Showing posts with label RIL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RIL. Show all posts

09 April 2010

RIL to invest $1.7 bn for Marcellus JV with Atlas Energy

RIL to invest $1.7 bn for Marcellus JV with Atlas Energy

NEW DELHI: Making a breakthrough in the US, Reliance Industries today said it will invest $1.7 billion in a joint venture with Atlas Energy Inc to produce gas from shale, sedimentary rocks, in Marcellus region. ( Watch )

The investment would be scaled up to $3.5 billion over the next 10 years, RIL CFO Alok Agarwal said.

Reliance will take 40 per cent stake in the about 300,000 acres Marcellus shale gas project, which spans parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York and could hold enough natural gas to satisfy US demand for a decade.

Nasdaq-listed Atlas will hold the remaining 60 per cent and also the operatorship. RIL had earlier unsuccessfully bid for acquiring controlling stake in bankrupt chemical maker LyondellBassel.

It bid $14.5 billion for Lyondell but the offer was vetoed by creditors who filed a rival revival plan.

Flush with revenues from its eastern offshore KG-D6 gas field back home, the Mukesh Ambani-run firm has been on the lookout of acquisitions in the United States. Separately, its twin refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat are looking at directly selling fuel into the US.

"Reliance Marcellus LLC (a subsidiary of RIL) has executed definitive agreements to enter into a joint venture with US based Atlas Energy Inc... under which Reliance will acquire a 40 per cent interest in Atlas' core Marcellus Shale acreage position," the company said in a statement.

The Indian firm will pay $339 million in cash to close the deal and foot Atlas' drilling cost of up to $1.36 billion.

"The (300,000 acres) acreage will support the drilling of over 3,000 wells with a net resource potential of about 13.3 trillion cubic feet gas equivalent," the RIL statement said, adding that the deal is expected to be closed by the month end.

Shale gas is natural gas stored in organic-rich sedimentary rocks. It is considered an unconventional source as the gas may be attached to or "adsorbed" onto organic matter. The gas is contained in difficult-to-produce reservoirs that require special completion, stimulation and/or production techniques to achieve economic production.



In addition to funding its own 40 per cent of drilling obligations, Reliance has agreed to fund 75 per cent of Atlas' respective portion of drilling and completion costs until the $1.36 billion drilling carry is fully utilized, Atlas said in a separate statement.

"Under the framework of the joint venture, Atlas will continue acquiring leasehold in the Marcellus region and Reliance will have the option to acquire 40 per cent share in all new acreages," Reliance said. "Reliance also obtains the right of first offer with respect to potential future sales by Atlas of around 280,000 additional Appalachian acres currently controlled by Atlas (not included in the present joint venture)."


Reliance finds more gas in KG basin: Report

RIL makes 4 new gas discoveries at KG D6: Sources

Atlas Energy inks $1.7 bn Marcellus Shale JV with RIL



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Src:ET and Moneycontrol

31 May 2009

RIL, ONGC, Bharti in global 500 list

'RIL, ONGC, Bharti in global 500 list'

Ten Indian companies, including Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and telecom major Bharti Airtel, are among the 500 top global companies for 2009 in terms of market capitalisation, according to the Financial Times.

The league of 500 companies is topped by American energy giant ExxonMobil followed by oil major PetroChina and US retailer Wal-Mart Stores at the second and third positions, respectively.

Reliance Industries is the lone Indian entity featuring in the top 100 and is ranked at the 75th place with a market capitalisation of USD 47.25 billion. The entity was placed at the 80th spot last year.

Other Indian firms featuring in the list are Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (120th rank), National Thermal Power Corporation (138), Bharti Airtel (188), Infosys Technologies (330), Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (345), ITC (362), State Bank of India (372), Tata Consultancy Services (483) and Hindustan Unilever (495) "The companies are ranked by market capitalisation - the greater the stock market value of a company, the higher its ranking. Market capitalisation is the share price on March 31, 2009 multiplied by the number of shares issued...," the Financial Times said in an accompanying report.

