Petrol, diesel price hiked for 1st time in more than a month
Petrol and diesel prices were today hiked for the first time in more than a month on the back of rising international rates and weakening rupee. The increase of 16 paisa a litre in petrol and 12 paisa per litre in diesel came after an 8-day self-imposed hiatus in rate revisions by state-oil firms in anticipation of softening international rates due to OPEC decision to raise output by 1 million barrels per day. The price of petrol in Delhi climbed to Rs 75.71 per litre from Rs 75.55 and diesel to Rs 67.50 a litre from Rs 67.38, according to price notification of Indian Oil Corp (IOC). The three state-owned fuel retailers, IOC, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) had not revised petrol and diesel prices since June 26. “We had not changed prices for a few days in anticipation OPEC decision to raise production leading to softening of international rates. But the 1 million barrels of additional production, which was to kick-in from July, has been overdone by the Iran issue,” IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh told here. While the OPEC last month decided to raise production, the US is piling pressure on India, China, and other buyers to end all imports of Iranian oil by a November 4 deadline in a bid to choke the Persian Gulf state’s economic lifeline with sanctions over its nuclear programme. Singh said Iran produces around 2.3 to 2.5 million barrels per day and the world searching for alternates to replace those volumes has put pressure on the prices. The decision to hold on to rates was taken without any elections looming around, he said, adding international prices have risen post-OPEC decision and oil companies have to “adjust retail rates accordingly”. State-owned oil firms, who had in mid-June last year dumped 15-year practice of revising rates on 1st and 16th of every month in favour of daily price revisions, had last changed prices on June 26 when petrol price was cut by 14 paise and diesel by 10 paise. In the preceding month, or so rates had been cut in line with dropping international rates. Prices had hit an all-time high of Rs 78.43 a litre for petrol and Rs 69.31 per litre for diesel on May 30. That peak had triggered demands for a reduction in excise duty but the government had ruled out any immediate cut. The Centre currently levies a total of Rs 19.48 per litre of excise duty on petrol and Rs 15.33 per litre on diesel. On top of this, states levy Value Added Tax (VAT) – the lowest being in Andaman and Nicobar Islands where a 6 per cent sales tax is charged on both the fuel. Mumbai has the highest VAT of 39.12 per cent on petrol, while Telangana levies the highest VAT of 26 per cent on diesel. Delhi charges a VAT of 27 per cent on petrol and 17.24 per cent on diesel. The central government had raised excise duty on petrol by Rs 11.77 a litre and that on diesel by 13.47 a litre in nine installments between November 2014 and January 2016 to shore up finances as global oil prices fell, but then cut the tax just once in October last year by Rs 2 a litre. This led to its excise collections from petro goods more than doubling in last four years – from Rs 99,184 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 2,29,019 crore in 2017-18. States saw their VAT revenue from petro goods rise from Rs 1,37,157 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 1,84,091 crore in 2017-18. Clayton Geathers Jersey
Oil prices fall as Trump demands OPEC “reduce pricing now”
Oil prices fell on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump sent a tweet demanding that OPEC reduce prices for crude. Brent crude futures were at $77.78 per barrel at 0137 GMT, down 46 cents, or 0.6 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 16 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $73.98 per barrel. Trump late on Wednesday accused the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) of driving up fuel prices. “The OPEC Monopoly must remember that gas prices are up & they are doing little to help. If anything, they are driving prices higher as the United States defends many of their members for very little $’s. This must be a two way street. REDUCE PRICING NOW!” Trump wrote on Twitter. “With contentious midterm U.S. elections looming, the President continues to strong-arm Saudi Arabia to increase oil supplies which, at least for now, is containing price action below WTI $75 per barrel,” said Stephen Innes, Head of Trading for Asia/Pacific at futures brokerage OANDA. OPEC together with a group of non-OPEC producers led by Russia started to withhold output in 2017 to prop up prices. Recent price rises have also been spurred by a U.S. announcement that it plans to re-introduce sanctions against Iran from November, which will also target its oil industry. “A key driver of the rise in prices has been the OPEC-Russia deal to cut oil output, compounded by collapsing Venezuelan production and the U.S. decision to end the Iran deal,” National Australia Bank (NAB) said in its July outlook. Ship brokerage Banchero Costa said Iran’s crude oil production was currently around 3.8 million barrels per day (bpd), but added “there is the risk of production decreasing going forward as exports are again affected by renewed sanctions implemented by the U.S.” OPEC and Russia announced in June they were willing to raise output to address concerns of emerging supply shortages due to unplanned disruptions from Venezuela to Libya, and likely also to replace a potential fall in Iranian supplies due to U.S. sanctions. NAB said its oil price forecasts “point to Brent spending the next few months largely in the mid-to-high $70s (per barrel) range, although meaningful OPEC-Russia output increases could push prices lower later in the year and higher U.S. shale production should impose an upside limit on WTI.” Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil production has soared by 30 percent in the last two years, to 10.9 million bpd. That means just three countries, Russia, the United States and Saudi Arabia, meet a third of global oil demand. Ryan Spooner Jersey
