A meeting of an oversight panel to vet Reliance Industries' $1.529 billion investment plan for development of satellite fields in the KG-D6 block was postponed today after government representatives declared themselves unavailable for the meet.
Oil Ministry Joint Secretary (Exploration), Mr D. N. Narasimha Raju and Directorate General of Hydrocarbons Director-General, Mr S. K. Srivastava, who had confirmed participation in the management committee meeting scheduled at 1130 hours today, recused themselves at the eleventh hour, citing personal reasons, sources privy to the development said.
The oversight panel, called the management committee, was to consider giving approval to the proposal by RIL to develop four satellite fields in the flagging KG-D6 block.
Development of the four fields by 2016 would help arrest the fall in output in the producing fields.
Sources said no new dates have been intimated for the meeting. Mr Raju, who along with Mr Srivastava did not attend the last KG-D6 meeting on December 2 that failed to approve the development plan, is completing his deputation to the Oil Ministry on January 5.
Incidentally, a separate meeting of the panel on blocks operated by State—owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) took place as scheduled this afternoon.
The panel had in its last meeting on December 2 refused to approve the investment plan, saying the proposal made in December 2009 was based on the prices of that year and new rates needed to be worked out at the current prices.