Seven Indian firms have improved their positions from last year, while SBI and TCS have slipped in their rankings. Hindustan Unilever was not in previous year's list. ONGC has a market capitalisation of USD 32.87 billion, NTPC (USD 29.29 billion), Bharti Airtel (USD 23.41 billion), Infosys Technologies (USD 14.95 billion), BHEL (USD 14.51 billion), ITC (USD 13.75 billion), SBI (USD 13.35 billion), TCS (USD 10.42 billion) and Hindustan Unilever (USD 10.23 billion).

As many as three American companies led by India-origin chief executives -- Pepsico (42), Citigroup (358) and Adobe Systems (448) -- also feature in the list.

Indra Nooyi-led Pepsico has a market capitalisation of USD 80.12 billion, Vikram Pandit-led Citi (USD 13.85 billion) and Shantanu Narayen-led Adobe Systems (USD 11.21 billion).

Both Pepsico and Adobe Systems have improved their positions from last year's 46th and 469th ranks, respectively. However, Citi's ranking has tumbled from previous year's 53rd place.

"The total market capitalisation of the Global 500 companies has fallen by 42 per cent from USD 26,831 billion to USD 15,617 billion. The 500th company is worth USD 10.1 billion, compared with USD 19.3 billion last year," the report said.

Source:Business Today ( 'RIL, ONGC, Bharti in global 500 list' )

10 April 2009

Tatas, RIL, Infosys among world's 50 most innovative cos

Tatas, RIL, Infosys among world's 50 most innovative cos

NEW YORK: Three Indian entities -- Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, diversified conglomerate Tata Group and IT bellwether Infosys

Technologies -- have entered BusinessWeek magazine's list of world's 50 most innovative companies, topped by iPhone maker Apple.

The league of innovative firms also features NRI Lakshmi Mittal-led world's largest steel producer ArcelorMittal.

Among the 50 companies, Tata Group ranks 13th, Reliance Industries 15th and Infosys 26th.

Tata Group and Reliance Industries have been ranked ahead of American industrial conglomerate General Electric (17), German car manufacturer BMW (20), Japanese auto firm Honda Motor (22) and telecom major AT&T (23), among others.

However, while the Tata Group slipped in ranking from the sixth place in 2008, Reliance Industries has improved its previous year's rank 19. Infosys was not in the list in 2008.

BusinessWeek has placed ArcelorMittal at the 35th spot. Among the top five, Apple is followed by Internet search giant Google at the second position. Both companies have retained their respective ranks from last year.

Japanese auto maker Toyota Motor, software major Microsoft and Japan's Nintendo are at the third, fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

Source:Economictimes ( http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ )

03 April 2009

RIL’s D-6 block output set to redraw country’s energy map

RIL’s D-6 block output set to redraw country’s energy map

NEW DELHI: The beginning of gas flows from the deep waters of the Bay of Bengal is set to script a new screenplay for the country’s energy

sector.

For, the gas production by Reliance Industries (RIL) from the Krishna Godavari basin, the largest natural gas field in the country, is not merely about doubling natural gas production in the country and meeting 90% of the current shortage. It also marks the beginning of a functional gas market in the country. Till now, for the most part, public sector companies have been selling gas at controlled prices. Further, the economy would turn a shade greener, as more factories run on a cleaner fuel and more motorists tank up on compressed gas.

The RIL gas — which is set to be sold to the first customer, Nagarjuna Fertilisers in Andhra Pradesh, in a few days — will be the first unit of the natural green fuel to be sold at a market-determined price. While it is true that the government played a crucial role in vetting the price and even modifying it marginally, this is the first time a consumer will buy gas at a price based on price bids by major consumers.

RIL had asked potential fertiliser and power companies with idle capacity along the pipeline to bid for the gas. The price of gas at $4.20 per mmBtu has been finalised based on the bids submitted by these consumers. The gas produced by all government-owned companies is sold at controlled prices.

