ONGC hires consultants to evaluate GSPC KG block reserves -Governance Now

ONGC hires consultants to evaluate GSPC KG block reserves

US-based Ryder Scott Petroleum Consultants will evaluate gas properties and independently certify the reserves quantities

GN Bureau | August 29, 2016

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State-owned ONGC has hired US-based Ryder Scott Petroleum Consultants to assess natural gas reserves in Gujarat State Petroleum Corp's (GSPC) KG (Deendayal) block before deciding to buy a stake in it.

Ryder Scott has been asked to evaluate gas properties in the GSPC block and independently certify the reserves quantities. It will submit its report by November.

Since the BJP-led government came to power at the centre, the Gujarat government firm GSPC has been seeking to sell a majority stake in its Deendayal block in the Bay of Bengal to ONGC to avoid defaulting on loans. ONGC initially was not keen to buy stake in the block as it felt the block had reserves far less than what GSPC was claiming and the asking price for the stake was not commensurate with the returns.

According to a news report, there is tremendous amount of pressure on ONGC to buy stake in GSPC block. That is why it has decided to get the reserves in the GSPC block validated.

GSPC was to begin gas production from the block in 2013 but after sinking in $3.6 billion it was found that gas reserves are one-tenth of 20 trillion cubic feet claimed in 2005 and that too is technically difficult to produce.

In the process, it amassed Rs 19,576 crore of debt, on which interest cost was Rs 1,804.06 crore in 2014-15, according to the CAG. And against this its revenue was Rs 152.51 crore in 2014-15.

GSPC has been doing trial production of a very small volume of gas from August 2014 and has not yet reached commercial production yet. And in absence of revenue commensurate with the debt servicing obligations it risks of becoming a defaulter. To bail out of the situation, it offered to sell 50 percent stake to ONGC. Money from ONGC can repay a part of the debt and the remaining would become a joint liability of the two firms.

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