Explorers resume oil, gas search as prices perk up
A growing fleet of ships is scanning oceans in search of new oil and gas fields as energy companies, now with more cash thanks to stronger crude prices, gradually resume spending on seismic services after a four-year downturn. A doubling in the area contracted for seismic work in the first quarter this year from the last three months of 2017 has injected optimism into surveillance firms, with a global fleet of about 24 vessels, most of whom struggled to survive in the past years. But they say the road to recovery remains bumpy with producers big and small not keen on drilling for new reserves unless oil prices, which have more than doubled from 2016 lows, stay high for at least a year. Still, with crude prices stabilising well above $60 a barrel in the past six months, companies including mid- and small-sized independents such as Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Kosmos Energy Ltd and Tullow Oil PLC have helped boost demand for surveillance. The total area tendered by upstream companies for seismic work doubled to 40,000 square kilometres in the first quarter this year from October-December last year, said Duncan Eley, chief executive officer at Polarcus which owns a seismic fleet. “That’s positive in isolation,” said Eley, keeping his optimism in check even as he pointed to a busy fourth quarter for geophysical work in Asia Pacific, particularly for gas with demand forecast to soar in coming decades. Gas projects in Myanmar could take two to three vessels from the global fleet, while there are also potential activities in Malaysia, Australia, India and Papua New Guinea, where Exxon Mobil and Total plan to feed more gas into their existing liquefied natural gas infrastructure, Eley said. That marks a stark change from the dark days of 2015 and 2016 when orders for geophysical survey work came to a grinding halt as oil prices plummeted from over $100 a barrel to less than $50. Petroleum Geo Services (PGS), the world’s largest seismic operator, was also seeing better opportunities now than last year. “The recent increases we’ve seen are primarily driven by Africa and Brazil when it comes to bidding for contract work,” said Bard Stenberg, PGS’ senior vice president for investor relations and communication. Demand for geophysical data at producing oil and gas fields, also known as 4D seismic survey, has also increased as explorers sought to maximise output from these assets, the two executives said. PGS expects to secure between 20 and 25 4D seismic jobs this year, up from 16-17 in 2017, Stenberg said, with most of it located in the North Sea, West Africa and Brazil. OIL PRICE IS KEY The increased work should help improve the company’s earnings which remain well below pre-crisis levels. PGS’s current margins on its contracts for seismic ships are breakeven on EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization) basis, versus EBIT margins of nearly 30 percent in 2013, said Stenberg. For earnings to grow and for producers to start drilling for new resources, oil prices will have to hold at current levels for at least another 12 months, company executives and analysts say. “For us, more than $60 is a positive and more than $70 is a bonus in terms of our clients’ sentiment,” Eley said. Right now, financiers “would rather see funds go towards development activities rather than exploration,” said Readul Islam, senior analyst at Rystad Energy, adding drilling can cost far more than collecting seismic data, running up to hundreds of millions of dollars for a well. “At least for the next year or so companies will run their economics on projects around $60 oil, so investment in greenfield projects will not change that much,” said Kevin Robinson, vice president of Malaysian oil and gas service company Sapura Energy. The global flood of U.S. oil is also limiting interest in finding new oil and gas reserves, and restraining the rush for geophysical surveys. The United States is on course to be the world’s largest oil producer this year, overtaking Russia and Saudi Arabia, spurred by its growing shale oil output and exports. “There’s no question that there’s a good sense of optimism and confidence is backed by the (oil) price,” said Visal Leng, the Asia-Pacific President of oilfield services provider Baker Hughes GE. “But having said that, we see that U.S. production will continue to be a bit of a disruptor in global supply.” Lamar Jackson Womens Jersey
Industries given 90 days to switch to approved fuels
Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has notified the “approved” fuels in the capital, which include cleaner options like BS-VI petrol and diesel, CNG, LPG, aviation turbine fuel and biogas. The notification, which seeks to eliminate a range of dirty fuels to reduce toxic emissions from industries, transport and domestic sectors, also grants 90 days to the industries to switch to the approved options, following which action will be taken against violators. The list also includes firewood for crematoriums, wood charcoal for tandoors, grills and ironing, and refuse-derived fuels for waste-to-energy plants. Coal with low sulphur (less than 0.4%) can be used only in thermal power plants. The notification also said any other clean fuel specified by the Delhi government could be added to the list. All other fuels will be deemed “unapproved” for use in the national capital territory of Delhi. Welcoming the decision, experts said it was a right step to control pollution in Delhi. “Dust particles in the air get coated with toxic substances from combustion and can go deep into the lungs. Cleaner fuels for combustion are an important step forward to reduce the toxicity of emissions,” said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy) at Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). According to CSE, the notification virtually eliminates the use of coal from everything except in power plants. “With other dirty fuels like petcoke and furnace oil also banned, industrial units will have to shift to cleaner options,” Roy Chowdhury said. Christian Covington Womens Jersey