Panel report on gas pricing is investment enabling: Reliance Industries

RIL, which had been engaged in protracted wrangling with the Oil Ministry on pricing of natural gas from its eastern offshore KG-D6 field, said there was "positive traction in domestic exploration and production business environment with the submission of Rangarajan Committee Report".

The panel had addressed key issues on "gas price mechanism" and created "an investment enabling environment", RIL said in investor presentation on its October-December quarter results.

RIL has since been seeking a price of almost USD 13 per million British thermal unit for gas produced from KG-D6 gas on expiry of current USD 4.2 per mmBtu price in April next year and its comments on Rangarajan Committee recommendation are being seen as its readiness to accept a lower price.

The company, which had previously stated that USD 4.2 was too low for monetising smaller and marginal gas finds in KG-D6 and other blocks, said the Rangarajan panel recommendation "indicates positive sign for monetization of marginal fields".

The Rangarajan Committee last month suggested pricing of domestically produced natural gas at an average of international hub prices and cost of imported LNG instead of present mechanism of a bid-based market discovery of the rate.

The panel suggested averaging volume-weighted price of gas at US's Henry Hub, UK's NBP and Japan Customs Cleared prices for the trailing 12 months with the the net price that producer got from exporting

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