New Delhi, October 18: BP Plc Chief Executive Bob Dudley and Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani today met Oil Minister M. Veerappa Moily to voice concerns over being penalised twice for gas output from their KG-D6 fields not matching targets.
Mr. Dudley, whose company last year made the largest foreign direct investment in the oil sector, followed it up with a meeting with Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.
Mr. Ambani was not present when Mr. Dudley met Mr. Chidambaram.
Mr. Moily said issues surrounding KG-D6 were discussed, while Mr. Dudley emphasised that his company was committed to staying invested in the country despite regulatory uncertainties.
Mr. Dudley’s third visit to India this year comes at a time when the Oil Ministry, at the insistence of Finance Ministry, is seeking to deny his company and its partner RIL a new gas price for producing less natural gas than projected.
This punishment is on top of USD 1.8 billion penalty that is already being imposed on them. Also, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) is seeking to strip them off 8 gas discoveries holding 1.15 trillion cubic feet of reserves worth USD 14 billion from their eastern offshore KG—D6 block.