Most of these customers have been either buying gas at a controlled price of $2.40 per unit or other alternatives like liquefied natural gas and naphtha that come at relatively high prices ranging between $4 a unit and even $8 depending on global prices. While several power plants — like those of NTPC, and private companies like GVK, GMR and Lanco, among others — have been forced to remain idle for years, fertiliser companies have had to import urea and run their plants on expensive naphtha. The RIL gas will provide customers a choice of the fuel, more availability and cheaper options.

For the government, the RIL gas will bring in a steady flow of revenue to the government in the form of profit petroleum. It is estimated that RIL will contribute $14 billion over the 11-year period for the 80 mmscmd that RIL plans to produce in the first phase. This comes at a time when the government’s finances are under severe pressure with a slowdown in the economy — fiscal deficit estimated to be around 6% for 2008-09 — and revenues dipping — estimated shortfall of Rs 20,000 crore from the revised targets.

RIL’s gas comes ahead of the government’s next round of exploration bidding. The petroleum ministry is working on the new schedules for the next round and the commercial production from KG basin will help provide investor confidence to potential players.
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Energy boost for India as KG gas flows

NEW DELHI: In a development slated to enhance India’s macroeconomic health as well as energy security, Reliance Industries (RIL) has commenced

natural gas production from its D-6 block in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin. The gas started to flow late on Wednesday evening. The development will reduce India’s trade deficit, cut the subsidy burden on fertilisers, and improve chances of oil multinationals investing in oil and gas exploration in Indian seas.

“The company has started producing 2.5 mmscmd of natural gas from the D-6 block on Wednesday evening. The output is expected to go up to 5 mmscmd in a day. Production will gradually increase to reach its peak of 80 mmscmd within a year, which would double the country’s gas production,” petroleum secretary RS Pandey said on Thursday. Along with the oil it produces, the field would meet about one-sixth of India’s total oil and gas consumption, he said. The country’s annual consumption of petroleum and natural gas is equivalent to 175 million tonnes of crude oil.

RIL’s KG gas will reduce the country’s import bill by $9 billion annually during peak production at current prices. In 2007-08, the crude oil import bill was about $68 billion. The value of the gas over the 11-year life of the project is estimated at around $42 billion at $4.20 per mmBtu, and at this rate, the government’s share is expected to be about $14 billion. With $2 billion going to RIL’s bottom line every year, as ET had reported on March 30. Of course, prices would change, and so would these figures.

Engineering complexity and financing challenges were not the only hurdles the project had to clear: a wrenching legal battle arising from the bitter fallout between the two brothers who inherit the Reliance name was the final obstacle. “Reliance has created history and has once again demonstrated its ability to implement complex projects on a par with the best performance benchmarks in the world,” RIL CMD Mukesh Ambani said in a statement.

RIL, with its partner Niko Resources of Canada, had bagged this block in the first round of the new exploration licensing policy (Nelp-1). RIL holds a 90% interest in the block while the balance is held by Niko. The gas was discovered in 2002 and production commenced in less than seven years of the discovery.

According to Mr Pandey, the KG gas will first reach the Nagarjuna fertiliser plant in the eastern part of the country (near the KG basin) in 4-5 days, and will be supplied to the farthest fertiliser plant in western India within 15 days. As per the government’s gas utilisation policy, the first 15 mmscmd gas from the KG basin will be supplied to fertiliser units situated around the natural gas trunk pipelines. “At peak level, it would amount to 44% of the current oil and gas production taken together,” he said.


Commenting on the development, global consultancy firm KPMG’s head of Infrastructure & government, Jai Mavani, said: “This is the first

time, deepwater production of natural gas shall commence in India. Hopefully, this should also establish the commercial viability of the deepwater play in India. The huge volume of natural gas slated to come onstream from D-6 shall go a long way in mitigating the supply shortage in the country. In these times of ballooning current account deficit, the forex savings that this gas production will bring in is indeed welcome.”

