ONGC board okays GSPC deal

Backed by state guarantee, to get $6-6.9 bn for K-G gas; development of Ratna fields also approved

Sale of the Deendayal Upadhaya oil & gas block of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation has moved a step closer. The board of directors at Oil and Natural Gas Corporation approved on Thursday the implementation of an agreement with the former.

Under the agreement, to be signed by the two companies, GSPC will have to buy natural gas from the block at a price of about $6 per million British thermal units. In the fifth year, the price would be $6.9 per mBtu.

If the government notified price ceiling for high pressure, high temperature gas is lower than the agreed price, GSPC will