Mahesh flies too high, only to crash-land
Curiosity kills the cat. Sometimes controversies can kill too. Mahesh Sharma, who lost the crown of junior civil aviation minister in yesterday’s cabinet reshuffle, has learnt that the hard way. Sharma, who retains his additional portfolios of culture and tourism, has lost the ministry he was apparently most “interested” in, sources close to him said today. The 56-year-old BJP MP from Gautam Budh Nagar, who often shoots from lips and lands in controversies, was replaced by Jayant Sinha. “In fact, a day before the reshuffle, till late evening we were hoping for a call from party president Amit Shah’s office that he could be elevated to cabinet rank – so the snatching of the aviation portfolio came as a big disappointment,” a source said. “When that did not happen, we were hoping that at least all three portfolios would remain with him. But that also didn’t happen. The minister will not show it, but this has come as a blow to him,” another aide, who looks after his constituency affairs, said. JuJu Smith-Schuster Authentic Jersey
Excited to ‘take off’ at Civil Aviation Ministry: Jayant Sinha
Shifted out of the Finance Ministry, Jayant Sinha on July 6 said he is excited to “take off” in his new role as the Minister of State for Civil Aviation. After taking charge of his new portfolio, he met senior colleague Ashok Gajapathi Raju and other officials at the ministry including Secretary RN Choubey. Former MoS Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma was also present. “Excited to ‘take off’ at Civil Aviation Ministry under @Ashok_Gajapathi Ji’s guidance,” Sinha said in a tweet. A member of the Lok Sabha representing Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, Sinha studied at IIT, Delhi, University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School. By profession, he is a venture capital management consultant and hedge fund manager. He is also a global expert on entrepreneurship and technology, according to an official release. In another tweet, Sinha, who was earlier Minister of State for Finance, thanked Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for all his support and guidance. Clark Harris Womens Jersey
Airports Authority of India plans subsidiary to handle cargo
Air cargo handling is expected to become efficient at Airports Authority of India (AAI)-owned airports, including Chennai, as the authority plans to hive off cargo operations and set up an logistics subsidiary called Air Cargo Corporation. The move for a subsidiary has got informal approval from the AAI board. However, a few officers feel it may impact the revenue of the public sector airport operator which earns 200 crore from cargo annually. AAI appointed a consultant to study the feasibility of the proposal. It suggested that cargo operations be run separately under the AAI board. Sources said AAI higher-ups believed that a separate entity with a dedicated staff and hierarchy would help boost cargo volumes. Adam Wainwright Authentic Jersey
IOCL bets on petrochemical, gas marketing portfolios for growth
IOCL plans to invest Rs 430 billion for implementation of various petrochemical projects in the next four years. Petrochemical and gas marketing is the next big bet Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOCL) is taking in a bid to expand its business beyond the core of refining and marketing. “We are bullish on our new businesses, that is, petrochemicals and gas marketing. There is tremendous demand for petrochemicals, where we are now the second largest player in India,” said B. Ashok, Chairman, IOCL. IOCL, the country’s largest refiner and marketer, has 20% market share in the petrochemicals segment and plans to invest Rs. 430 billion for implementation of various petrochemical projects in the next four years. In natural gas marketing, the company would be investing around Rs. 78 billion over the same period. IOCL has implemented petrochemical projects worth Rs. 208 billion up to 2015-16. Reliance Industries is the market leader in petrochemicals with a 38% market share while Gail India holds a 15% market share and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd account for the remaining 27% between them. Over the years, IOCL has been expanding its business verticals and into getting newer areas. While in the pre-1999 era IOCL was only a refining and marketing company, post 1999 it has expanded into petrochemicals and natural gas. From 2009 onward, the company has expanded in the upstream or exploration and production sector as well as alternative energy. “Going forward, we are implementing several petchem projects, one of them being the polypropylene plant at Paradip, Orissa for Rs. 31.50 billion. And we are confident that our bottomline from the petrochemicals vertical will improve significantly in the years to come,” added Ashok. In an emailed reply, IOCL said the additional investments it is making in the sector will further enhance integration of its refineries with the petrochemical units with respect to feedstock, utilities, return streams, etc. It will ensure continuous supply of feedstock and utilities at competitive price. Apart from integration, value addition in the petrochemical streams is also envisaged. At present Panipat (Haryana) and Koyali (Gujarat) refineries are integrated. Paradip (Odisha) and Barauni (Bihar) are expected to be integrated in the next five years. IOCL, which sells its petrochemical products under the brand of Propel, registered the highest ever sales of petrochemicals at 2.538 million tons in 2015-16, as against 2.477 million tons in the previous year. The Petrochemicals segment has contributed more than Rs. 220 billion (5%) to the total revenue. With petrochemical sector being one of the fastest growing sectors in the Indian economy, IndianOil envisages petrochemicals to contribute 10% of the corporate revenue and 40% in profits in the next three to five years. “The corporation is now the second largest polymer supplier in the country with Propel grades covering over 80% of the plastics applications, and with over 50 polymer grades introduced and