The government is considering referring to a panel of experts an old-dispute with Reliance-Industries, ONGC and half a dozen other oil-firms over how much penalty explorers must pay for unfinished minimum-work-programme in blocks awarded in previous exploration-rounds. The government has claimed about $600-million in penalty from companies, including $380-million from Reliance and little more than $100-million from ONGC, people aware of the matter said.