Forum strives to make Mysuru kerosene free
Sarvajananga Hitha Rakshana Forum has urged the government to make Mysuru a kerosene free city. Forum’s state president Venugopal on Thursday said, “Food and civil supplies department should ensure LPG connections to every household in Mysuru.” Presently, kerosene usage has come down in Bengaluru. There is sharp decrease in kerosene usage by 70%. Only 30,000 litres kerosene is being used as against 90,000 litres earlier. Delhi and Chandigarh have been declared as kerosene free states in India. Bangalore is set to become the first city in the state to become kerosene free. The government should encourage kerosene consumers to shift to LPG connections as soon as possible. Poor families who lack a ration card and cannot afford to get LPG connections under the new scheme, the government should provide connections to them. Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana will facilitate to make the state free of kerosene, he stated. Dan McCullers Womens Jersey
ONGC looking to lower operation costs to boost profits
In an attempt to shore up its profitability, state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) plans to leverage depressed oil prices to lower its operational costs. This comes in the backdrop of low cost of oilfield services as the crude oil price for the Indian energy basket fell by $15.22 per barrel in the first quarter of the current financial year compared with the same period last year. The Indian energy basket represents the Oman, Dubai and Brent crude average. ONGC registered a 21% dip in its net profit for the June quarter. The public sector firm reported a net profit of Rs. 42.33 billion in the quarter under review compared with Rs .53.68 billion in the year-ago period as its hydrocarbon production also dropped. “We are bringing about an improvement in our internal processes. The top management is driving a cultural change for better results,” said A.K. Dwivedi, director-exploration at ONGC. “Also, the cost of services hired is low in the market, we plan to capitalise on that to reduce costs,” he added. The company’s turnover also slid 21.41% to Rs. 177.84 billion in the first quarter of financial year 2016-17. It had posted Rs. 226.28 billion as turnover during the same period last year. ONGC chairman and managing director, D.K. Sarraf, had attributed the fall in profit to depressed global crude oil prices at a conference in New Delhi on 8 September. According to ONGC’s Perspective Plan 2030, the public sector firm plans to produce 130 million ton (MT) of oil and natural gas with 70 MT coming from its domestic production and the rest from its overseas subsidiary, ONGC Videsh Ltd. However, it is facing dropping production from its wells. So far in the current financial year, its crude oil output fell to 6.34 MT in the June quarter compared with 6.48 MT last year. Similarly, its gas production was down 5.6% to 5.49 billion cu. meters (bcm). ONGC produced 57.38 MT of oil and oil-equivalent gas in 2015-16 compared with 58.34 in 2014-15. “We also plan to bring about an improvement in the operating and internal cost,” said Dwivedi. This comes in the backdrop of India’s stagnant hydrocarbon production. The government has made energy security one of the primary areas of focus in its economic policy in order to achieve fast and sustainable long-term development. “Exploratory activities will not see any reduction,” said Dwivedi. Experts believe these measures will help the company. “Apart from these measures, ONGC is also concentrating on developing onshore fields. These investments will be beneficial once production starts. Moreover by then, global crude oil prices will firm up as well,” said Sanjay Grover, partner at consultancy firm EY. According to the petroleum ministry, India has 763.47 MT of crude oil and 1,488.73 bcm of natural gas reserves. The country’s petroleum product consumption grew 4.15% in 2014-15 to 165 MT. Analysts believe the Indian petroleum product consumption story will continue. “Fitch Ratings expects consumption growth for petroleum products to remain strong over the medium term. Consumption increased by 7.8% in the first quarter of the fiscal year to end-March 2017 compared with 10.9% in FY16. We expect growth to moderate to around 5-6% in FY17 and thereafter. We also expect continued strong gasoline consumption growth of around 9-10% over the medium term, supported by robust passenger-vehicle sales amid low crude-oil prices,” Fitch Rating wrote in a 12 September report. Derrick Rose Womens Jersey
IOC open to foreign investment in Konkan refinery
