Clarification sought from UP discom on electrification of Nagla Fatela village
Rural Electrification Corporation on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice to an Uttar Pradesh power distribution utility seeking clarification on status of Nagla Fatela village that was announced as electrified by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech. The corporation has sought clarification from Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Ltd (DVVNL) on media reports that said no power connections have been given to households, though the village has been certified as electrified by the utility in October 2015. The notice has also sought explanation on media reports that quoted chief engineer VS Gangwar as saying that the village was electrified many years ago, but only through “katia” connections. “You may also clarify, why, if the infrastructure work had been completed and certified on October 30, as reported by DVVNL, no connection have so far been released to households, including BPL households and the infrastructure remained underutilised after spending public money, including GOI grant. In case your reply is not received within three days, action as deemed appropriate will be initiated,” the notice said. Power, coal, renewable energy and mines minister Piyush Goyal said that Uttar Pradesh has been asking for additional funds while not been able to utilise the existing ones. DaeSean Hamilton Authentic Jersey
With a target of 1lakh kms, NHAI launches ‘adopt a green highway scheme’
The National highways Authority of India (NHAI) has launched ‘adopt a green highway scheme’ to engage corporates, public sector units and other government departments to undertake greening of national highways under the corporate social responsibility programme. Power Finance Corporation has already committed to greening of an 87 km national highway stretch in Nagpur. NHAI is also in talks with Coal India and several other PSUs to undertake greening of highways. “This will open new vistas for PSUs and corporate houses to utilize their CSR funds for greening of highways and creation of ecological assets,” said Dr. AK Bhattacharya, MD- National Green Highways Mission (NGHM). Government has a target of greening of one lakh kms of national highways. Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari has also earmarked a departmental budget of Rs 5000 crore for the same. With a target of 1lakh kms, NHAI launches ‘adopt a green highway scheme’ Lou Brock Authentic Jersey
Govt sets 2019 deadline for Navi Mumbai Airport
Alarmed at the capacity constraints in Mumbai airport, the aviation ministry is working on a two-pronged strategy — to create slots by making the airport in Juhu operational, and complete the operational part of the airport in Navi Mumbai by 2019. According to the plan, the government has set a 2019 deadline to make the Navi Mumbai airport available by creating operational portions such as the runway, terminal building and the ATC tower. “The rest of the infrastructure can come eventually and the airport should be made operational first,” said a top aviation ministry official, who did not wish to be identified. The ministry has also asked the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to hire consultants to suggest ways to revive the airport in Juhu in its efforts to decongest the existing airport. “The plan is to shift general aviation operations and regional flights operations to the airport in Juhu, which will help decongest the existing airport,” said the official. He said the plans to build a runway on the sea can be revived. “It is true that that the plan is old and never been implemented. But those were different times, when the current airport was not saturated. The circumstances have changed now and solution needs to be arrived at as quickly as possible.” The Mumbai airport has run out of landing slots from this summer schedule that started in March 2016, and could not allow additional domestic flights from the airport, EThad reported in March 2016. The airport could not add slots because the single runway operations out of Mumbai airport does not provide room for any new aircraft movements. Brad Marchand Jersey
Biju Patnaik International Airport to operate 24X7 from Sep 1
Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) authorities have decided to keep the airport open round the clock from September 1. “The Ministry of Civil Aviation has already given permission for day and night operation of the airport,” said BPIA Director R Mahalingam.
Air India registers Rs 100 cr operating profit in FY 16, finds mention in PM’s I-day speech
Air India’s return to profitability was acknowledged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech on Monday. “Air India was infamous for incurring losses. My government has succeeded in bringing Air India to a situation of clocking operational profit,” Modi said, taking credit for the carrier’s achievement. Modi did not disclose the airline’s profit figure in his speech. According to airline officials, Air India has made an operating profit of Rs 100-110 crore in FY16, higher than the earlier projection of Rs 8-10 crore, driven by low jet fuel price. The airline, which is under Rs 30,000-crore government bailout plan, closed its financial 2015-16 accounts recently, but the accounts are yet to be audited. Top officials confirmed that the airline had made Rs 100-crore operating profit in FY16, but refused to divulge other details. This is the carrier’s first operating profit in a decade. At a net level though the carrier is making a huge loss as its interest and maintenance cost remain high. In April government informed the Parliament that the airline is likely to post Rs 2636 crore net loss in FY 16. A senior Air India official said that the though low crude played a major role behind the airline’s performance, its result also improved due to increased aircraft utilisation and improved seat occupancy. The airline is estimated to have saved 30 per cent on its fuel bill due to lower crude oil price even as it added new services between Delhi-San Francisco and Ahmedabad-London. Klim Kostin Womens Jersey
India seeks to cash in on LNG glut
