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New Delhi, Aug. 16 The Minister of State in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Dinsha Patel, on Thursday informed the Lok Sabha that the issues related to gas pricing under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) are to be considered by an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM).

As per the production sharing contract (PSC) signed by the Government, under the NELP, operators are free to market oil on international parity basis and gas in the domestic market on arms length basis. In terms of the provisions of PSC, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has submitted the price formula for sale of gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin for Government approval.

This formula has been considered by the Cabinet Secretary, Mr K.M. Chandrasekhar, who was asked to go into issues of gas pricing.

Responding to a query whether the foreign investors such as British Petroleum, Hardy Exploration, and British Gas have protested in this regard, the Minister said, no protest as such has been received from any of the companies. However, British Gas and British Petroleum have requested the Government to maintain the sanctity of the PSC provisions, the Minister said.

The EGoM is to be headed by the External Affairs Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, and would consider the gas pricing based on inputs from Cabinet Secretary and Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council. Indications are that the eight-member EGoM will comprise the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram; the Petroleum Minister, Mr Murli Deora; the Power Minister, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde; the Fertiliser Minister, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan; the Law Minister, Mr H.R. Bhardwaj; the Corporate Affairs Minister, Mr Prem Chand Gupta; and the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

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