Despite a fortnight after the Bombay High Court order asking RIL and RNRL to arrive at a fresh agreement for the supply of 28 mmscmd of gas at $2.34 per mmbtu for 17 years, both the parties have yet to hold a meeting in this regard. RNRL through its communication of June 25 had proposed meeting with RIL on Monday. However, the meeting could not take place. So far RNRL had dashed communications on June 17 and 19 besides June 25 to RIL for working out a new deal for the KG D6 gas supply.
The Bombay High Court had on June 15 given the two companies a month?s time to work out firm gas volumes, price, timelines and other commercial details for sourcing the fuel from KG D6 fields. The high court had also ruled that RIL should honour its commitment in the family split agreement to supply gas to RNRL. The terms, as per the MoU, which split the Dhirubhai Ambani empire in 2005, were to be based on RIL?s bid for NTPC tender.
RNRL sources told FE that RIL has not come forward for the proposed meeting. On the other hand, RIL sources said that the company was still studying the high court order. RIL president and CEO (Oil and Gas) PMS Prasad had last week said: ??We have time till July 15 to decide… we are still evaluating our options.??
However, industry sources said that RIL would prefer to wait and see the outcome of the hearing on dispute between NTPC and RIL on gas pricing issue slated for July 8 in the Bombay High Court.
Angel Broking in its analysis believes it is early to arrive at the final conclusion based on the high court?s verdict, as the stance of the various parties linked to the issue still needs to be ascertained. Further, since the gas off-take facilities (power plant and the pipeline) are still not in place, it is difficult to conclude the actual timeline pertaining to the commencement of the actual gas sales at lower prices to RNRL.
Curiously, according to several analysts, continued litigation is a very strong possibility. Besides, chances of RIL and RNRL signing an agreement in the near future are bleak.