India seeking over $30 billion in damages from energy giants – Reuters
India is seeking more than $30 billion in compensation from energy giants Reliance Industries and BP for underproducing gas from offshore fields, Reuters has reported.
An arbitration tribunal has been hearing the case since 2016, the news agency said on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. The dispute concerns gas produced from two deepwater fields in the Krishna Godavari basin, according to the report.
Final arguments in the case were heard on November 7 and a three-member tribunal is expected to deliver its verdict by the middle of 2026, Reuters said, citing two people familiar with the hearings.
Indian company Reliance and UK giant BP are also involved in a long-standing legal dispute with India’s state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) over alleged gas migration.
ONGC has claimed that Reliance and BP extracted gas that migrated from its adjacent Krishna Godavari basin blocks into Reliance’s KG-D6 block, leading to demands for over $1.7 billion in compensation.
ONGC’s claims for compensation from the two majors were rejected in arbitration, but the verdict was overturned by the Delhi High Court. Reliance subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Krishna Godavari basin fields were India’s first major deepwater gas project. They were seen as key to bolstering the South Asian nation’s energy independence when first developed, but have been plagued by production difficulties related to water ingress and reservoir pressure, as well as cost-recovery disputes with the government, according to Reuters.
Reliance was allocated the project off the southeastern coast of India in 2000 under a production-sharing agreement.
