Alarming number of accidents in ONGC and HPCL facilities: Parliamentary panel
The total number of accidents in the facilities operated by India’s oil and gas Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) have come down but the number of such cases in the installations of state-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) continue to be high and alarming, a Parliamentary panel has said. The panel noted in the three financial years 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17, 309 accidents occurred in the oil and gas PSUs resulting in 81 fatalities and injury to 193 persons. “The Committee although find that the number of accidents has come down in some of the PSUs but in HPCL and ONGC the numbers are still high which is alarming,” the Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas noted in its report tabled in the Lower House on Wednesday last week. HPCL recorded the highest number of accidents at 149 during the period resulting in 20 fatalities and injury of 61 personnel. ONGC reported 85 accidents resulting in 15 fatalities and injury to 29 personnel. The country’s largest fuel retailer Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) reported 40 accidents at its installations during the three-year period leading to 18 fatalities and 36 injured. Alarming number of accidents in ONGC and HPCL facilities: Parliamentary panel Gas utility GAIL (India) recorded the least number of accidents among oil and gas PSUs but the highest number of fatalities at 25. An explosion in GAIL’s natural gas pipeline at Nagaram in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh claimed 24 lives in 2014. The report noted failure to adhere to Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) led to pipeline or equipment failure, leading to the explosion. “The cause of the accident was pipeline/equipment failure due to violations of SOPs. In this case, it has been reported that wet gas was being carried in the pipeline meant for dry gas without taking adequate precautions like pigging of pipeline at regular intervals,” the report stated. The committee also noted despite the provision of regular external and internal safety audits of installations and defined responsibilities of various enforcing organizations, accidents keep recurring in the oil and gas facilities. The report stated poorly trained contracted personnel and lack of proper supervision were the main reasons for accidents at oil installations. “During the period 2014-17, 78 accidents were caused due to such workers of these contractors in which 43 contract workers lost their lives,” it said. The recommendations made by the committee to strengthen safety and security included proper training of contract workers, fool-proof mechanism for pipeline infrastructure, stringent actions for non-adherence to SOP, increased frequency of external safety audits, setting up of emergency response centres and formation of unified safety board, among others. Bernie Parent Authentic Jersey
BPCL becomes first oil marketing company to venture into biogas
: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has become the first oil marketing company to venture into the biogas segment. It has begun on a micro scale with setting up a captive use plant for a food outlet in one its petrol pumps at Bazargaon off Nagpur-Amravati highway. The company has also opened its first electric car battery charging station in the city near Kalamna. As the industry sees emergence of alternate fuels as a means to reduce crude prices, BPCL is also shifting focus into electric vehicles and bio-gas. BPCL’s Executive Director (retail) Arun Singh who came for the inauguration, said there are plans to open 100 such captive use plants throughout the country in over one year’s time. The company has bigger plans also, to further make compressed natural gas (CNG) through biogas, which can be seen as an alternative to petroleum. It is also considering to push biogas into the cooking gas segment. However, an entire chain of logistics supply involving many stakeholders will be needed to scale up the operations for making CNG out of biogas. It takes 100kg of biowaste to make 4.5kg of biogas. This if compressed at a specific count can make CNG, he said. “The biggest challenge, is ensuring availability of bio-waste at a large scale. This will require the involvement of civic bodies, NGOs and other government agencies to collect biowaste which can be converted into gas. The company has already done its calculations and the business can be financially viable with around 12% return on investment,” said Singh. Singh said emergence of alternate fuels can also help in containing the rates of crude oil. If other fuels reduce the demand for petroleum, the crude prices can come down or remain stable, he said. Considering the future of electric vehicles, BPCL is also planning to foray into the business of battery swapping stations. This is a model for vehicles plying on long routes which will need battery charging in between. At the swapping stations the existing battery can be changed with a charged battery. Even as the electric vehicles are emerging, petroleum industry would continue to grow at the current rate of 7% till at least 2025. Later there will be space for all types of vehicles. In coming days the use of electric vehicles is expected to increase in the affluent class at least. The petroleum-driven vehicle may still remain the choice of middle and lower income class, he said. Detroit Lions Authentic Jersey
Plan to lay LPG pipeline in Punjab being formulated: Dharmendra Pradhan
