Oil major and Europe’s second biggest oil firm British Petroleum (BP Plc) head Bob Dudley along with exploration partner Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Monday criss-crossed the corridors of power, urging upon the Government to bring clarity on the proposed formula on market-driven natural gas pricing.
Dudley, visiting India for the second time in as many months, during a brief stopover to the national capital, did rounds of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s office and that of other senior officials like Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and law Minister Ashwini Kumar.
With Ambani in tow, the BP head honcho asked the Government to lay a clear roadmap for market driven pricing of natural gas as current sub-market rates were not drawing big investments.
The duo pressed for clarity on pricing of natural gas that will be implemented upon expiry of the $4.2 per million British thermal unit rate a year from now.
“They are very concerned, they are very keen that government take a view (soon). That process is underway. I wasn’t able to tell him what we are going to decide,” Ahluwalia told reporters. “I did say that there is an EGoM (Empowered Group of Ministers) and it will be considering Rangarajan Committee (recommendation),” he added.
Dudley, who also met Petroleum Secretary Vivek Rae, briefed the Prime Minister and others about the investments BP along with RIl plans to make in quickly putting satellite gas fields in the flagging KG-D6 block as also bringing discoveries in eastern offshore NEC-25 block to production.
“We are the largest investor in India. We have come to review progress of plans,” he said, adding that BP was “very pleased” with the events that allowed the firm to drill an exploration well on the currently producing fields in KG-D6 block well after the expiry of exploration phase.