GAIL India To Invest Rs 10 billion To Help Dabhol LNG Terminal Operate All Year
GAIL India will invest. Rs 10 billion on the liquified natural gas terminal at the Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private (RGPPL) to make it an all-weather port by 2019, said BC Tripathi, chairman, GAIL. RGPPL, the second avatar of the troubled Dabhol power project, is in the process of demerging the power plant and the LNG terminal to make the project financially more viable as the project continues to struggle to keep afloat even after a decade since banks and public sector units stepped in to revive it. We will hold over 70% in the demerged LNG terminal and our aim would be to convert it into an all-weather port so that we can run it at full capacity, Tripathi said. After the original promoter of the project Enron declared bankruptcy in 2001, it was taken over for revival by RGPPL, backed by the government, in 2005. GAIL and NTPC are the biggest shareholders with 25.1% each, while the government of Maharashtra owns 13.51% and lenders have a 35.47% stake. Post the demerger, GAIL would be a majority stakeholder in the LNG terminal, while NTPC would lead the power project that would run a 500 mw unit. We hope to give the contract for the breakwater project and expect it to be operational by monsoon in 2019, said Tripathi. A breakwater is an offshore structure built to break the intensity of the waves so that the terminal can work all year. Right now, this terminal cannot operate for almost five months between June and September since the choppy sea poses risks to the ships. The company had hoped to award the project by October last year but it has been delayed. The demerger of the power plant and the LNG regasification unit has been delayed since lenders such as Power Finance Corp and LIC had put forth conditions. The power plant is in pact to supply 500 mw to the Indian Railways Jordan Hicks Authentic Jersey
India’s record diesel demand to continue in 2017, growth to slow
India’s diesel demand is expected to rise to record levels again this year as a slew of infrastructure projects boosts use of the transport and industrial fuel, although a government-induced cash shortage will hold growth to its slowest in three years. Increased fuel efficiency, a fall in commercial vehicle sales, and the use of other fuels for power generation are also expected to dent demand growth for diesel, analysts and traders told Reuters. “The first quarter saw delayed effects of demonetisation but I think (diesel demand) should improve as there are a number of projects going on such as road and railways, which should drive diesel demand up,” said Tushar Bansal, director of Ivy Global Energy, a Singapore-based consultancy. India has budgeted a record $59 billion for 2017/18 for infrastructure such as ports, roads, railways and power. The world’s third largest oil consumer guzzled 6.955 million tonnes of diesel in April, the highest so far this year and near a record of 6.958 million tonnes hit in May 2016, the latest government data showed. Still, a weak first quarter is expected to hold India’s diesel demand growth at 1.6 to 3 percent this year, a gain to 1.63 million to 1.65 million barrels a day, analysts from energy consultancies FGE and Wood Mackenzie said. This is the slowest annual growth for diesel since 2014, down from a rise of more than 5 percent in 2015 and 2016. “The slowdown is a result of the demonetization drive, which dampened economic growth for a few months since its implementation in November last year,” said Sri Paravaikkarasu, head of FGE’s East of Suez Oil. April sales of India’s commercial vehicles, which consume mainly diesel, fell 23 percent year-on-year, for instance. Sales of passenger cars and motorcycles, however, mostly powered by gasoline, have started to recover. Woodmac expects India’s diesel growth to moderate at 3.2 percent a year over 2017 to 2025, down from an average annual growth rate of 3.9 percent from 2010 to 2016. “The main reasons for a slowdown lies in increasing fuel efficiency, more substitution (for) oil, primarily diesel, in the power sector and a bearish outlook for diesel cars in India,” said Sushant Gupta, research director for Woodmac’s Asia-Pacific refining. Still India’s diesel demand growth in 2017 accounts for one third of Asia’s demand growth for the fuel, he said. “It is a positive story compared with China, where we expect diesel demand to be in slow decline. Mike Hull Womens Jersey