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) is likely to finalise the location for its mega petroleum refinery on the Konkan coast soon. The Maharashtra government has shown the refinery firm six sites the company for setting up the largest refinery in the country, which will be built at a cost of Rs 1760 billion (trillion). IOCL is also on the lookout for a foreign partner who will co-invest in the project. B Ashok, chairman of IOCL, said, “Considering the demand growth in our country, we feel that there is definitely a need for setting up a very large capacity in the west coast because it has natural advantage in terms of crude import and coast because it will give us tremendous flexibility in terms of crude sourcing and so on and we have identified Maharashtra as a state where we need to put up this refinery. IOCL will take the leadership role in this which already we have some sort of an understanding within the three companies (BPCL, HPCL and IOCL).” He said the company is now evaluating at least half a dozen pieces of land shown to the company, adding that he is hopeful that they will firm up the plan soon. “Because it’s going to be an integrated refining and petrochemicals complex, the technological side of the new complex is being worked out. We are almost clear about what are the fuels or what products are going to be manufactured here and so on. We have already made an assessment of that and once we are able to firm up the land we should go through the approval process very quickly,” he said. The refinery could be a venture where even foreign investment can potentially be invited, he said. “But at the moment, we have an understanding between three oil marketing companies — IOCL, BPCL and HPCL and between three of us, shareholding will be in the ratio of 50%, 25%, 25%, or 2:1:1. But if there is going to be investment from abroad, then our stakes will shrink accordingly.” Ashok said all the required environmental precautions will be adhered to while setting up the refinery. “Environment issues we need to factor in when we are setting up such a large project. It is going to be a really mega venture, today whatever facilities we are putting up, it is all after being mindful and taking into account the current green environment which is prevalent all over the world. We cannot have emissions beyond a level, we cannot produce products which are unacceptable in the marketplace. All those things have been factored,” he said. The cost assessment, Ashok said, for the refinery is about Rs 1760 billion. “We are aware of the people (foreign players) who are interested in the project of this size. The quantum of land required for the refinery, we have asked for, is around 15,000 acre, but there is no hard and fast rule of 15,000 acre; it has to be above a threshold point, but depending upon the condition of the land, the green area that we need to position there, we will have to take a view as to what is available and whether we can construct it. However, 30% will go away for the green belt for this, he said Derek Rivers Authentic Jersey
Petronet awaits govt nod for use of LNG as fuel in vehicles
Petronet LNG Ltd is betting big on the usage of LNG as a fuelling option to meet India’s transportation requirements, Prabhat Singh, Managing Director & CEO, PLL, has said. “We are awaiting a green signal from the government following a proposal to the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways to use LNG as a fuel in vehicles along with other existing fuels,” he said. LNG, which is cheaper than compressed natural gas (CNG), is not an approved fuel for vehicles right now. However, its widespread usage will reduce the cost of road transportation as well as the country’s dependence on crude requirements, he told BusinessLine in a one-to-one interaction. India consumes around 195 million tons of crude-based oil products today and the figure is likely to go up to 230 million tons by 2022, resulting in higher dependence on crude and additional foreign exchange spending. Given the low processing cost to convert LNG as fuel compared to other fuelling options, he said the differential saving in terms of energy equivalence would be $12 dollar per barrel compared to crude. “When we are graduating to a better fuel for the future, there will be savings in our foreign exchange kitty and an increase in fuel quantity,” he said. To create awareness on the use of natural gas for road transportation, he said PLL has approached Tata Motors to procure 100 trucks with LNG fuelling options to operate in the country. “We are exploring the option to deploy some of these trucks initially on the Kochi-Mangaluru stretch on a pilot basis by outsourcing it to fleet owners.” he said. The new government in Kerala is positive towards this move and has assured us hand-over of land at 3-4 locations to set up LNG filling stations and storage units. The Kerala government is in the process of introducing 1,000 buses run on CNG fuel. “We have mooted a proposal to convert at least 100 buses to LNG fuel for inter-city movement,” Singh added. Vance McDonald Womens Jersey