stabilised in the domestic market,” IOCL said in its fourth quarter statement. With two new destinations, France and Germany, added during the year, Propel petrochemicals are now being exported to 71 countries, and polymer intermediates to 53 countries, the statement added. For financial year 2015-16, IOCL’s net profit was Rs. 103.99 billion against Rs. 52.73 billion in the last fiscal. Income from operations for FY-16 came in at Rs.3.50 trillion as compared to Rs.4.37 trillion in 2014-15. Petchem contributes 5% of total income for IOCL. The segment contributed 30% of the total profit before tax for FY16 against 35% for FY 15. “Expanding into new businesses would give IOCL a natural hedge against its core business of refining and marketing which is heavily dependent on crude oil price movements. Last fiscal 5% of IOCL’s total revenue came from Petchem, providing it a good cushion against the inventory losses of Rs. 97.31 billion that the company registered,” said an analyst with a domestic brokerage on the condition of anonymity as he is not allowed to talk to the media. While China accounts for 25% of the demand from the global petrochemicals market, India is the leader in the rest of Asia-Pacific, with increasing demand for products containing petrochemicals. India’s flourishing manufacturing sector is expected to give a further fillip to the regional market for petrochemicals. In the natural gas marketing segment, for the first time in 2015-16, IOCL imported nine Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) cargoes on its own. This is in addition to LNG sourced through its joint venture Petronet LNG Ltd. IOCL marketed 1.929 million tons of natural gas during the year 2015-16, registering a 6.9% growth in sales over the previous year. Sale of over 19,000 tons of gas was achieved through the offer of ‘LNG at the Doorstep’ facility for customers located away from gas pipelines. Tommy Wingels Womens Jersey
BGR Energy bags Rs 23 billion contract from APGENCO
BGR Energy Systems has bagged a ? 23 billion contract for executing Balance of Plant systems and civil works for APGENCO’s power project in Krishna district. The company has informed the BSE that the EPC contract is for the Dr Narla Tata Rao Thermal Power Station, Stage – V (1X800MW) unit – 8 at Ibrahimpatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The contract completion period is 36 months from the date of award. Charley Taylor Jersey
IOCL bets on petrochemical, gas marketing portfolios for growth
IOCL plans to invest Rs 430 billion for implementation of various petrochemical projects in the next four years. Petrochemical and gas marketing is the next big bet Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOCL) is taking in a bid to expand its business beyond the core of refining and marketing. “We are bullish on our new businesses, that is, petrochemicals and gas marketing. There is tremendous demand for petrochemicals, where we are now the second largest player in India,” said B. Ashok, Chairman, IOCL. IOCL, the country’s largest refiner and marketer, has 20% market share in the petrochemicals segment and plans to invest Rs. 430 billion for implementation of various petrochemical projects in the next four years. In natural gas marketing, the company would be investing around Rs. 78 billion over the same period. IOCL has implemented petrochemical projects worth Rs. 208 billion up to 2015-16. Reliance Industries is the market leader in petrochemicals with a 38% market share while Gail India holds a 15% market share and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd account for the remaining 27% between them. Over the years, IOCL has been expanding its business verticals and into getting newer areas. While in the pre-1999 era IOCL was only a refining and marketing company, post 1999 it has expanded into petrochemicals and natural gas. From 2009 onward, the company has expanded in the upstream or exploration and production sector as well as alternative energy. “Going forward, we are implementing several petchem projects, one of them being the polypropylene plant at Paradip, Orissa for Rs. 31.50 billion. And we are confident that our bottomline from the petrochemicals vertical will improve significantly in the years to come,” added Ashok. In an emailed reply, IOCL said the additional investments it is making in the sector will further enhance integration of its refineries with the petrochemical units with respect to feedstock, utilities, return streams, etc. It will ensure continuous supply of feedstock and utilities at competitive price. Apart from integration, value addition in the petrochemical streams is also envisaged. At present Panipat (Haryana) and Koyali (Gujarat) refineries are integrated. Paradip (Odisha) and Barauni (Bihar) are expected to be integrated in the next five years. IOCL, which sells its petrochemical products under the brand of Propel, registered the highest ever sales of petrochemicals at 2.538 million tons in 2015-16, as against 2.477 million tons in the previous year. The Petrochemicals segment has contributed more than Rs. 220 billion (5%) to the total revenue. With petrochemical sector being one of the fastest growing sectors in the Indian economy, IndianOil envisages petrochemicals to contribute 10% of the corporate revenue and 40% in profits in the next three to five years. “The corporation is now the second largest polymer supplier in the country with Propel grades covering over 80% of the plastics applications, and with over 50 polymer grades introduced and stabilised in the domestic market,” IOCL said in its fourth quarter statement. With two new destinations, France and Germany, added during the year, Propel petrochemicals are now being exported to 71 countries, and polymer intermediates to 53 countries, the statement added. For financial year 2015-16, IOCL’s net profit was Rs. 103.99 billion against Rs. 52.73 billion in the last fiscal. Income from operations for FY-16 came in at Rs.3.50 trillion as compared to Rs.4.37 trillion in 2014-15. Petchem contributes 5% of total income for IOCL. The segment contributed 30% of the total profit before