Reliance expects gas price to rise in October

NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries Ltd expects prices of natural gas in India to rise again in October but wants government-dictated caps to go, in a bid to align domestic rates with global energy prices.

The conglomerate, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, expects the price cap for its KG-D6 gas sales to rise over the current USD 9.92 per million British thermal units, Sanjay Roy, senior vice-president for exploration and production, said in an investor call following the announcement of the firm’s quarterly earnings on Friday. After remaining a loss-making provision for several quarters, Reliance’s gas exploration business has begun reaping rewards of a global surge in energy prices that have already pushed the rates to a record high. The government sets gas prices every six months based on international rates. The price of gas from old or regulated fields was more than doubled to a record USD 6.1 per mmBtu from April 1, and that for difficult fields like those lying in deepsea to USD 9.92 per mm.

Rates are due for a revision in October. It is anticipated that the price of gas from old fields of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will be hiked to about USD 9 per mmBtu and the cap for difficult fields will rise to double digits.

Reliance produced about 19 million standard cubic meters per day of gas from its newer fields in the eastern offshore KG-D6 block in the April-June quarter. KG-D6 block lies in deepsea and so gets a price equivalent to that for difficult fields. “Price ceiling for KGD6 (R-Cluster/Sats) revised to USD 9.92 per mmBtu for H1FY23 (April-September 2022) which is expected to rise further for H2FY23 (October 2022 to March 2023),” Roy said.

But this rate remains disconnected with global prices. “We do see that the domestic price ceiling remains disconnected, whether the prices are elevated or when prices fall. And you know we are continuing our advocacy for removal of ceiling prices. Overall, we expect higher gas price realizations in FY23 and in the quarters to come,” he said. Reliance got a price of USD 22.48 per mmBtu for 0.7 mmscmd of gas it produces from coal seams (CBM) from blocks in Madhya Pradesh. There is no cap on CBM gas price. Higher gas prices propelled a 80.5 per cent rise in revenue from the business to Rs 3,625 crore during April-June and a 76 per cent jump in EBITDA to Rs 2,737 crore.