Reliance Industries (RIL) has once again come under the legal radar after the Indian government raised a demand of USD 1.55 billion over accusations of stealing natural gas from worh billion from neighbouring Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s wells in the KG Basin off the coast of Andhra Pradesh.
The dispute dates back to 2016, when the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas initially claimed that Reliance and its partners had illegally extracted gas worth USD 1.55 billion from ONGC wells.
Reliance previously won an international arbitration in 2018, which cleared it of any obligation to pay. But in a March 2025 ruling, a division bench of the Delhi High Court overturned the arbitration award, siding with the government. As a result, the ministry issued a fresh demand.
In response, Reliance had called the demand “unsustainable” and said it plans to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Jitendra P. Maru has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court, seeking a CBI investigation into alleged gas theft. He claims Reliance drilled sideways from its wells into nearby ONGC reservoirs, extracting gas worth USD 1.55 billion — plus interest.
An independent study by consulting firm DeGolyer & MacNaughton and a government-appointed panel led by A.P. Shah reportedly support the petitioner’s claim, estimating the extracted gas’ value and questioning whether Reliance had the right to claim it.
Reliance, however, continues to argue that the gas was “migratory” — meaning it naturally moved between underground reservoirs, and so was legally extractable.
