US sanctions on Iran won’t disrupt crude supplies: Indian refineries
Indian refiners are confident that US sanctions on Iran will not disrupt crude oil supplies because the global marketNSE 0.00 % has abundant supplies and numerous sellers. Top executives in refining firms said they were waiting for guidance from the government about purchasing crude oil from Iran, which is India’s third-biggest supplier of crude oil. “There is no reason to panic. Nobody will stop refining if supply from Iran halts,” said an executive at a state oil firm that heavily imports Iranian oil. Indian refineries are configured to process several varieties of crude, not just Iranian, and therefore a supply from some other country can easily replace Iranian shortfall if any in future, the executive added. Indian officials and executives at state oil companies were jolted two days back after US president Donald Trump demanded zero import of Iranian oil by India, and other importing countries, from November 4 when US sanctions on Iran related to the petroleum sector take effect. They had presumed the new sanctions would be a re-run of the previous Iran sanctions when India received waivers and continued to import a significant quantity. Officials in the ministries of external affairs, oil and finance are grappling with the import of Trump’s latest statement on Iran sanctions. “This is not about oil companies,” said another oil company executive. “The country has to take a call. And how effective diplomatic channels are will determine the outcome of the issue for us,” he said. The executive said companies haven’t received any clear instruction from the government yet but were ‘naturally cautious’ since the matter was still evolving. “We don’t need special preparation. We can easily find crude if we need to replace Iranian oil,” he said. India refiners prefer Iranian oil as it comes with freight discount and a longer credit period. EThad first reported on June 15 that India was mulling seeking US exemptions on Iran sanctions, and considering paying for Iranian oil in rupee using a banking channel that had no exposure to the US after State Bank of India told refiners it wouldn’t support payment to Iran from November 4. Indian refiners use euro to pay for Iranian oil, routing the payment via State Bank of India and Germany-based bank Europaeisch-Iranische Handelsbank AG (EIH). Iran sanctions could become one key issue in the US-India diplomatic ties that has hit a low lately. Kemal Ishmael Authentic Jersey
India rethinks decision to split up gas utility GAIL
India is working on plans to enable gas utility GAIL to keep its marketing and pipeline operations separate without breaking up the company, India’s oil minister said on Thursday. The government had said in January that it wanted to split the company into two – one for laying pipelines and the other for marketing and petrochemicals – to encourage more transparency between the two operations. “My job is not to create more companies, my job is to create more accessibility through policy,” Dharmendra Pradhan, India’s oil minister said on Thursday. GAIL (India) Ltd is the country’s biggest gas marketing and trading firm and owns most of the nation’s pipelines, giving it a dominant position in the country’s energy market. Investors, private companies and consultants have said that GAIL’s dominance in pipeline infrastructure across the country conflicts with its business of marketing and trading of natural gas. Pradhan said: “Gail must be seen to be transparent,” adding that Gail was working on a model to keep its pipeline and marketing businesses independent of each other. “My job is to create more transparency and a neutral platform so that other companies can also utilise that infrastructure,” Pradhan said. He did not give a reason for the government’s change of position on splitting up the company, which was seen earlier as a move to raise money by selling its marketing arm to a state-owned oil refining and marketing company. The country’s top two refiners Indian Oil Corp Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd had shown interest in integrating GAIL’s marketing arm with their business. ‘Unbundling’ of GAIL was one of the three key steps towards creating a natural gas marketplace in India, the other two being forming a trading hub and open access to gas pipelines, the head of India’s gas regulator D K Sarraf had told Reuters in April. “The unbundling will happen but not in a physical form,” Sarraf said on Thursday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims to increase the use of natural gas in its energy mix to 15 percent by 2030 from 6.5 percent now. Myles Turner Authentic Jersey
Anadarko to make final investment decision on building LNG export terminal in Mozambique
On Wednesday, US oil and gas producer Anadarko Petroleum said it expects to make a final investment decision in the first half of 2019 on whether to build the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Mozambique. Mitchell Ingram, Anadarko’s executive vice-president, international, deep water and exploration, said at the World Gas Conference in Washington, DC, that it was ready to move forward with the Mozambique project after lining up enough customers for the LNG. Ingram said the company was in the process of making the sales agreements binding and ramping up financing for the project. “Once we complete that, we will be ready to make a final investment decision in the first half of 2019.” He spoke a couple of weeks after Anadarko and its partners in the Mozambique project signed sales agreements with units of Tokyo Gas and Centrica. That deal with the Japanese and UK energy companies calls for the delivery of 2.6-million tons per annum (MTPA) from the start-up of production in Mozambique until the early 2040s. Other firms lined up to buy gas from the project include units of Électricité de France, Japanese utility Tohoku Electric Power, and Thailand’s state-run PTT. Anadarko’s partners in the project include units of Mitsui & Co of Japan and ONGC Videsh of India, among others. The Mozambique project, which is located between both the Asia-Pacific and European markets, will consist of two liquefaction trains with the capacity to produce 12.88MTPA to support development of the Golfinho/Atum fields located entirely within Offshore Area 1. Ingram said Anadarko managed to squeeze about $4bn out of the cost of building the onshore part of the project, bringing the cost down to about $600 a ton, which, according to a Reuters calculation, would bring the total to about $7.7bn. In the past, Anadarko has said it was looking to raise about $14bn to $15bn for the project. Officials at the company