Reliance Industries to challenge government's $1.55 billion penalty

Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd has decided to challenge a $1.55 billion fine imposed by the government on the company and its partners for selling gas belonging to the blocks of Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Reliance said in a statement. "RIL proposes to invoke the dispute resolution mechanism in the production sharing contract and issue a Notice of Arbitration to the Government," the statement said. India's oil ministry on Friday issued a notice to Reliance and its partners UK-based energy giant BP and Calgary - based Niko Resources Ltd for extracting gas from the adjacent blocks operated by Oil and Natural Gas Corp, according to Reuters. "In carrying out petroleum operations, the contractor has worked within the boundaries of the block awarded to it and has complied with all applicable regulations and provisions of the Production Sharing Contract," the statement said. The government's claim is not sustainable, Reliance said. The company said: "The liability of the contractor has not been established by any process known to law and the quantification of the purported claim is without any basis and arbitrary". Source: ummid.co...
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Facebook plans $6-bn share buyback in Q1 next year

Facebook has authorised buying back $6 billion of its stock from shareholders, beginning the first quarter of next year, the company announced in a filing with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday. The repurchase programme that will begin in the first quarter of 2017, will help create value for shareholders, especially when growth at the social networking company has slowed. Facebook had, in its last earnings call, said that its growth would likely slow as a result of the company reaching its maximum advertising load. Facebook, which has historically grown at a very fast clip, is now expanding at a slow pace and needs something more than growth to create value for investors. In a separate filing with the SRC, Facebook also announced that its chief accounting officer, Jas Athwal, is retiring. Earlier this year, Facebook issued a new class of stock that would essentially keep Mark Zuckerberg in control of the company, enabling him to withstand any pressure from Wall Street. That helps Facebook to continue to make long-term decisions without having to play to the tune of industry watchers and investors. Share repurchases may sometimes be useful for reducing the overall amount of outstanding shares. Companies may authorise a share repurchase either to return value to shareholders (the company can also issue a dividend), to build up good will with Wall Street or to keep pressure off the company...
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