OilMin forms ‘super-board’ to monitor ONGC, OIL performance
The oil ministry has formed all- powerful review committees to monitor performance of ONGC and Oil India, and will have power to relinquish any oil and gas field for auctioning to private firms. Being dubbed as ‘super-boards’, the committees will be headed by the ministry’s upstream nodal authority DGH, and will review and monitor performance of areas given to Oil and Natural GasB Corp (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd(OIL) on nomination basis. The two panels – one each for ONGC and OIL, will review from annual work programme and budget to declaration of a discovery as commercial as also reservoir and production performance, monitoring of development activities and collaborations with other explorers. “The advice/decision of the Review Committee shall be implemented forthwith by the NOC (national oil company) concerned and the progress of implementation shall be reported to the Review Committee through DGH at its next meeting,” the May 25 order issued by Atanu Chakraborty, Director General, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), said. The order follows ministry’s unhappiness with state explorers particularly on delays in projects linked to output enhancement. It has already ordered a detailed review of board of directors of ONGC for a possible revamp of the functional heads. “They have all the powers to do so. We have to live with it,” said a senior official at one of the two explorers. “If they want to create a ‘super-board’ so be it,” he said. The panels will be headed by DG, DGH and will have two other members from DGH – one Deputy DG and another head of Division in charge of NOCs-monitoring. One representative of ONGC or OIL not below the rank of director will be nominated by the NOCs. Also, the manager of the asset that is under review would be co-opted as member of the committee, the order said. ONGC produced 86 per cent of its 26.13 million tonnes of crude oil in 2016-17 fiscal from fields given to it on nomination basis. Natural gas production from nomination fields accounted for 93 per cent of the total output of 25.34 billion cubic meters. In the order for ‘Constitution of Review Committees for Management of Oil and Gas Resources of Nomination Fields of National Oil Companies (NOCs)’, Chakraborty said the panels are being constituted drawing from powers given to DGH by the oil ministry orders. The order for the constitution of the committees will “come into force with immediate effect,” he said. The review committee will meet at least once every three months. The powers of the panels include “annual work programmes and budgets in respect of exploration operations and any modification and revisions thereto” and “annual work programme and budgets in respect of development and production operations and any modifications and revisions thereto.” It will also review “proposals for surrender or relinquishment of any part of the area included in the nomination field”. Fields relinquished by NOCs are auctioned to private firms by the government. The first such auction was concluded last fiscal with 67 of fields relinquished by ONGC/OIL being put on sale. “Performance of non-producing/sub-optimally producing” fields as well as “reservoir and production performance of producing fields” would also be reviewed by the panels, the order said. Field development plans (FDP), feasibility reports of commercial discoveries in nomination fields and monitoring of development activities for early monetisation will also fall within the ambit of the committees. “Proposals for ‘field surveillance’ by DGH for better reservoir management” will also be under preview of the committees, the orders said, adding collaboration with licensees or contractors of other areas would as reviewed by them. Also, proposals for an appraisal programme or revision, declaration of a discovery as commercial discovery along with proposed development area will be function of the panels. Roosevelt Nix Authentic Jersey
Russia overtakes India in domestic air travel growth: IATA
India is no longer the world’s fastest growing domestic air travel market. Russia overtook India by witnessing 16.7% growth in April 2017, over the same month last year, while India grew in this period at 15.3%, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA). The global average domestic air travel growth rate this April (over the same month last year) was 7.7% and in the new pecking order, India is at number two followed by China at 12.7%, Japan at 6.7% and the US at 4.7% .. India’s domestic air travel has been booming due to low crude prices, which in turn allowed airlines here to offer cheap airfares. But in the past two months as crude firmed up, airfares also rose and the domestic skies started becoming a tad less crowded in terms of growth slowing down. Exactly two months ago, in March, IATA had said that India had been the world’s fastest growing domestic air market for 22 months in a row. This meant that till March, India saw the highest growth in domestic air travel over the same month in the previous year for almost two years. Dave Cash Womens Jersey
