Ambani fight could affect India’s hydrocarbon auction: Regulator

October 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India received bids for just 36 hydrocarbon blocks out of 70 on offer under the new round of auction, which the oil ministry admitted as being a "poor" response, with even Reliance Industries abstaining from a single bid. The deadline for receiving bids for the eighth round of auction for oil and gas assets under what is called the new exploration licensing policy was noon Monday.

October 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has bagged 13 blocks in the latest round of auction of hydrocarbon assets, which saw only about half of the oil blocks receiving bids. If ONGC is getting those blocks, then they should find resources to meet their commitments, said Petroleum Secretary R.S.

October 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The response for the latest round of auction for handing over hydrocarbon assets in India for exploration and development has been "poor", with even Reliance Industries refraining from making a single bid. The deadline for receiving bids for the eighth round of auction under what is called the new exploration licensing policy, was noon Monday.

October 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday began its probe into the allegations against the Director General of Hydrocarbons, V.K. Sibal, that he took favours from Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries.

October 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The public spat and litigation between the Ambani brothers could adversely affect the sentiments of foreign companies interested in investing in India's oil and gas exploration, the sectoral regulator said once again Thursday. "Any fight between corporates has a negative impact.

September 22nd, 2009 MUMBAI - Telecommunications provider Reliance Infratel, promoted by Reliance Communications and part of the R-ADA group, will come out with an initial public offer to the tune of 10 percent of its paid-up equity capital, group chairman Anil Ambani said here Tuesday. Addressing shareholders at Reliance Communication's annual general meeting here, Ambani said the draft red herring prospectus for the issue would be filed by group company Reliance Power with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India.

September 2nd, 2009 MOSCOW - Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Wednesday said that the government tried to pacify the fighting Ambani brothers several times, but failed to bring about a reconciliation. "We tried to bring a reconciliation, but we failed.

September 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - From an annual auction of its hydrocarbon blocks, India is moving towards a year-long bidding process, said Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada here Tuesday. The government of India is moving gradually but inexorably towards the Open Acreage Licensing System from the current New Exploration Licensing Policy, Prasada said at the inauguration of an international conference on National Data Repository (NDR).

August 20th, 2009 MUMBAI - The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group Thursday accused the petroleum ministry of failing to attract foreign investment in the auctions for oil and natural gas exploration blocks in the country because of its flip-flop, partisan and non-transparent policies. The auctions under a new exploration policy conducted over the past three years unfortunately reveal the absolute failure of the oil ministry to attract any global capital inflow into the country's upstream hydrocarbons sector, the group charged.

August 19th, 2009 HYDERABAD - The Andhra Pradesh government has floated an exploration company to commercially tap the hydrocarbon resources in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin off its coast. The company, Andhra Pradesh Gas Infrastructure Corp (APGIC), has been set up on the lines of Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC), an oil and gas exploration and production company that operates across India and overseas.

August 5th, 2009 MUMBAI - The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group Wednesday alleged conflict of interest in naming the two experts who evaluated and validated the overstated capital cost of Krishna-Godavari gas fields, awarded to Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries. Reacting to the comments by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons Tuesday, the group said both the independent expert P.

August 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Anil Ambani-led Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) Tuesday once again said production at the D6 block in the Krishna Godavari (KG) hydrocarbon basin was being artificially curbed. Referring to comments by the oil regulator, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), an RNRL spokesperson said: "DGHs confirmation that current production is only 31 mmscmd against the maximum production capacity of KG basin at 80 mmscmd, owing to the absence of further market for gas, vindicates our stance that RIL (Reliance Industries Ltd) is curbing production to artificially justify its exorbitant prices, and there is no further demand at such high prices." Anil Ambani's RNRL and elder brother Mukesh Ambani-owned RIL are fighting a bitter legal battle over the supply and pricing of gas from the fields off the Andhra Pradesh coast.

July 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India will resume road shows for its latest round of auction of hydrocarbon assets, with the finance minister announcing in the union budget that tax holiday would be extended to natural gas production. Now that this clarity is there, the road show will go ahead and we expect good response on this account, Petroleum Secretary R.S.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - In a bid to give a fillip to the current round of auction of hydrocarbon assets, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday extended the tax exemption on profits in the natural gas sector. The ministry of petroleum and natural gas has been seeking tax holiday to the natural gas sector since last year, when the 2008 auction deadline had been postponed many times due to confusion over this issue.

April 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Thursday announced the auctions for 80 more hydrocarbon assets in the country, including 10 for coal-bed methane, in the largest such exercise under its new policy on oil and gas exploration. The 70 oil and gas blocks under round number eight of the new policy include 24 in deep waters, 28 in shallow waters and 18 on-land blocks, Petroleum Secretary R.S.