The Central government was formulating a plan to lay LPG pipeline in 13 districts of Punjab, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan today said. The facility would be first provided in Mohali district, the minister said after laying the foundation stone of the new campus of National Skill Training Institute (NSTI) here, an official release said. The minister ensured that the project would be executed with state-of-the-art equipment and highlighted that gas supply through pipelines would lessen the economic burden on people. The Union government would also extend cooperation to the skill development university at Chamkaur Sahib to enhance the professional skills of the youth of Punjab, he further said. He promised support to Punjab government in this regard and announced that Mohali would be made the hub of employment in the state. Earlier, while welcoming the Union Minister, Punjab Technical Education Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said that the state government was undertaking path breaking measures in the sphere of skill development. However, each year approximately 80,000 youth were migrating to foreign shores leading to an annual capital drain of Rs 20,000 crore, he said. Channi said in most cases, the youth were duped on reaching abroad by travel agents. He urged the Union minister to ensure that the Centre enacts a special law to end this “loot” or launch a portal where those wanting to go abroad and the foreign companies can be brought on the same platform. Morgan Cox Jersey
Reliance to sell entire stake in Cambay Basin to Sun Petrochemicals
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) said it has agreed to sell its entire 70% stake Gujarat’s Cambay Basin block to Dilip Shanghvi-promoted Sun Petrochemicals Pvt. Ltd (Sun Oil and Natural Gas) for an undisclosed amount. Reliance has a 70% participating interest in the oil and gas block CB-ONN-2003/1 (also called CB-10) while BP India holds the balance 30%. “RIL signed a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Sun Petro to farm out its 70% interest in the block. The application for assignment has been submitted to the Government of India for approval,” RIL said in a presentation to analysts on Friday. Mint had in March reported that RIL along with BP had put up their Cambay block for sale. RIL is the operator of the block, which covers 635 sq. km and is divided into two parts, A and B. It had won the block in 2005 in an auction in New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP). With the sale of CB-10, RIL now holds only four blocks—KG-D6 block in the Krishna Godavari basin; Mahanadi basin blocks NEC-25 and GS-01 in Saurashtra basin; and Panna-Mukta-Tapti oil and gas fields in the Arabian Sea. RIL will shut down the MA oil and gas field in KG-D6 from September. In 2011, RIL had announced a “transformational” deal with UK-based BP Plc, which picked up 30% stake in its 21 oil and gas blocks. However, since 2012, both companies have been pruning their portfolio, relinquishing unviable blocks. RIL has also sold all its 16 overseas conventional oil and gas exploration blocks that it acquired in the past. In its international portfolio, RIL now holds two shale gas assets in the US. In October 2017, it agreed to sell the first of its shale gas ventures—upstream Marcellus shale gas assets in North-Eastern and central Pennsylvania in the US—for $126 million. The company is also looking at merging Reliance Holdings USA with itself. Last month, RIL had submitted an application to the Reserve Bank of India, in terms of Foreign Exchange Management (Cross Border Merger) Regulations, 2018, seeking its approval for amalgamation of Reliance Holdings USA Inc, with Reliance Energy Generation and Distribution Ltd (REGDL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the company and subsequent amalgamation of REGDL. On Friday, RIL officials said the merger would help the company look at pooling its international gas resources for India, similar to its ethane imports. Between 2010 and 2013, RIL bought stakes in three upstream oil exploration joint ventures with Chevron, Pioneer Natural Resources and Carrizo Oil and Gas; and a midstream joint venture with Pioneer. Midstream refers to the processing, storing, transporting and marketing of hydrocarbons. This March, RIL through its subsidiaries Reliance Eagleford Upstream Holding LP and Reliance Holding USA, agreed to sell part of its interest in Eagle Ford shale assets to Sundance Energy Inc. for $100 million. Josh Rosen Jersey
Inpex’s Ichthys LNG produces first gas off Australia
Inpex Corp said on Monday it has begun producing gas at its giant Ichthys field off northern Australia, putting it a big step closer toward shipping its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo from the long-delayed $40 billion project. Start-up of gas production is a major milestone for the project, Japan’s biggest overseas investment and first major energy development to be operated by the country’s top oil and gas producer. Inpex said it now expects to start exporting products by the end of September, with condensate to be shipped first, then LNG and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), nearly two years later than its initial target. “The project expects to begin the shipment of products towards the end of the first half of the current fiscal year,” Inpex said in a statement. The first half ends in September. The project is expected to take two or three years to reach its full capacity of 8.9 million tonnes of LNG a year, along with about 1.7 million tonnes of LPG and around 100,000 barrels per day of condensate, an ultra-light form of crude oil. Inpex said it was reviewing expected revenue contributions from the Ichthys project for the year to March 2019, taking into account the oil price outlook and other factors, and would inform the market if its forecasts are revised. Inpex owns just over 62 percent of Ichthys LNG, with France’s Total SA holding 30 percent. The remainder is owned by Taiwan’s CPC Corp and Japanese utilities. Deatrich Wise Jr Womens Jersey