The market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) is about to attract more players and more trading as new supply from the US and Australia strengthens buyers’ bargaining power. Historically, LNG has been sold on long-term contracts that guaranteed buyers supply and helped producers finance liquefaction plants at a time when less of the product was shipped. Now, a natural gas glut is causing countries that import LNG to support renegotiating existing deals that can run 20 years or more as suppliers lower their prices in a move to shrink stockpiles. India already is encouraging importers to rework long-term accords to better align costs with spot market prices. Japan, the world’s largest LNG importer, may soon join them. That country’s Fair Trade Commission is in the process of probing resale restrictions in longer deals in an effort that could mean the renegotiation of more than $600 billion in contracts and boost the number of shorter-term agreements. “There will be 40 million to 50 million tons of homeless LNG by 2020, which can go anywhere or doesn’t have any fixed customers,” said Hiroki Sato, a senior executive vice president with Jera Co., a fuel buyer that plans to increase spot and short-term LNG deals. “Homeless LNG will provide a great opportunity to improve liquidity in Asian and global markets.” Global LNG trade rose 2.5% to a record 245.2 million tons in 2015, according to the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers. A million tons of the super cooled fuel is equivalent to about 48 billion cubic feet of natural gas, which is enough to heat about 690,000 homes for winter in the US Northeast. About 28% of LNG traded in 2015 was on a spot or short-term basis, according to the importers’ group. That’s up from 18.9% in 2010, according to the group. Asian spot prices for LNG have already slumped by about 60% since September 2014 amid new supplies. Additional projects like Inpex Corp.’s Ichthys project in Australia and the Cove Point export terminal on the US East Coast that are expected to begin operation in 2017 may weaken prices by almost a fifth over the next two years, according to BMI Research. Japanese traders are getting ready for the opportunities that would arise if that nation’s Fair Trade Commission determines destination clauses in long-term contracts, which prevent resale of the fuel, violate competition laws. US shale gas already has shaken up markets as American producers write contracts that allow buyers to resell LNG wherever they want. Trade flows As the oversupply intensifies next year to the point Asian buyers can’t absorb the surplus, new trading flows may emerge from Asia to Europe, according to Kazuhiko Inomata, a deputy director with Itochu Corp., Japan’s third-largest trading house. Itochu plans to increase its LNG staff in Singapore by two to three people within two years, according to Inomata. Japanese rival Mitsui & Co. aims to increase the number of LNG traders at its Singapore subsidiary to as many as six over one to two years, the company said in July. The South-East Asian city state is competing with Shanghai and Tokyo to be a regional hub for the fuel. Itochu has leased an LNG tank at South Korea’s Gwangyang terminal that is one of only handful in Asia that can receive the fuel and then re-export it. Commodities trader Trafigura Beheer BV has similar capacity through a storage and re-loading site in Singapore. European resale Jera, a joint venture of Chubu Electric Power Co. and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., plans to resell LNG to Europe as it seeks to expand trading operations. Sumitomo Corp., the fourth-biggest Japanese trader, is said to be considering starting a LNG trading office in Europe. India, which aims to more than double its regasification capacity to 55 million tons within five years, wants to turn the oversupply to its favour as it seeks to make natural gas more affordable for users and increase the fuel’s use in its energy mix, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in an interview. Natural gas currently accounts for about 7% of the South Asian nation’s fuel basket. The world’s fourth largest LNG buyer was among the first countries in Asia to renegotiate a long-term deal after Petronet LNG Ltd. in December reworked a 25-year contract with Qatar’s RasGas Co., resulting in prices dropping by almost half. GAIL India Ltd. is seeking to defer a 20-year supply deal with Gazprom PJSC signed in 2012 and has said it will consider getting LNG from other sources at prices closer to spot-market rates. “It isn’t necessarily that spot LNG is always cheaper than those supplied under long-term contracts,” said Kentaro Kimoto, an executive officer at Tokyo Gas Co., which has traditionally relied on long-term deals. “But we will need to start buying some LNG under spot or short-term contracts to minimize the divergence with market prices.” Will Witherspoon Womens Jersey
Petroleum ministry slaps $250-mn profit petroleum penalty on Reliance Industries
The petroleum ministry has slapped a penalty of nearly $250 million on Reliance Industries (RIL) to make good the government’s loss of “profit petroleum” owing to the firm’s inability to meet the natural gas production targets from the Krishna-Godavari (KG) D-6 block. “In a communication sent on June 3 to RIL by the government, the penalty has revised from $195 million as on March 31, 2014, to $246.9 million till March 31, 2015,” a senior official told FE. The KG-D6 fields started production in April 2009. The current production of around 8 million metric standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) is a far cry from the peak of over 69 mmscmd achieved in early 2010. The block was envisaged to produce more than 80 mmscmd of the fuel. Profit petroleum is the main source of revenue for the government from a hydrocarbon block. It is calculated using what is called an investment multiple that denotes how many times the earnings are to the investment. Trey Hopkins Authentic Jersey
LTHE Sees India Investing $5B in Offshore Upstream Sector Over 5 Years
