ONGC accuses Reliance of planning and executing strategy to extract gas from its KG blocks

The ONGC-RIL standoff over extracting gas from KG blocks refuses to die out.

The state-owned ONGC has accused Mukesh Ambani’s RIL of a "well-planned and deliberate strategy" to produce about USD 1.4 billion worth of its gas over past six years.

ONGC also demanded that RIL should pay full compensation with 18 per cent interest.

The state-owned firm also alleged that in 2001 and 2007, Reliance Industries had acquired seismic data to study hydrocarbon reservoir lying several hundred meters below the sea-bed not just in its Bay of Bengal KG-D6 block but also of neighbouring blocks of ONGC without the knowledge of the state-owned firm.

The data acquired by RIL established that Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1&D3) gas fields in its KG-D6 block have a considerable extension into ONGC's adjoining blocks KG-DWN-98/2 (KG-D5) and Godvari PML, the state-owned firm said in a written submission to the AP Shah Committee looking into the gas dispute between the two firms.

"RIL concealed and did not reveal the data to ONGC," the company alleged. "RIL drilled its production wells at such locations (close to common boundary of the blocks) and with such angles so as to extract maximum gas from reservoirs falling under ONGC's blocks."

When contacted, RIL spokesperson said, "We deny all the allegations. We are confident of demonstrating that we have worked absolutely within our entitlement and there has been no impropriety on our part whatsoever."