Thaindian News

New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) Production at Reliance Industries Ltd’s deepwater gas block in the Krishna-Godavari basin will be delayed, and now start from October-end, said a senior petroleum ministry official Monday.Petroleum secretary R.S. Pandey told reporters there would be a little bit of delay for “technical reasons” in the D-6 hydrocarbon block in the Krishna-Godavari basin off the coastline in Andra Pradesh.

“What I have been hearing is that there will be a little bit of delay for technical reasons. I have been told that pumping (of gas) will begin by October-end,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the company announced it had discarded plans to transfer a majority stake in the deepwater block to a fully-owned subsidiary.

In a statement, RIL said it had earlier applied to assign part of its interest in the D-6 block in the Krishna Godavari basin to a 100 percent owned subsidiary “in order to retain flexibility for raising finances for the project”.

However, the company said Monday, it had withdrawn this plan as it has raised the necessary finances.

“Our projects are nearing completion and we have successfully raised the finance and so do not wish to pursue the application seeking approval to assign our participating interest to our 100 percent owned subsidiaries and have since withdrawn it,” a company statement said.

RIL holds a 90 percent stake in the D-6 block, while Canadian oil major Niko Resources owns the rest of the gas-rich asset.

The statement dismissed media reports that the proposed transfer was to entities partly owned by two top company executives as “completely inaccurate, misleading and mischievous”.