India’s L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering Ltd. (LTHE), an oil and gas integrated solutions provider to the offshore oil and gas sector owned by Larsen & Toubro (L&T), sees the domestic offshore petroleum industry generating approximately $5 billion in investments over the next 4 to 5 years, a senior company executive said, as quoted Sunday in local daily The Economic Times. Industry sentiments in India’s petroleum sector appeared more positive, compared to the global industry where international, national and local oil and gas companies have cutback on capital spendings over the past 1 to 2 years to combat the effects of lower oil prices. “(The) hydrocarbon industry is currently going through a difficult period. At $40-50 a barrel, capital expenditure has reduced across the globe though there is lesser impact on gas development,” LTHE CEO and Managing Director Subramanian Sarma said in The Economic Times, adding that business prospects gets more difficult for deepwater players as the development costs are higher. Still, industry sources said the market situation in India’s oil and gas sector is relatively bright — given rising energy consumption in recent years — compared to the rest of the world as the South Asian country attempts to raise domestic production by capitalizing on the decline in development cost for projects. India’s daily oil demand expanded 8.1 percent last year to 4.159 million barrels, making it the second largest oil consumer after China, according to BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2016. “However, with domestic market poised to improve, especially on the back of the ‘Make In India’ initiative of the government and other programs, we hope the sector will attract nearly $5 billion investments in the next 4-5 years … Given our capabilities, we hope to bag nearly $1 billion worth contracts in the next 2-3 years,” Sarma said. The LTHE CEO pointed out that most of India’s upstream investments are likely to come from the public sector as the state has a higher capacity to spend. “There are very few private players who may also embark on new development and between private and public investments, we should be able to capture a reasonable size of market,” he said. LTHE has expanded its cooperation with major industry players to improve its service offerings to the offshore upstream oil and gas sector. In February, the company signed a long term exclusive agreement with McDermott International, Inc. to work together on local subsea projects. In December 2015, both parties bagged a $366.3 million (INR 24.5 billion) engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract for the Vashishta deepwater development offshore India’s east coast. In addition, LTHE inked a memorandum of understanding with GE earlier this month to jointly manufacture subsea manifolds for deepwater projects in the Krishna-Godvari basin on the country’s east coast. Chee Yew has covered the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry in Asia for more than 15 years. Charles Barkley Jersey
EY to re-evaluate GSPC onshore blocks
Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) Ltd has hired consulting firm EY to re-evaluate onshore exploration and production assets held by the company, two GSPC officials said. GSPC holds a participating interest in 24 blocks of which 20 are onshore while four are offshore. Of the 24 blocks, it is an operator in six blocks and a non-operating partner in 18. “EY has been appointed for carrying out evaluation of onshore blocks only. The exercise is aimed at evaluating if it is possible to induct a strategic-cum-technical partner by farming out a part of GSPC’s participating interest and improve the performance of producing onshore blocks,” said a GSPC spokesperson in an email. Of the 20 blocks, 17 onshore blocks are producing properties. “EY is assessing our blocks for us. Blocks where we are not an operator, we would want to get out of and invest our energy and finances in fields where we are operators,” added a senior GSPC official on condition of anonymity. The official said the re-structuring exercise would help the firm save on exploration costs. EY declined to comment. “EY shall carry out evaluation of all onshore blocks—both operated and non-operated. Based on the evaluation carried out by EY, the report will be placed for consideration of the board of directors of GSPC for an appropriate decision,” the spokesperson said. GSPC is the flagship company of the GSPC Group, involved in exploration and production (E&P) of oil and gas. The government of Gujarat owns 87% of the company’s equity capital. GSPC has already approached state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) to sell a stake in its primary asset, the Deen Dayal field in the Krishna-Godavari basin (KG basin), located off the east coast of Andhra Pradesh. GSPC is the operator of the block with 80% participating interest. The firm clarified this block is not included in the evaluation exercise, as it is an offshore asset. GSPC has invested $3.5 billion (approximately Rs.200 billion) in the block and taken on about Rs.195 billion of debt. Though it started test production from the block in 2014, it is yet to begin commercial output. A second GSPC official, on condition of anonymity, said the KG basin field is one of the most difficult to extract gas from. GSPC has been facing financial headwinds and has undertaken a business restructuring exercise to improve its credit profile. A deal with ONGC will reduce its debt burden of nearly Rs.200 billion as of December 2015. According to the restructuring scheme, set in motion in late 2015, GSPC will hive off its participating interest in the Krishna-Godavari Deen Dayal West (KG-DDW) block and its related assets and liabilities to GSPC’s offshore unit. The remainder of GSPC’s businesses (including exploration and production blocks other than KG-DDW, gas trading, wind power generation, and investments in subsidiaries and associates) will be merged into an energy unit. The scheme is subject to approval by lenders, the Gujarat high court, and regulatory agencies. In a report on public sector firms in Gujarat for the year ended March 2015, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India pulled up GSPC for mismanaging its exploration and development-related activities in its KG basin and overseas assets, leading to higher costs and financial losses. “The delay in commencement of gas production from KG-DDW, which has led to sizeable debt, has weakened GSPC’s credit risk profile. Priority for GSPC currently should be to deleverage the balance sheet and get the company in the right shape,” said an analyst with a domestic brokerage on condition of anonymity. In fiscal 2016 GSPC incurred a net loss of Rs.8.0442 billion, as it wrote off exploration expenditure. It recorded income from operations of Rs.106.073 billion on a stand-alone basis, compared with Rs.109.463 billion in the previous year. Albert Wilson Authentic Jersey