichment”
continuity” between RIL’s and ONGC’s The adjoining ONGC gas block made by draining and selling the gas
block. And the impugned arbitral award was underdeveloped when RIL started that migrated from adjacent ONGC
is in confl ict with the public policy of extracting gas and it would have been blocks – Godavari PML and KG-
India, they added. “infeasible” to extract gas from the DWN-98/2, which share borders with
ONGC’s block which was at a diffe- the RIL’s block. It said that RIL was
A division bench led by Justice rent stage of development then, it said. neither entitled to produce as per the
Manmohan issued notice to RIL and In 2014, ONGC had alleged that Reli- PSC nor had any express permission
others on the same. ance Industries may have drawn natural from the government.

Govt. hikes windfall tax, cuts duty on diesel, ATF

The government, on September per litre from the earlier Rs. 4 litre. government imposed an export duty of
15, revised windfall tax on domestic- The new rates will be effective from Rs. 6 per litre on petrol and ATF and a
ally produced crude oil to Rs. 10,000 September 16. Export duty on petrol Rs. 13 per litre duty on export of diesel.
per tonne from Rs. 6,700 per tonne will remain nil.
earlier. A windfall tax of Rs. 23,250 per
In its last revision on September 2, tonne was imposed on the sale of
The export duty on diesel was the centre had reduced windfall tax on domestic crude. Since then, the centre
slashed to Rs. 5.50 per litre from 6 per domestically produced crude petroleum has been reviewing the levies every
litre earlier and reduced duty on Avia- marginally to Rs. 6,700 per tonne from fortnight or so based on global crude
tion Turbine Fuel (ATF) to Rs. 3.50 Rs. 7,100 per tonne. On July 1, 2022 the oil prices.

154 Chemical Weekly September 26, 2023

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