Unveiling a fresh trouble for Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), reservoir expert P Gopalkrishnan, who has been hired by director general of hydrocarbons (DGH), recently determined that production of gas in KG-D6 basin hadn't declined due to geological difficulties as claimed by RIL.

The average production during FY2010-11 in KG-D6 basin was 48.13 mmscmd against the prescribed output of 53.40 mmscmd. During FY2011-12, the production slipped further to 35.33 mmscmd, against prescribed production of 61.88 mmscmd.

RIL claimed that geological difficulties brought the production down over the past years, but Gopalkrishnan said in its report that the production dropped because the operator didn't drill the wells as per the field development plan.

In the report, Gopalkrishnan said, "There is no geological or reservoir constraints to achieve the recommended gas production. Shortfall in gas production is due to non-drilling of the adequate number of wells as per the ADP."

CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta on Friday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to draw his attention to Gopalkrishnan's report. He added also underlined that the government had slapped RIL with a fine of $1 billion for deliberate fall in production, adding that the amount of fine worked out to $1.8 billion and $2.4 billion for the FY2012-13 and FY2013-14, respectively.

Meanwhile, national auditor CAG has asked the Petroleum & Natural Gas Ministry to mention steps it had taken to make sure that RIL delivers gas, which it didn't deliver over the past years, at a rate of $4.2 mbtu as per the approved production plan.