Mukesh Ambani, Bob Dudley meet Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan

New Delhi: Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, and his British partner Bob Dudley of BP on Thursday came calling on the government as they looked to revive investments in deep-sea gas exploration and production after an eight-year hiatus.

Dudley, whose last visit in January 2015 led to India revisiting the natural gas pricing formula and a higher rate for gas produced from deep-sea and difficult areas, met Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday afternoon.

He was accompanied by BP India head Sashi Mukundan during the meeting. 45 minutes into the



meeting, Ambani joined them. Both refused comment after the 80-minute meeting. Ambani and Dudley would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi before making a media announcement about reviving investments in exploration and production.     

While the cap price for natural gas RIL-BP produce from the existing flagging fields in the KG-D6 block is capped at USD 2.48 per million British thermal unit, the rate gas from newer fields in the deepsea block would fetch USD 5.56 per mmBtu – a price considered attractive enough for reviving the investment cycle.