India’s new motorcycle owners drive gasoline boom – Kemp
India’s gasoline consumption is growing rapidly as millions of additional households buy motor cars and especially motorcycles as a status symbol amid growing prosperity. Gasoline consumption averaged 550,000 barrels per day between June and August, an increase of nearly 15 percent from 480,000 bpd a year earlier. Gasoline consumption hit a new record of 600,000 bpd in August, according to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Consumption remains low compared with the advanced economies or China, the other emerging-market giant, but no other country is exhibiting such fast and sustained growth. The number of registered vehicles on India’s roads has been doubling every seven years and hit 182 million in 2013, according to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway. The majority of registered vehicles in 2013 were motorcycles (133 million) with a much smaller number of cars, jeeps and taxis (25 million) and goods vehicles (9 million). Unlike cars, many of which run on diesel, motorcycles all run on gasoline. Motorcycles accounted for more than 60 percent of all gasoline sales in 2013. Motorcycle sales have been expanding at a compound growth rate of 7 percent per year since 2010/11 and hit a record 16.5 million in 2015/16, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. In contrast, car sales have grown at a compound rate of just over 2 percent per year and reached 2.8 million in 2015/16. Owning a personal vehicle rather than relying on public transport is an important status symbol for India’s fast-expanding middle class but many buyers opt for motorcycles due to cheaper purchase and operating costs. “The majority of the middle-class, middle-income population including college students prefer to travel by two-wheelers, as it is more economical,” a market research report for the government said. Motorcycles are also far more maneuverable in the country’s crowded urban streets and highways. Two-wheelers use far less fuel than cars but the sheer number of motorcycles being added to the country’s roads each year is propelling rapid growth in fuel consumption. India’s fuel demand would be growing even faster if consumers were buying cars (“As long as India’s oil demand is driven by mopeds, it won’t be the new China”, Reuters, July 13). But consumption is nonetheless growing fast as millions more people use a motorcycle rather than walking or taking public transport, which is the relevant baseline for oil demand. Vehicle ownership rates in India remain far below the level in advanced economies as well as other middle-income developing countries, according to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. India’s motorcycle ownership rates are fairly high, at 108 motorcycles per 1,000 population, and steadily increasing, which puts the country ahead of most peers, though far behind Malaysia with 362. But overall vehicle penetration remains low, at 149 motor vehicles per 1,000 population, compared with 273 in Brazil, 277 in Mexico, 512 in Britain and 781 in the United States. So there is enormous scope for fuel demand to increase over the next decade as more households obtain access to a motor vehicle – initially two-wheelers before some upgrade to four wheels. Wayne Gretzky Jersey
Government to launch Rs 1,500 crore Eway projects in Uttar Pradesh: Nitin Gadkari
A Rs 1,500-crore expressway project between Kanpur and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh would be launched soon, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said today. The project is part of Rs 2 lakh crore highway projects in the state, the Road Minister said. “Detailed project report is being prepared for an eight-lane access controlled expressway between Kanpur and Lucknow. The estimated cost of the project would be around Rs 1,500 crore,” the minister said here. Once completed, “Kanpur to Lucknow distance can be travelled in 35-40 minutes”, Gadkari said adding that it will be an elevated road. The minister said massive road network would be laid in the entire state and the government has planned at least Rs 2 lakh crore projects of which work on about Rs 70,000 crore projects is underway. Gadkari last month laid foundation of three projects — Rs 806 crore Varanasi-Jaunpur stretch on National Highway No 56, Rs 785 crore Varanasi-Ajamgarh stretch on National Highway No 233 and Varanasi-Gazipur stretch on NH 29. The minister said Rs 868 crore would be spent on Varanasi-Gazipur stretch. These highway stretches are scheduled to be completed by June 2018. Gadkari said these stretches would result in all-round development of the state by promoting seamless flow of cargo traffic and passengers, and also also promote tourism and minimise the accidents. Lee Roy Selmon Authentic Jersey