SC issues notices to Centre, ONGC on appeal of Vedanta Ltd relating to Barmer oil field

Vedanta Ltd has moved the top court against the March 26 judgement of a division bench of the Delhi High Court setting aside a single judge order directing the Centre to extend till 2030 its PSC with Vedanta Ltd and ONGC to produce oil from the Barmer oil field.

TheSupreme Courton Friday sought a response from the Centre on an appeal ofVedanta Ltdagainst a Delhi High Court verdict related to aproduction sharing contract(PSC) ofVedantaand theONGCto produce oil from theBarmer oil fieldin Rajasthan.VedantaLtd has moved the top court against the March 26 judgement of a division bench of the Delhi High Court setting aside a single judge order directing the Centre to extend till 2030 its PSC with Vedanta Ltd andONGCto produce oil from the Barmer oil field.

“Issue notice,” said a bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Krishna Murari after hearing brief submissions from senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Vedanta Ltd.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the ONGC, said that he accepted the notice and sought four week’s time for filing the responses.

The bench took note of the submissions and fixed the appeal of Vedanta and co-appellantCairn Energy Hydrocarbons Ltdfor hearing in September.

Earlier, the Centre had moved an appeal before a division bench of the high court against the judgement of a single judge bench directing it to extend till 2030 its PSC with Vedanta Ltd and ONGC to produce oil from the Barmer oil field.

The Centre’s appeal was allowed by the division bench of the high court against that Vedanta moved the apex court.

The single judge had held that Vedanta was entitled to extension of its contract, which was to expire in 2020, for a further period of 10 years on the same terms and agreements when it was first entered into in 1995.

Vedanta had moved the court after its request to the government in 2009 to extend the PSC did not elicit any response. It had claimed that the delay in a decision by the government was preventing it from infusing further investment of over Rs 30,000 crore in the project.

In its plea before the single judge, Vedanta had said the estimated recoverable assets in the block were about 1.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, of which 466 million barrels are expected to be recovered beyond current PSC period until 2030.

Besides, it was also producing natural gas from the block and supplying it to government companies, the company had claimed.

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Stuart Turley is President and CEO of Sandstone Group, a top energy data, and finance consultancy working with companies all throughout the energy value chain. Sandstone helps both small and large-cap energy companies to develop customized applications and manage data workflows/integration throughout the entire business. With experience implementing enterprise networks, supercomputers, and cellular tower solutions, Sandstone has become a trusted source and advisor.   He is also the Executive Publisher of www.energynewsbeat.com, the best source for 24/7 energy news coverage, and is the Co-Host of the energy news video and Podcast Energy News Beat. Energy should be used to elevate humanity out of poverty. Let's use all forms of energy with the least impact on the environment while being sustainable without printing money. Stu is also a co-host on the 3 Podcasters Walk into A Bar podcast with David Blackmon, and Rey Trevino. Stuart is guided by over 30 years of business management experience, having successfully built and help sell multiple small and medium businesses while consulting for numerous Fortune 500 companies. He holds a B.A in Business Administration from Oklahoma State and an MBA from Oklahoma City University.