The initial production of gas from the Dhirubhai 1 and 3 discoveries of the KG D-6 block will be sold to existing gas-starved fertiliser and power companies, resulting in substantial reduction in subsidy burden of the government, the statement said. As per an official estimate, the allocation of 15 mmscmd gas to the fertiliser sector will help the government save the fertiliser subsidy bill of Rs 3,000 crore.


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Govt receives first instalment of profit petroleum from KG basin

NEW DELHI: The government has started receiving its share of profit from Reliance Industries (RIL)-operated D-6 block in the Krishna-Godavari

(KG) basin. It has booked $218,960 as its first profit share for the quarter ended December 31, 2008, by selling crude oil produced from the block, a petroleum ministry official said. The block started producing natural gas recently. The profit was generated from the sale of crude oil produced from the block beginning mid-September at an average price of $50.80 a barrel, said the official who didn’t wish to be named.

In the quarter ended December 31, 2008, Reliance Industries (RIL) earned $21,896,016 by selling crude from MA oil field in KG-D6 block. As per the contract between the government and RIL, the contractor was entitled to keep 90% of the sum towards recovering huge investments made by it in developing the field. The balance amount was distributed between the contractor (RIL) and the owner (the government) in a mutually-agreed proportion.

The official said that RIL has spent $6.26 billion in developing the KG basin block. The government has approved $8.84-billion expenditure to produce 80 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) of natural gas from the block. This also includes creation of an excess infrastructure capacity for producing 120 mmscmd of natural gas from the field. An email query to RIL in this regard went unanswered.

The directorate general of hydrocarbons — the technical adviser for upstream activities in the petroleum ministry — didn’t confirm or deny the figures. As per a DGH figure, the contractor had spent $4.65 billion for developing oil and gas fields up to March 31, 2008.

According to an estimate by the petroleum ministry, the field is expected to generate a revenue of $42 billion over the life of the field, which is 11 years. The government is expected to earn $14 billion from the D-6 block. “However, the figure is based on assumptions. It is calculated by keeping gas price at $4.20 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) which is dependent on a formula with variables,” the official said.

Source:ET

09 October 2008

RIL, ICICI Bk major contributors to the market fall

RIL, ICICI Bk major contributors to the market's fall

Sensex fell nearly 50% from its 52-week high of 21206.77 on January 10. It has fallen below 11,000 for the first time since August 2006. Out of the thirty stocks that contributed to the fall,
Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, L&T, Reliance Communications, HDFC, Reliance Infrastructure, Tata Steel, SBI, JP Associates are the top ten contributors. Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank, alone, have contributed nearly 30% to the fall.

Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, L&T and Reliance Communications have contributed 14.71%, 14.41%, 8.73% and 5.31%, respectively.

Biggest contributors to the fall from 21206.77 to 11000.


Name Contribution(pts) Contribution (%)
Reliance Ind -1502 14.71%
ICICI Bank -1443 14.14%
L&T -891 8.73%
Reliance Comm -562 5.51%
HDFC -444 4.35%
Reliance Infra -419 4.11%
Tata Steel -407 3.99%
SBI -390 3.82%
JP Assoc -376 3.68%
HDFC Bank -368 3.61%
DLF -325 3.18%
Infosys -317 3.10%
Sterlite Ind -308 3.02%
BHEL -244 2.39%
Bharti Airtel -230 2.25%
ITC -222 2.17%
ONGC -197 1.93%
Grasim -188 1.84%
NTPC -185 1.81%
Tata Power -182 1.78%
Hindalco -174 1.70%
Tata Motors -172 1.68%
TCS -159 1.55%
Satyam -157 1.54%
M&M -99 0.97%
Wipro -85 0.83%
ACC -63 0.61%
Ranbaxy -60 0.58%
Maruti Suzuki -56 0.55%
HUL -15 0.15%

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Source:ET,MC