Reliance industries to invest $4 billion in oil and gas

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries has said that says Reliance plans to invest $4 billion in hydrocarbons and expand paraxylene capacity from 1.9 million tonnes (mt) to 4.5 mt in two phases at Jamnagar, accounting for a 15-per cent sgare of the global capacity.

Speaking at the 33rd annual general meeting of Reliance Industries, chairman Mukesh Ambani said Reliance would also double ethylene capacity at Jamnagar to 3.2 mt. HE added that the company had plans to build a coke gasification complex in Jamnagar by 2012.

He confirmed that oil from the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin would also be commercialised, setting the latter half of FY 2009 as the time frame. Ambani added that the company would pursue growth through organic and inorganic opportunities.

Among the other issues Ambani informed the shareholders were:

• Marketable securities with Reliance including investments in Reliance Petroleum Limited have a value at current market prices of approximately Rs110,000 crore ($28 billion). This gives Reliance the ability to pursue organic and inorganic growth opportunities of significant scale and size in the future
• Acquisitions-led strategy already in place with recent acquisitions in Malaysia and Africa part of this
• Jamnagar refinery project expected to be completed ahead of schedule at nearly half the capital cost of international refineries of similar size
• Reliance to build at Jamnagar by 2012, world''s largest integrated combined cycle coke gasification complex with a capacity of 6 million tonnes per year
• Reliance to invest $4 billion of risk capital in the coming years, over and above the $2 billion already invested, to realise hydrocarbon potential of India
• The first gas discoveries in Krishna Godavari expected to be in production in the second half of the financial year 2008-09
• The gas production rate would be equivalent to about half a million barrels of crude oil per day, representing 30 per cent of India''s current oil import. At current prices of gas and crude oil, this means a savings of Rs36,000 crore ($9 billion) annually, with multiplier effect on the Indian economy
• Reliance targeting 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent of 2P gross reserves globally
• Reliance is expanding its oil and gas portfolio outside of India. The company''s oil and gas upstream footprint now spans the globe — Oman, Yemen, Colombia, East Timor, Northern Iraq and Australia
• In the pilot phase, Reliance Retail has opened 300 stores in 30 cities and 12 states since its launch November 2006, 300 stores have been opened. Organised retail initiative to gain momentum once the benefits are fully understood
• The company is extending its growth model to forge new partnerships such as those with Chevron in the Jamnagar refinery expansion project and with world leaders in consumer products in organised retailing
• Given its imperative to invest in innovation, RIL will be building a Reliance Centre for Technology at Navi Mumbai to complement its Innovation Council at Pune which will have several Nobel Prize winners and global thought leaders
• In the last five years, Reliance shareholders have seen the value of their stock growing exponentially. Between March 2002 and yesterday (11 October 2007) the market capitalisation of the company grew from Rs.41,989 crore (US$ 8,604 million) to Rs382,259 crore ($97,267 million)
• Reliance is emerging as India''s first true multinational; on global size, scale and presence.
• In the last one year, Reliance has more than doubled its exports in value terms to Rs 66,627 crore ($15,327 million).
• Return on equity has improved from 14.8 per cent to 23.5 per cent in the last five years. During the same period, return on capital employed has improved from 13.2 per cent to 20.5 per cent.

(See: Excerpts from Mukesh Ambani''s speech at the annual general meeting)

(See: Full text of Chairman''s statement at the 33rd annual general meeting of Reliance Industries)