Air India selloff: Government should exit completely, national carrier tag redundant now
Should the government retain a minority stake in Air India to preserve the ‘national carrier’ tag, even after it agrees on the modalities to sell off this loss-making airline? If retaining a minority stake would be the consensus among the wise men in New Delhi tasked with Air India’s future, it would indeed be a travesty. The national carrier tag was important in the decades when India was a closed economy, when Air India was the sole airline operating on the domestic as well as on international skies and when it was thought to represent Indian hospitality. But today, when private airlines own a majority of the domestic market by passengers and when overseas routes too are no longer a monopoly of the Maharaja, what sense does it make for the government to retain any control whatsoever in Air India? The airline needs to be handed over in entirety to a private bidder, as and when the selloff process begins. Not only will this intent of complete exit provide assurance about government’s sincerity regarding the selloff, it would also signal complete freedom for the new owner to take critical decisions – even with a minority equity share, the government may otherwise well interfere in decision making. Speaking at an interaction with media today, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya said that though his organisation has already given its recommendations on Air India selloff, the government has to take a call on several crucial aspects of the proposed sale: 1) Whether the airline should be sold off at all 2) If the decision is in favour of a selloff, then should the universe of buyers include foreign buyers or should the sale be restricted to Indians? 3) Should the government retain some stake in the airline to retain its ‘national carrier’ tag 4) Should the entire Rs 52,000 crore debt on Air India’s books be written off or should only a part of this be written off by the government. Panagariya said that Niti’s recommendations have been submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office, and now the PMO along with the Ministry of Civil Aviation will have to take a call on the selloff. While declining to divulge details of his recommendations on Air India disinvestment, Panagariya was quite clear that the current debt on the airline’s books was “very very large and selling it with this (debt) will be very very difficult. Even if the sale were to be open to both, domestic and foreign buyers, will the government write off the entire debt or only a part of it – that decision needs to be taken”. An official close to developments had told Firstpost earlier that it is possible to break up Air India into two distinct parts: 1) The airline itself with aircraft and related assets and 2) Air India’s subsidiaries and the real estate. This official had said that the sensible way to get maximum value in any selloff would be to offload just the airline to a prospective buyer. The government could then simultaneously dispose off the subsidiaries and real estate for a total consideration of close to Rs 20,000-21,000 crore. In fact, an inter-ministerial group has already begun deliberations in the second part, specifically on monetising land assets. The same person had further said “All this is known to people involved in the selloff process. Now, the ball is in DIPAM’s (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management) court. Once DIPAM accepts the proposal drafted by Niti Aayog, things will move forward. DIPAM will take the proposal to the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment. If this committee approves the proposal, then ads will be put out for transaction advisors and valuers.” DIPAM is expected to form several committees to examine and fine tune the selloff process, comprising top officials of the ministry of civil aviation, Air India, Finance Ministry and DIPAM itself – the entire selloff process of Air India could take at least 8-12 months. Mark Recchi Authentic Jersey
Privatising Air India: Tatas eyeing state-run carrier?
Air India is all in the news and buzzing on the social media big time though much to the discomfort of its approximately 19,000 employees, since the Modi government strongly favours the carrier’s privatisation. Who, in the words of civil aviation minister Gajapathy Raju, will be the “bakra” (scapegoat)? Tatas, as the rumours say, given that no business group knows Air India better than them. A purported meeting between Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran and Arun Jaitley in New Delhi on Thursday set the media tongues wagging amid the finance minister publicly stating that the government needs to get out of loss-making Air India and the official think-tank Niti Aayog also advocating complete privatisation of the carrier. If the impossible (handing over of Air India) happens, it would mark a milestone not only for Indian civil aviation sector, but also for the Tata Group who owned the carrier before nationalisation.
