Government to align ethanol price with global market
After paying a fixed price for ethanol used for doping in petrol, the government said it will move towards ‘market dynamic’ pricing system where rates would move in tandem with international trend. In a bid to boost agrarian economy, the government had in December 2014 fixed a price of Rs 48.50-49.50 per litre for ethanol public sector oil companies were to buy from sugar mills for blending with petrol. This rate is about 20 per cent more than the current cost of producing petrol .. We want to link the price to market dynamics. Government will move towards market dynamic pricing system,” Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said at conference on bio-fuels here. He said at present 10 per cent sugarcane extracted ethanol is being mixed with petrol and sold in eight sugarcane producing states of Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana, DELHI and Bihar. At the remaining places, 5 per cent ethanol is being mixed in petrol. Also, doping of non-edible oil, called bio-diesel, in diesel will begin this fiscal with 110 million litres being contracted, he said. Pradhan said with India’s fuel demand slated to rise exponentially, ethanol and bio-diesel market of Rs 65 billion can jump to Rs 1000 billion in next few years. By 2022, 4.50 billion litre of ethanol, costing about Rs 230 billion, and 6.75 billion litre of bio-diesel, worth Rs 270 billion, would be required considering a nominal fuel growth of 5-6 per cent, he said adding the requirement would be substantially higher if the 2014-15 and 15-16 growth average of 11-12 per cent is taken. Craig Kimbrel Authentic Jersey
India’s Numaligarh Refinery plans $3 billion expansion to treble capacity
India’s Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) plans a $3 billion expansion of its 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery in the northeastern state Assam, its managing director P Padmanabhan said. He said his firm is awaiting a response from the oil ministry on the plan to treble the refinery capacity to 180,000 bpd. NRL, with some refineries of Indian Oil Corp, meets the fuel demand for the northeastern part of the country. The company plans to shut the refinery for two-three weeks in September for maintenance, catalyst change at a hydrocracker and hooking up a diesel hydrotreater with the existing unit, he said. “We are building up stock to meet demand in the region… there will not be any shortages,” Padmanabhan told Reuters. NRL is majority owned by refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp. He said other refineries in the region are not planning a maintenance shutdown of units and will ensure availability of fuels in the region. “If required, BPCL will supply the fuel,” he added. Carlton Fisk Authentic Jersey