100% FDI in aviation: Future domestic airline completely foreign owned? ICAO clears fog
The International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations body that sets guidelines and standards for the sector, has allayed concerns that a foreign-owned airline operating from India may have legal and procedural issues in obtaining seats under bilateral rights for flying abroad. The air service agreements (ASAs) signed between any two countries usually mandate that airlines from either country have their substantial ownership and effective control (SOEC) vested with citizens of the particular country. These ASAs are based on International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) template and even though they are not binding, most countries include it in their bilateral rights agreements. “It is up to the concerned states to negotiate and agree on what criteria or requirements they would apply for the designation and authorisation of their airlines to operate the agreed air services. Even for those air service agreements which contain a ‘nationality clause’, states have the discretionary right to decide if they would apply or waive it on a case-by-case basis,” ICAO told FE in an e-mailed response. DeVante Parker Authentic Jersey
India will need aircraft worth USD 265 bn in 20 years: Boeing
Boeing Corporation today sounded bullish about the Indian aviation sector, the fastest-growing market in the world in terms of passenger traffic, saying the country will need as many as 1,850 new airplanes worth USD 265 billion over the next 20 years. The Seattle-based aircraft maker had last year predicted a demand for 1,740 new airplanes valued at USD 240 billion over the next 20 years. This rising demand will be driven by single-aisle planes such as the 737 Max and Next-Generation 737s from Boeing and A320 Neos from its arch rival Airbus, according to Dinesh Keskar, Senior Vice-President for Asia Pacific and India, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. He was talking to reporters here while releasing Boeing’s ‘Current market outlook for India’ report. Julius Peppers Jersey
Air India, SpiceJet, Jet Airways top in reputation rankings
Despite all the ills it is facing on the on-time performance and staff discipline, the national carrier Air India tops when it comes to brand reputation, followed by low-cost carrier SpiceJet and Jet Airways. Among the international carriers, it is Singapore Airlines that leads the ranking, followed by Etihad and Emirates, says TRA (Trust Research Advisory) Research-BlueBytes in the ‘Most reputed aviation brands 2016’ report. Others in the list include Indigo, and GoAir, while other international airlines include Lufthansa, British Airways and Qatar Airways. The ranking is based on a brand’s reputation with a two-pronged approach of media analysis and a survey of consumer influencers and was conducted among the 21 airline brands that have measurable media coverage and 2,500 consumers. Wily Peralta Authentic Jersey
Aviation Ministry announces levy of taxes on large airlines
As per the National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016, to ensure uniformity and level playing field across various airport operators, future tariffs at all airports will be calculated on a ‘hybrid till’ basis, unless otherwise specified for any project being bid out in future. It is also provided that 30% of non-aeronautical revenue will be used to cross-subsidise aeronautical charges. In order to operationalize Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), the National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016 provides that a Regional Community Fund will be created through levy per departure on all domestic routes, other than CatII/IIA routes, RCS routes and small aircraft below 80 seats irrespective of routes. Selection of cities under RCS is to be ‘demand driven’, depending on firm demand from airline operators and where State Government agrees to provide various concession envisaged in the Policy. Jordan Evans Jersey
Aviation Ministry seeks Rs 4,650 crore to revive 50 airports
Ministry of Civil Aviation has sought a budgetary provision of Rs 4,650 crore to revive 50 un-served and under-served airports and airstrips as it looks to boost regional air connectivity in the country. The expenses related to 32 Airports Authority of India (AAI) owned aerodromes, where there were no aircraft movements, stood at nearly Rs 15 crore last financial year, according to Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha. Under the new civil aviation policy, the ministry has put in place provision for promoting regional connectivity by way of reviving unserved and under-served airports and airstrips. “In order to implement the scheme, a proposal has been submitted to the Ministry of Finance for making a budgetary provision of Rs 4,650 crore (approximately) to revive a total of 50 such airports/airstrips,” Sinha said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. “The scheme is to be implemented over a period of three years.” As part of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), the government plans to provide viability gap funding which would be financed through the Regional Connectivity Fund. Doug Baldwin Womens Jersey
MRPL Settles Half of Oil Debt to Iran: Report
Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) has cleared part of its outstanding oil dues to Tehran, a report said. MRPL which owed $ 2.56 billion to Iran since 2013 towards import of crude oil has so far paid $1.4 billion, The Hindu reported on Monday. The Indian-based oil company’s Managing Director H. Kumar said the payment was possible following the removal of anti-Tehran sanctions. Essar Oil, the top Indian buyer of Iranian oil, in June cleared $500 million of a debt owed to Tehran. On May 21, the Indian government paid the first part of its outstanding oil dues to Iran in euros through Turkey’s Halkbank. It was the first payment to Iran by India since the removal of the sanctions. However, Indian refiners later on June 9 announced that they had started to settle the rest of their debts to Iran via State Bank of India and Germany-based bank Europaeisch-Iranische Handelsbank AG (EIH). In addition to Essar Oil and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, Indian Oil Corp owes $581 million to Iran. Also, HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) has to pay $97 million and Hindustan Petroleum Corp owes $29 million. Keegan Kolesar Jersey
RIL refining margins up despite fall in regional benchmarks