Qatar’s dispute with Arab states lifts oil prices, may impact LNG supplies
Saudi Arabia and key allies on Monday cut ties with Qatar, the world’s top seller of liquefied natural gas (LNG), accusing it of supporting extremism and sending shockwaves through the energy industry. Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain said they would sever all ties including transport links with Qatar, which also sells oil products like condensate but is not a big crude oil exporter. “(Qatar) embraces multiple terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at disturbing stability in the region, including the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS (Islamic State) and al-Qaeda, and promotes the message and schemes of these groups through their media constantly,” Saudi state news agency SPA said. The rift did not immediately affect tanker shipments, but benchmark Brent crude futures prices rose around 1 per cent to over $50 per barrel on concerns about a widening rift in the Arab world. The move comes as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar are members, recently agreed to extend crude oil production cuts in order to tighten the market and pop up prices. It was not immediately clear how the political crisis would affect policy-making at OPEC, of which Saudi Arabia as the world’s biggest crude exporter is seen as the de-facto leader. A Saudi oil industry source said the action was unlikely to have a large impact on OPEC decision making, noting that other political disputes within the group, including between Saudi Arabia and Iran, had not prevented OPEC from agreeing on oil policy. LNG IMPACT UNCLEAR Traders said it was too early to say if the dispute would have any impact on LNG shipment within the region, with both Egypt and the UAE taking regular cargoes from Qatar. Qatar meets almost a third of global LNG demand and Egypt, which struggles to meet its electricity needs, has imported an average 857,000 cubic metres per month of LNG from Qatar since January 2016, according to shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon. The fuel is used largely for power generation. Egypt last year awarded a large tender for 2017 supplies, much of it sourced from Qatar, although traders said rising domestic output and alternative sources including Norway, Nigeria and the United States could fill a potential gap. The UAE has imported on average 190,000 cubic metres of LNG per months from Qatar since January 2016. Traders pointed out, however, that other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) like Kuwait, which often fall in line with decisions made by Saudi Arabia, have not, at least for now, taken action against Qatar. Kuwait has imported on average 283,000 cubic metres of LNG per month from Qatar since 2016, the data shows. Shipments to the world’s biggest LNG buyers in Asia are unlikely to be affected, barring a major escalation, importers said. “I don’t think there will be any impact on it. We get gas directly from Qatar by sea,” R.K. Garg, head of finance at Indian LNG importer Petronet, told Reuters when asked to comment on the coordinated move to cut relations. India is the second-biggest buyer of Qatari LNG, according to energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie, after Japan. A Japanese LNG trader also said he did not expect immediate supply disruptions. Qatar is also a major exporter of condensate, an ultra-light form of crude oil, as well as liquefied patroleum gas (LPG), with most supplies of the two fuels going to Japan and South Korea under long-term supply contracts. Malcolm Subban Jersey
India’s Petronet: no impact on Qatar LNG as Saudi, others cut ties
India’s Petronet LNG said on Monday it did not expect any impact on gas supplies from Qatar after Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed ties with the Gulf Arab state accusing it of supporting terrorism. “I don’t think there will be any impact on it. We get gas directly from Qatar by sea,” R.K. Garg, head of finance at Petronet, told Reuters when asked to comment on the coordinated move to cut relations. Petronet LNG, India’s biggest gas importer, buys 8.5 million tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar under along-term contract. It also buys additional volumes from Qatar under spot deals. Will Compton Womens Jersey
Shell Lubricants to lean on smaller business segments to achieve target
Shell Lubricants is planning to focus on some of the segments where it has comparitively less presence so far, in order to achieve its target of becoming the largest international lubricant player in the country in the next three years. The company is already a leading player in wind turbines, construction and general manufacturing, but has a small presence, with less than one per cent market share, in segments such as petrochemicals, fertilisers, textiles and defence. The plans are to increase the market share in these sectors to five per cent in next three years, said Siva Kasturi, global OEM Manager-India and South East Asia, Shell Lubricants. “At this point of time we are heavily focusing on general manufacturing, construction and power. We wanted to continue our technology leadership in primarily the defence application and we want to focus more on mining and power business as well,” he said. In industrial lubricants market, the company has a five per cent marketshare in India. National oil companies are the major players in this segment as of now. The company is working with around 