While domestically-produced gas is currently priced at an average of rates in gas-surplus countries like the US, Canada and Russia, for deep-sea discoveries yet to be developed, the government plans to price them at an average cost of alternative fuels -- naphtha and fuel oil as well as imported LNG.

"We're about to firm up ONGC's financing to the joint venture we have in the San Cristobal field," Eulogio Del Pino, who is also Venezuela's Oil Minister, told Reuters.

Reliance Industries had in 2001 and again in 2007 acquired seismic data to study hydrocarbon reservoir lying several hundred meters below the sea-bed not just in its Bay of Bengal KG-D6 block but also of neighbouring blocks of ONGC without the knowledge of the state-owned firm, it alleged.

Among individual stocks, Cairn India surged 6% to Rs 134, followed by ONGC which gained 5% at Rs 209, and Oil India jumped 3.4% to Rs 327 on the BSE. At 10:45 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 1.3% or 304 points at 23,687.

However, ONGC is unlikely to cut its capital expenditure as the state-owned firm wants to take advantage of the lower rates of services and rig rates to carry out exploration and production activity, officials said.

With oil prices slumping to 12-year lows, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has begun cost controls as well as deferment of capital expenditure without adverse impact on operations.

It sought an explanation from the regulator for this along with compensation from the company for the lost gas.

“Our profit would have been Rs 3,898 crore, had it not been for the provision for impairment of Rs 2,612 crore,” ONGC Chairman and Managing Director D K Sarraf said.

“The second meeting of the Shah Committee was held a couple of days ago. RIL attended the meeting and (its representatives) said we would like to participate. Niko Resources also participated,” ONGC Chairman D K Sarraf told a media gathering while announcing the company’s third quarter results. He was responding to a question on the status of the controversial gas dispute.

The state-owned explorer wants to end existing expensive contracts for drilling rigs signed in the fiscal year 2014-15 when crude prices averaged $85 a barrel and to sign new ones at a lower price.