Reliance Industries, owner of the world’s largest refining complex, reported improvement in refining margins during the April-June quarter despite a decline in regional benchmarks, Moody’s said. “RIL reported an EBITDA growth of 3 per cent during the quarter ended 30 June 2016. Improvement in earnings was aided by stronger gross refining margins (GRM) and higher product spreads in the petrochemical business,” it said. The company earned $11.5 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel compared to a GRM of $10.8 per barrel in the immediately preceding quarter while the Singapore benchmark slipped to $5 from $7.7 per barrel over the same period. “RIL’s GRM out-performed the regional benchmark by $6.5 a barrel during the quarter which was the highest in the last eight years,” Moody’s Investors Service said. The improvement in RIL’s gross refining margin was mainly attributable to the weakness in fuel oil cracks. A crack is the profit margin between the refined products (in this case fuel oil) and crude oil. Its Jamnagar refineries in Gujarat produces no or negligible amount of fuel oil as a result of which a weakness in fuel cracks is favorable for RIL’s refining margins. Improvement in gasoil cracks during the quarter also supported RIL’s GRMs. “We expect RIL’s GRM to improve by another $2 per barrel, once it completes its ongoing projects within the energy business by fiscal 2017 while the Singapore complex is expected to remain range bound within $5-6 over the next 4 -6 months,” Moody’s said. On a year-on-year basis, RIL reported an earnings growth of 17 per cent in April-June backed by earnings improvement in the refining and petrochemical segment. “As RIL continues to invest towards its ongoing projects in the energy and consumer businesses, borrowings remain on an uptrend,” it said adding the company’s net debt increased to Rs 959 billion as of June 2016 compared to Rs 904 billion in March 2016. Moody’s said it expects RIL’s credit metrics to improve once the ongoing projects are complete and start contributing to earnings over the next 12-18 months. “We expect fiscal 2018 to be the first full year for cash flows coming in from the next projects,” it said. RIL’s petrochemical business saw an earnings growth of 4 per cent during the June quarter. Improvement in earnings was attributable to increased polymer demand which boosted product deltas. Higher natural rubber prices led to increased demand for synthetic rubber which in turn led to higher elastomer. On a y-o-y basis, the petrochemical segment saw a 20 per cent growth in earnings backed by higher production volumes. “We expect earnings from the petrochemical segment to improve further as the company completes its ongoing expansion within the petrochemical segment over the next 12-18 months,” it added. Le’Veon Bell Womens Jersey
In a first, Iraq undercuts Saudi Arabia in Q2 to grab top spot in India oil market
Iraq overtook Saudi Arabia for the first time to become India’s top oil supplier in the June quarter, helped by sales of discounted heavy crude that refiners have also been using to make bitumen to build roads in the world’s No.3 oil consumer. State oil firm Saudi Aramco has traditionally been the main supplier to India and Riyadh could face pressure to deepen crude price cuts to regain market share, particularly ahead of the planned listing of Saudi Aramco. Iraqi oil accounted for about a fifth of Indian imports in the second quarter, up from 16 percent a year ago, according to trade sources and ship-tracking data compiled by Thomson Reuters Supply Chain & Commodities Research. The Saudi market share in India over the period fell to about 18 percent from a fifth last year, marking the first time Iraq has overtaken Saudi Arabia in an entire quarter. Facing inroads into its market shares, Saudi Aramco this month slashed the August official selling price (OSP) of its benchmark light crude grade to Asia by the most in nine months but analysts warned it may need to make deeper cuts. Saudi Aramco had been raising prices over the previous four months, leading some to believe that it was preparing to end an aggressive attempt to expand market share. “If Aramco wants to raise market share then it should strike long-term deals or offer crude at more attractive price than competitors,” said Ehsaan Ul Haq, a senior analyst at U.K.-based consultancy KBC Energy. OPEC’s top producer has lost ground in a number of major global markets including to Russia in China, and is also facing a further threat from Iran, which is ramping up exports after Western sanctions were removed. The drop in market share comes as the Kingdom prepares to list Saudi Aramco and other assets to raise tens of billions of dollars to help bridge a budget shortfall due to weak oil prices. ROAD CONSTRUCTION Iraq’s Basra Heavy crude grade has seen growing demand from Indian refiners since it was introduced last year. Many Indian refiners have the capability to process such heavier grades and it is also sold at a steep discount. In addition, Basra Heavy is also good for producing bitumen to be used for road construction. India aims to build about 40 kilometres (25 miles)of roads every day this fiscal year under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to improve infrastructure. “When you compare it with other heavy rival grades it comes first in ranking,” said B. K. Namdeo, head of refineries at Hindustan Petroleum Corp, referring to Basra Heavy’s versatility and its price competitiveness. Demand for Basra, however, is likely to temporarily soften during the current monsoon season in India, when road construction slows and Namdeo said refineries could switch to competing grades like Murban and Arab Light. In the April-June quarter, India’s oil imports from Iraq rose by about 34 percent to 847,000 barrels per day (bpd), while those from Saudi Arabia fell to 768,000 bpd, the data showed. But in June alone, India’s oil imports from Iraq declined by about 13 percent from a year ago as Saudi Arabia regained its top spot in the month. Officials at Indian refineries said, however, loading problems had contributed to lower Iraqi oil imports and demand is expected to return after the monsoon ends in September. Dontari Poe Jersey
India, US agree to enhance cooperation on hydrocarbons, energy
Petroleum Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, and US Secretary for Energy, Ernest Moniz, have agreed to enhance technical and institutional cooperation specific to hydrocarbons and energy. The two leaders met in Washington D.C. on Monday and agreed to cooperate on the assessment and reassessment of conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon reserves in India, new technologies of biofuel and development of petroleum storage. “Over the last decade, several areas of interest for cooperation including technology for production from marginal fields, shale structures, developing gas pipeline networks and improving refinery efficiency have been identified. During the meeting yesterday, the two ministers agreed that there is a need for regular meetings of officials and experts from both sides,” an official statement from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said. Paul Richardson Jersey