Reliance Industries rose 1% to Rs 857.30 at 9:32 IST on BSE as the company and BP Group plan to invest over $5 billion in the next few years to increase production from KG-D6 block off the country's east coast.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 53.14 points, or 0.27%, to 19,688.86.
On BSE, 36,000 shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 3.62 lakh shares in the past one quarter.
The stock hit a high of Rs 848.80 and a low of Rs 856.35 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 954.80 on 21 January 2013. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 671 on 8 May 2012.
The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 19 February 2013, falling 5.58% compared with the Sensex's 2.01% fall. The scrip had, however, outperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 9.63% as against Sensex's 7.07% rise.
The large-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 3228.48 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.
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Reliance Industries' (RIL) Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani and BP Group Chief Executive Bob Dudley held discussions with Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dr. Veerappa Moily on Tuesday, 19 February 2013, to update the oil ministry on the future plans of the RIL-BP joint venture, including the KG D6 block enhancement plan designed to increase production from the block.
Under the KG D6 block enhancement plan, BP and RIL are planning to invest in a series of projects to develop around 4 trillion cubic feet of discovered natural gas resources from the block. At current international liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices, it would cost more than $50 billion to import this volume of gas into India, RIL and BP said in a joint statement. This plan, when implemented, would entail a potential total investment in excess of $5 billion over the next three to five years.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said: "BP is already the largest single British investor in India and the decision to join forces with Reliance Industries to invest $5 billion in the next few years into India's gas markets reinforces how two of Britain's and India's leading companies can work together to invest in and supply the energy needs of the future, creating jobs and boosting prosperity."
Dr. Moily said that gas from these projects will deliver energy to millions of Indians and would significantly help India in reducing import dependence. "My ministry is committed to provide necessary support to promote such investment in the domestic Oil & Gas sector. We will do the needful to fast track these projects and help them attain economic viability," Dr. Moily said.
Welcoming the minister's statement, both Ambani and Dudley agreed to accelerate the pace of exploration and development activities as soon as necessary approvals are received. Mukesh Ambani said: "The BP and RIL partnership is focused on finding more hydrocarbons and addressing the complexities of the geology along the east coast of India. We hope to significantly contribute to India's domestic production and help the country attain energy security." Bob Dudley said: "We will bring all our expertise in deep water to explore the prolific gas basins in India and BP looks forward to a rewarding and successful exploration programme in the coming years."
Implementation of the plan will require deployment of advanced skills, processes and technologies through the combined partnership of RIL and BP to produce gas from water depths of more than 1,500 metres. RIL and BP are confident that development of the existing discoveries, together with exploration prospects in KG D6 have the potential to enhance domestic production significantly.
In an historic partnership with RIL in 2011, BP took a 30% stake in multiple oil and gas blocks in India, including the producing KG D6 block and the formation of a 50:50 joint venture to source and market gas in India. The implementation of the various projects in the KG D6 enhancement plan is subject to regulatory and Government approvals, RIL said.
RIL's net profit rose 23.9% to Rs 5502 crore on 10.3% growth in net sales to Rs 93886 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011. RIL's gross refining margin (GRM) surged to $9.6 a barrel in Q3 December 2012 from $6.8 a barrel in Q3 December 2011.
RIL's outstanding debt as on 31 December 2012 was Rs 72266 crore, higher than Rs 68259 crore as on 31 March 2012. RIL had cash and cash equivalents of Rs 80962 crore as on 31 December 2012. These were in bank deposits and CDs, mutual funds and government securities/bonds. RIL is debt free on a net basis as at 31 December 2012, the company said in a statement.
RIL's activities span exploration and production of oil and gas, petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals (polyester, fibre intermediates, plastics and chemicals), textiles, retail and infotel. RIL is the largest polyester yarn and fibre producer in the world and among the top five to ten producers in the world in major petrochemical products.
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