The Hindu Business Line : Reliance yet to decide on divesting stake in Krishna-Godavari block

New Delhi, April 14 Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Monday said that it is yet to decide whether it wants to offload any stake in its Krishna-Godavari basin D6 block. A senior company official told Business Line, “Though the company is constantly looking for various alternatives to create additional shareholder value across its business areas, at this stage there is no specific transaction on the cards.”

Only if the company decides to offload its stake, will a decision on the quantum and time line of divestment be taken, he said. “Currently, the entire talk about stake sale is pure speculation,” he added.

Sources are quick to point out that RIL is not looking at a strategic partner for financial reasons. The hunt is for a company with expertise in deep water exploration and production technology. RIL holds 90 per cent stake in KG-DWN-98/3 or D6 and is the operator of the block. The remaining 10 per cent is held by Niko Resources.

Niko holding

In case of any stake sale by RIL, Niko’s holding will not come down because, the sources pointed out, “as per the production sharing contract, a minimum 10 per cent stakeholding is required. Thus, the possibility of Niko’s stake coming down is ruled out.”

There were reports that RIL was in talks with oil majors such as Chevron Corp, Shell, Exxon and BG for a possible stake sale in the D6 block.

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