According to media reports, a two-member team
appointed by the Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily, to probe the alleged irregularities in the gas supply deal between Petronet LNG (PLL) and Qatar-based Ras Laffan, would submit its report in some weeks.
The team was appointed by the Moily in January as the earlier inquiry ordered by former minister Jaipal Reddy was found unsatisfactory.
It is alleged that “discrepancies” in the gas supply deal between PLL and Qatar-based Ras Laffan led to a loss of Rs 27,000 crore for the company.
Ras Laffan is a unit of Ras Gas, jointly owned by Qatar and Mobil in a 70:30 ratio. The deal in question provided Petronet to have the first right to pick up a five per cent stake in the LNG terminal in Qatar without any premium.
Former Power Secretary EAS Sarma, who sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the deal, alleges that Petronet, for some inexplicable reason, desisted from exercising its right to the detriment of public interest.
According to Sarma, the shortcomings in the contract forced Petronet to pay $12 per mmBtu for Qatar’s LNG. This is much higher than $2.34 per mmBtu offered by Reliance to NTPC from the KG Basin and $4.20 per mmBtu, the price fixed by the government for the same gas. “The loss on this account has been estimated at $56 billion over the life of the contract, he said earlier in a letter to the Prime Minister.
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