400-500 OEMs in the country. In order to increase its market share across the sectors, the company is working on various activities including campaign among its customers on aspects such as total cost of ownership, where the company claims an advantage. Kasturi said that the lack of awareness on the total cost of ownership is a factor in companies spending more money on their equipment. Shell Lubricants is planning to focus on new segments to achieve its target of becoming the largest international player in the country in the next three years. The company is a leading player in wind turbines, construction and general manufacturing, while it has a small presence, in petrochemicals, fertilisers, textiles and defence. The plans are to increase market share in these segments to 5 per cent in three years, according to Siva Kasturi, global OEM Manager, India and Southeast Asia, Shell Lubricants. “We are focusing on general manufacturing, construction and power. We want to continue our technology leadership in defence and we want to focus more on mining and power,” he said. The company has a 5 per cent market share in industrial lubricants. The state-owned oil companies dominate this segment. Shell is working on a campaign to highlight total cost of ownership, where the company claims an advantage. Kasturi said lack of awareness about the total cost of ownership was a reason why companies spent more on their equipment. Alex Burmistrov Womens Jersey
Confidence’s gesture towards city
Confidence Group company, Confidence Petroleum India Ltd, had decided to introduce Go Gas Auto LPG in every part of the country, informed Vimal Parwal, Group President, while talking to the media on Saturday. “At present, we are operating with 110 LPG pumps throughout the country. On this Environment Day, i.e. June 5, the company will try to establish 25 LPG pumps in the city. We wish to make the city pollution free and request the people of the city to convert their vehicles into LPG. We are also pledging to convert autos of the city into LPG like that of Bengaluru. Running vehicles on LPG will not only keep the city pollution free, but also save 50 per cent money,” Parwal said. A P Murty, Vice-President said, “If all autos are made to run on LPG mandatorily, the air pollution will be controlled in big way. Sameer Muley, Deputy General Manager-Communication, warned that people must not use domestic LPG gas in vehicles. “One must put proper kit to convert vehicle into LPG and use the LPG from filling stations as the vehicle LPG has right combination of Propane and Butane required for the vehicles.” Miami Dolphins Jersey
A.P. will be gas-driven State in about 5 years: ONGC official
ONGC’s Rajamahendravaram Asset Manager and Executive Director Debashis Sanyal said on Saturday that Andhra Pradesh would become a gas-driven State in the next four to five years if it used the ONGC gas in a meaningful manner. Addressing the annual media conference here, he said that by 2021 gas production from the Odalarevu landfall point would be 20,000 million cubic metres per annum, which was 10 times the present production. He said they had machines and pipelines of international standards and assured safety and security in their operational area to all the people and their properties, including land. He said they had 700 km of gas pipeline which was intact and small repairs were carried out at some places. Sanyal said the ONGC had technology to lay pipelines beneath the fish and prawn culture ponds but were facing challenges in land acquisition in villages. The Executive Director said ONGC, Rajahmahendravaram, had chalked out plans to increase production of oil and gas by 22% and 11% respectively in the next three years. It would mean 60-100 million metric standard cubic metres of gas and 70,000 tons of oil per annum. He said the Government of India had started auctioning the Discovered Small Fields (DSF) and small operators were giving inputs in producing oil and gas in a big way. The Rajahmahendravaram Asset was producing 890 tons of oil per day and 2.34 mmscmd (million metric standard cubic metres of gas per day). In the current fiscal, the gas production was likely to reach 1,000 mmscmd and oil 0.365 million metric tons. The Asset was mobilising additional resources and rigs to drill 46 exploratory wells and 38 development wells in the next four years. Exploitation of wells Referring to the Kesanapally (Krishna district) find, he said it was an old productive field discovered in 1996 with a depth of 2,500 metres. In 2015, with the help of new technology and reinterpretation of data, drilling was undertaken from the existing well and a new oil zone was discovered. The new zone had the potential of 2.94 million metric tons and gas of about 0.6 billion cubic feet. Seven wells would be drilled in 2017-18 in Kesanapally with an expected production of 150 tons per day. Mr. Sanyal said the Nagayalanka field ground work had been completed and the mining lease from the state government was awaited. Drilling was progressing fast in the Bantumilli field near the Bhimavaram exploratory well. On the CSR front, the ONGC’s unit had spent Rs. 140 million in 2016-17 in East, West Godavari and Krishna districts and Rs. 150 million had been earmarked for 2017-18. General Manager Operations Kamaraju said that the onland area of the KG Basin consisted of 28,000 sq.km. and offshore 24,000 sq.km. The asset was exploiting the hydrocarbon resources from onland alone. Tom Savage Authentic Jersey