Govt Examining RIL-BP Position, Will Take Right Approach

New Delhi: The government said discussions are on with Reliance Industries and its partner BP Plc which have warned of further drop in KG-D6 gas output in the absence of investments approvals by the Oil Ministry, and maintained that it would take 'right approach' and 'suitable decision' on the issue. "That mid-talk is going on. Our Ministry will take the right approach to that," Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Corporate Affairs R P N Singh told reporters when asked about the issue on the sidelines of a function here. The Oil Ministry had hit back yesterday saying it had not approved annual spending because the Mukesh Ambani firm had denied CAG access to its books. RIL Executive Director PMS Prasad and BP India head Sashi Mukundan had met Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy for nearly three and half hours on Friday to highlight the exigency facing the flagging KG-D6 fields due to his ministry not approving annual budgets and capital spending for three years, sources said. An Oil Ministry statement said the Comptroller and Auditor General, which is carrying out audit of spending on KG-D6 block from 2009-10 to 2011-12, had "recommended withholding of sanction for annual work plans and budgets if access to records is denied to CAG". On the issue of these approvals by the Ministry, Singh said: "The (Oil) Ministry is examining what they (Reliance and BP) have come up with and we will take a decision...suitable decision in accordance to the law". CAG had submitted audit of KG-D6 for 2006-07 to 2008-09 to Parliament in September last year and RIL's "denial of access to records to the CAG was adversely commented upon in the previous audit," the Ministry statement said.