tax for FY16 against 35% for FY 15. “Expanding into new businesses would give IOCL a natural hedge against its core business of refining and marketing which is heavily dependent on crude oil price movements. Last fiscal 5% of IOCL’s total revenue came from Petchem, providing it a good cushion against the inventory losses of Rs. 97.31 billion that the company registered,” said an analyst with a domestic brokerage on the condition of anonymity as he is not allowed to talk to the media. While China accounts for 25% of the demand from the global petrochemicals market, India is the leader in the rest of Asia-Pacific, with increasing demand for products containing petrochemicals. India’s flourishing manufacturing sector is expected to give a further fillip to the regional market for petrochemicals. In the natural gas marketing segment, for the first time in 2015-16, IOCL imported nine Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) cargoes on its own. This is in addition to LNG sourced through its joint venture Petronet LNG Ltd. IOCL marketed 1.929 million tons of natural gas during the year 2015-16, registering a 6.9% growth in sales over the previous year. Sale of over 19,000 tons of gas was achieved through the offer of ‘LNG at the Doorstep’ facility for customers located away from gas pipelines. Sean Kuraly Womens Jersey
The oil industry is losing the burn of Asian demand
After half a year of strong oil price rises, Asian crude demand is slowing and by some measures falling, and many market participants suspect it is not just a cyclical phenomenon, but also a product of more permanent structural changes. With years of annual economic growth of 7-10 percent in China and similar recent figures from India, Asia-Pacific has overtaken the Americas to become the world’s biggest oil consuming region, accounting for almost 40 percent of global demand. But an industry that has come to rely on Asia’s booming thirst for oil could soon be scratching around for growth. Thomson Reuters Eikon data shows that Asian crude oil tanker imports have fallen, albeit from record levels, for four straight months and by 12 percent since March to around 82 million tons (20 million barrels per day), slightly below last year’s levels. Much of the surprise decline is explained by conditions in China, the region’s biggest consumer, accounting for 27 percent of Asia-Pacific demand and 13 percent of global demand. With its long-term growth outlook now camped perhaps permanently below 7 percent, most analysts expect vehicle sales in China will slow accordingly. They have already slipped to 2.1 million at the end of May, down from a peak of almost 2.8 million in December 2015. Refiners across Asia said that was starting to hit their business. “Asian oil demand growth is slowing down. China, Asia’s largest market, is experiencing sluggish demand,” said a South Korean refiner. As domestic refiners sell off surplus fuel, China’s exports of diesel and gasoline, the main refined fuels for industrial and passenger vehicles, have both soared. “Asia refiners have already started to pull back… and there are reports of (oil) cargoes struggling to sell,” said Adam Longson of Morgan Stanley this week in a note to clients, adding that demand in the third quarter could fall further. Ship brokers say traders have started chartering supertankers to store supplies that consumers can’t absorb. One key pillar of recent demand is never coming back. Analysts think China has nearly finished building its strategic petroleum reserves (SPR). Oil analysts at JPMorgan estimated in a note to clients last week that the SPR was now at 400 million barrels, which they believed was close to capacity. “Our model suggests a 15 percent month-on-month decline in China’s crude oil net imports in September, or a loss of 1.2 million barrels versus August and 0.8 million barrels less from the 12-month average,” they said. EFFICIENCY SAVINGS Structural changes in demand are not limited to China. For Asia’s most developed oil markets, Japan and South Korea, analysts say long-term demand will steadily fall. Japan’s oil consumption, once 6 million barrels per day (bpd) and 10 percent of global demand, has fallen to not much more than 3.5 million bpd, or under 5 percent of world consumption. It will fall further as government consolidates its refiners. “There are various factors. Nuclear power generation has restarted, pushing down energy demand. When nuclear plants shut down (after the 2011 Fukushima disaster), Japan imported lots of crude. Other factors include shrinking population, saturated status of automobiles and efficiency improvement,” said Kaname Gokon, strategist at brokerage Okato Shoji. The situation is similar in South Korea. “Korea’s oil demand is at a standstill, and demand is expected to decrease because of greenhouse gas emissions policy and alternative fuel. On top of that, if a growing number of people switch to use electric cars, oil demand is bound to fall,” said Moon Young-seok, senior researcher at state-run Korea Energy Economics Institute. Even in India, the industry’s big hope to compensate for slower demand in China, demand for new cars is tepid. While Indian motorbike sales remain strong, the number of new cars sold has fallen below 215,000 per month, down from almost 260,000 in October and well below the monthly record of just over 300,000 more than four years ago. While industry doesn’t expect Asian oil demand to decline outright, they say the growth seen over the past decade may never be revisited. The fuel economy standards of new cars, which stagnated below 30 miles per gallon (mpg) between 1980 and 2010, have improved to around 40 mpg now and are expected to rise to mid-50 mpg by the early 2020s, according to industry estimates. That’s without considering the rise of hybrid or pure electric vehicles. “Energy efficiency will play a huge role in slowing the growth in global demand, as energy use per unit of economic output is likely to fall by 40 percent (between 2014 and 2040),” U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil says in its 2016 outlook. Micheal Haley Womens Jersey