RIL NEWS

Indian downstream giant, Reliance Industries Ltd has registered a 39% drop in its March quarter profit, pushed down by the sharp dip in oil prices and lower fuel demand. RIL posted a consolidated profit of $845 million in the quarter that ended March 31. The Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate also reported an inventory loss of approximately $565 million. The firm's consolidated revenue from operations slipped 2.3% to $18.3 billion.

Washington on Tuesday imposed sanctions on the trading arm of Russia's Rosneft. This has created a difficult situation for Reliance Industries, a key buyer of Venezuelan oil. The Indian refiner said, "Reliance will continue its direct communications with the US Government to ensure that Reliance's purchases of Venezuelan oil after the RTSA sanctions are both compliant with US sanctions and consistent with US policies regarding Venezuelan oil sector".

US has been constantly pressurizing the Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro over ties with other energy companies and vice-versa. From Russia's Rosneft to Chevron and Reliance, everyone has been warned to "tread cautiously". These comments have come in response to the question on about possible sanctions against Rosneft. I would tread cautiously towards their activities in Venezuela that are in support, directly or indirectly, of the Maduro dictatorship because ... we're halfway through our maximum pressure campaign", said US official.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has inked a framework agreement with state-run ADNOC to explore development of an Ethylene Dichloride (EDC) facility in Ruwais. RIL will utilize the proposed unit to procure EDC, a key raw material used in the manufacturing of Polyvinyl chloride (PVC). ADNOC would provide Ethylene to the proposed venture and offer access to the infrastructure at Ruwais.

Engineering giant, Worley has secured a Project Management Contract through its wholly owned subsidiary, Intecsea, for the Reliance Deep-Water Gas Project. The contract pertains to RIL’s MJ Field deep-water gas and condensate project. The scope of the contract includes provision of PMC services for the development of subsea gas and condensate resource traced in deep water of roughly 1,000 meters in the MJ Field, offshore India.

Saudi state-run behemoth, Saudi Aramco has agreed to acquire 20% stakes in RIL’s oil refinery and chemical business at an enterprise value of $75 billion. The announcement came directly from RIL Chairman, Mukesh Ambani who was talking at Reliance Industries' 42nd annual general meeting. Saudi Aramco will own a 20% stake in a planned special purpose vehicle (SPV) covering the twin refineries of Reliance apart from RIL's petrochemical complex.

Supermajor, BP has announced its joint venture with Ambani-led Reliance Industries. This venture is intended to expand RIL's fuel retail network to 5,500 over the next five years. 51% of the venture will be held by RIL and rest 49% by BP. "This partnership is a testimony to the strong ties between BP and Reliance", said Ambani. This JV will also involve RIL's aviation fuels business.

Once the highest gas producing fields, KG-D6 block of Reliance Industries are now "a late life stage". The company informed that these fields are "in a late stage and affected by low pressure and water ingress related challenges". However, in order to increase output, Reliance will bring three sets of new discoveries to production in 2020.

BP's Chief Executive has informed that both RIL and BP will be together investing $5 billion on three gas development projects. These projects are located in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin. “Strong relationship between BP and reliance is another great example of what can be achieved by working together at scale", said Looney. Under the latest OALP, the companies have also won an ultra deep-water offshore block in the KG basin.

Energy major BP along with Reliance Industries Ltd. will develop their deepwater gas field project in India. In the last two years, both the companies have sanctioned development of two other projects. All three projects are expected to require an investment of approximately 350 billion Indian rupees. The development of about 3 trillion cubic feet of discovered gas resources is expected from the projects.

India's Reliance Industries has denied commenting on the reports of its ongoing talks with energy supermajor Saudi Aramco. According to the sources, the company might sell its 25% stakes in refining and petrochemical business to Aramco. It is being believed that the energy giant Aramco was first to show interest in Reliance about four months ago. RIL said, “Our company evaluates various opportunities on an ongoing basis”.

According to the sources, India's Reliance Industries Limited and Royal Dutch Shell are planning to exit the Panna-Mukta oilfields. Their contract with the government will expire this year. Currently, both the companies hold 30% participating interest in the field and another 40% is owned by the state-run ONGC. After the two companies will leave the field, the task of managing these depleting fields will go to ONGC.

Indian oil firm, Reliance Industries yesterday said that it has paused diluents supply to Venezuelan state-run firm, PDVSA until sanctions are lifted. Reliance supplied diluents to crisis-struck Venezuela from its Houston-based subsidiary. The Indian conglomerate has also not increased oil purchases from Venezuela. Ship tracking data acquired by Reuters indicated a drop in Reliance’s purchase from Venezuela below 300,000 bpd in 2018 and in January 2019.

Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) recent decision to pull off investment in global oil and gas exploration firms is expected to affect India’s oil and gas sector as well. The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund has so far made $7.39 billion-investment in Indian firms, out of which RIL ($485.19 million), ONGC ($108.74 million), Indian Oil ($61.6 million) and Oil India ($2.03 million) are some of the big names.

Canada-based Niko Resources has served an arbitration notice to its partners in India’s KG-D6 block, RIL and BP plc. According to an earnings statement from RIL, Niko Resources, which holds 10% stakes in the KG-D6 block, had defaulted on cash calls during the October-December quarter. As Niko failed to cure the default, a default notice was triggered and the Canadian oil and gas firm was asked to exit the block.

ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has received payment from PDVSA towards their $449 million of outstanding dues. The payment of USD 32 million came through Reliance Industries which bought Venezuelan crude oil last month. $449 million of accrued dividends from the San Cristobal field in Venezuela was due to OVL for four years. OVL owns 40% stakes in the field.

An official probe has found Reliance Industries’ sale of its entire CBM output to itself in violation of contractual terms and state policy on CBM. The probe finding can force Reliance to terminate the gas-sales deal and re-auction further produce. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned RIL commenced production of CBM at Madhya Pradesh mines in 2017.

If sources were to be believed, RIL head, Mukesh Ambani is mulling plans of boosting the capacity of the world’s largest refinery complex in Jamnagar. If the proposition goes through, Jamnagar refinery will see an addition of new plant with crude processing capacity of 30 million tpa. RIL is fortifying its place in India where energy demand, according to IEA, is expected to more than double by 2040.