Reliance Industries Invests $5 Million to Digitize Energy Trading

In a bid to accelerate its efficiency and productivity via blockchain technology, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), a Mumbai-based conglomerate holding firm that deals in petrochemicals, telecommunications. textiles and more, has invested $5 million into Vakt Holdings Limited, which is a U.K.-based distributed ledger technology (DLT) firm, reported VCCircle on December 24, 2018.

Energy Trading Company Adopts Blockchain Technology

Reliance Industries Limited is primarily focused on the exploration and production of oil and gas, but of recent, their attention has been drawn to blockchain technology.

This is evident in their 5.56 percent equity share in Vakt Holdings Limited which was bought at $5 million.

According to the Mumbai-based company, they aim to digitize their trading processes and also meet the trends in technology. Therefore, they have decided to employ a blockchain solution in their energy markets division to create an ecosystem that is secure and trusted.

While revealing the details of the said investment, RIL mentioned that regulations were not carried out before an agreement ensued between both parties.

Moreover, this is an investment that cannot be categorized under the “related party transactions.”

Vakt, Formed by the Alliance of Reputable Companies

The U.K.-based startup, on the other hand, is a blockchain venture created in December 2017. It was formed as a result of an alliance with nine major energy companies and banks, including Shell, Statoil, Mercuria, Societe Generale, and ABN Amro.

As per sources close to the matter, the DLT solution monitors the full life cycle of energy trading, as well a the manual processes of maintaining information on paper, as well as mitigating risks and fostering cost-efficiency.

Although Vakt is still in its development stages, there are plans that member companies will be among the first to gain access to it in 2019. These companies, as well as RIL, will be using it for the trading of oil and gas.

Reliance Jio Infocomm, an arm of Reliance Industries reportedly made it clear that they were also interested in modern technologies a few months ago.

A team was hired to look into the application of nascent technologies such as DLT, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning.

On November 14, 2018, BTCManager reported that Shell and Equinor had sponsored a blockchain-based platform that is aimed at revolutionizing the oil and gas sector. In related news, on December 2, 2018, BTCManager informed the Vakt had been successfully launched, in a first of its kind occurrence for the oil and gas ecosystem.