Companies can recover full exploration cost from new discoveries only: Oil Ministry

New Delhi: Vedanta, Reliance IndustriesNSE -0.18 % and other oil companies can fully recover exploration cost incurred after the expiry of the so-called exploration period, according to an oil ministry clarification, which also said such cost – currently about $650 million for VedantaNSE -0.28 % and $250 million for RIL – will have to be recovered from new discoveries alone, and not from the revenues of the older, producing ones. The clarification will allow companies to recover all exploration cost, albeit with a delay, and protect the government’s cash inflow from older discoveries.