were not immediately available to comment on the latest total cost estimate. The company has said it expects to complete the facility in the 2023-24 timeframe. As consumers shift from coal to cleaner burning gas for power generation and other uses, demand for LNG is expected to exceed supply in 2022 or 2023, according to a report from energy consultant Wood Mackenzie. In 2017, global LNG sales rose 9.9% to a record 289.8-million tons, according to the International Association of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL). Anadarko made its first discovery in Offshore Area 1 in 2010. In total, Ingram said the company and its partners have discovered about 21-trillion cubic metres of recoverable natural gas in the field. Ingram said this project paves the way for significant future expansion of up to 50MTPA in the future. Anadarko has said the Golfinho/Atum project will also supply initial volumes of about 28-million cubic metres per day of natural gas for domestic use in Mozambique. Ramik Wilson Jersey
BP’s acquisition of UK’s largest EV charging firm may deepen ties with RIL
Majority of Britain’s electric vehicle (EV) may soon start running on British Petroleum’s charge. BP on Thursday announced that it has entered into an agreement to purchase Chargemaster, the UK’s largest electric vehicle (EV) charging company. Chargemaster operates the UK’s largest public network of EV charging points, with over 6,500 across the country. It also designs, builds, sells and maintains EV charging units for a wide range of locations, including services for home charging. BP’s presence in India is majorly in the areas of technology and upstream oil and gas sector. It is in 30 per cent partnership with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) for its major blocks including the flagship KG-D6 that has seen a drop in natural gas production over the last few years. Tufan Erginbilgic, chief executive, BP Downstream, said: “Bringing together the UK’s leading fuel retailer and its largest charging company, BP Chargemaster will deliver a truly differentiated offer for the country’s growing number of electric vehicle owners. “At BP we believe that fast and convenient charging is critical to support the successful adoption of electric vehicles. Combining BP’s and Chargemaster’s complementary expertise, experience and assets is an important step towards offering fast and ultra-fast charging at BP sites across the UK and to BP becoming the leading provider of energy to low carbon vehicles, on the road or at home.” The Mukesh Ambani-promoted largest private sector oil and gas player in India is looking to foray into electric vehicle segment. BP’s takeover of Chargemaster could in future help RIL use some of its unviable auto fuel vending outlets in India for EV charging. India had initially planned to shift passenger vehicles completely to electric by 2030 but later changed gears by saying that no EV policy is on the anvil. Chargemaster is the operator of the UK’s largest EV charging network and the leading supplier of EV charging infrastructure. Acquisition is an important step in scaling up and deploying a fast and ultra-fast charging network on BP’s UK forecourts. Chargemaster to be rebranded BP Chargemaster BP is present in India as RIL’s 30% partner in its oil and gas block RIL is looking to enter the EV segment RIL and BP announced last year a joint collaboration in other areas as well Marcus Murphy Womens Jersey
Clean Fuel Policy in India Raises Demand for LPG
The demand for kerosene in India has remained stable since it dropped two years ago after the announcement of a new government policy in May 2016. The policy encourages the use of LPG as a cleaner cooking fuel option by offering free connections in rural areas. Kerosene competes with LPG in rural Indian markets for both commercial and residential applications, so the government subsidies have affected the access and demand of LPG directly. The two forms of kerosene used in India are Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) and Superior Kerosene Oil (SKO). An LPG connection is a government subsidized program meant to provide heating and cooking resources to impoverished families. An LPG canister or cylinder weighs 14.2kg when full. The first cylinder is provided free of cost for people who have an income below the poverty line. The refill of the cylinder is provided at a subsidized rate and the payment of refill can be done in monthly installments. The Kayrros forecast shows a larger increase in LPG demand in Q2 2018 as compared to kerosene demand. The Kayrros forecast predicts a slight decrease for kerosene demand in Q1 2019 as compared to a constant, larger increase for LPG demand in the same quarter. Aside from India, the Kayrros forecast shows the demand for kerosene will increase in other monitored countries in the next few months due to an increase in global air traffic. Kayrros observed an opposite trend from India in Mexico. Forecasts showed a similar increase in kerosene demand in Mexico during May and June. Kerosene demand will further increase in Q2 2018, while LPG demand will decrease in Q2 2018. The decrease in LPG demand in Mexico comes from competition with natural gas. New pipelines in Mexico give access to natural gas in many new regions. According to EnergySecretariat (Sener) estimates, cooking accounts for about 60% of the country domestic demand. Benjamin Watson Authentic Jersey
Union rig workers vote to strike at Total’s North Sea oil fields
Members of the Unite union who work at Total’s North Sea offshore oil and gas fields voted in favour of strike action on Thursday, the union said in a statement Unite said the strike over pay and working hours would begin next month and that members were still deciding what type of industrial action to take. Unite said specific dates would be announced next week, the strike would affect Total’s Alwyn, Dunbar and Elgin-Franklin platforms. A spokeswoman for Total said the firm believes changing to a three week on/off rota would keep the UK operations competitive and help attract future investment. The Unite workers had been operating under a two weeks on and three week off rotation. Total said that it has offered a salary increase to compensate for the longer time offshore, “We have started a structured process of meetings and workshops that will hopefully allow us to reach a consensus…Our objective is to seek a rota system that both enhances overall safety and is the most efficient – in this way we will ensure the long term sustainability of our business in the North Sea,” Jean-Luc Guiziou, the managing director of Total E&P UK, said in a statement. Matt Read Authentic Jersey