Modi govt putting ‘pressure’ to stop GSPC from being declared bankrupt: Congress
The Congress on Monday claimed that public-sector Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) owes Rs 12,000 crore in loans to various banks, and accused the Narendra Modi government of trying to prevent the company from being declared bankrupt. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh claimed at a press conference that a Rs 20,000-crore scam has come to light in GSPC, 13 years after then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi announced in 2005 the discovery of a natural gas block in the Krishna-Godavari basin. He cited two reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that noted that GSPC took loans of Rs 20,000 core from 15 banks and gave contracts for drilling to “four-five companies”. Money was spent but gas was not found and today GSPC is in a financial state that it needs to be referred to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, the Congress leader alleged. “Last year in August, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pressure, ONGC was forced to buy GSPC gas block and GSPC got a relief of about Rs 8,000 crore. It still has to pay Rs 12,000 crore to banks,” Ramesh alleged. He also cited the February 2, 2018, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular, under which if a company on March 1, 2018 owes banks more than Rs 2,000 crore and if it defaults, it should be declared bankrupt after 180 days. Ramesh claimed that for the first time in 70 years, the cental government has filed an affidavit in the Allahabad High Court against the RBI circular. Noting that the 180-day window for GSPC ends today, Ramesh said all eyes were on State Bank of India to which the corporation owes over Rs 1,200 crore as to whether it would declare GSPC bankrupt or succumb to “government pressure”. “Does State Bank of India have the courage to declare GSPC bankrupt,” he asked. Efforts to get a response from GSPC authorities did not yield results. Miles Wood Authentic Jersey
Vedanta wins big under India’s first mega oil & gas auction, bags 41 blocks
Billionaire Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta Resources has bagged 41 of the 55 blocks put on offer under India’s maiden oil and gas auction held under the new Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP), information shared by upstream regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) showed. Vedanta had put in bids for all the 55 blocks on offer. Oil India Ltd (OIL), the state-owned petroleum explorer, which had put in bids for 22 blocks, won nine blocks. “We are happy with the allotment of the new blocks after the first round of Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) and thank government for placing their faith in us. We will work hard to make the best of this opportunity. We are an energy deficient country and policies like OALP will held reduce country’s import dependence for oil from around 80% now to 67% by 2022, in line with PM’s vision,” Anil Agarwal, Chairman of Vedanta Resources said in a statement. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the country’s largest oil and gas producer, had put in bids for 37 blocks and won two blocks. Hindustan Oil Exploration Company (HOEC), the largest private sector producer of oil and gas in the North-East, had put in bids for two blocks and won one block under the auctions. Bharat Petroleum subsidiary Bharat PetroResources Limited (BPRL) won one block and GAIL (India), state-run gas transmission utility, won one block. Of the nine domestic companies which participated in the technical bidding process, five were public sector units including ONGC, Oil India, GAIL (India), IOC, BPRL and four private companies including Vedanta, Selan, HOEC and Sun Petro. Selan Exploration Technology Limited and Sun Petro did not win any blocks under the auction. The oil ministry had made OALP auction live on 1 July last year, offering over 85 percent of the country’s 3.14 million square Kilometres of hydrocarbon sedimentary area under a new bidding mechanism – Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) — and a revamped Hydrocarbon Exploration Licensing Policy (HELP). DGH had received 57 Expression Of Interests (EOI) and subsequently 55 blocks were cleared for bidding after eliminating areas that are under no-go zone or overlapping with existing mining lease. Of the 110 e-bids received for 55 acreages, 92 were received for onshore blocks and 18 for offshore blocks. Most of the blocks put on offer by DGH received an average of two bids with two blocks from Cambay basin in Gujarat — CB-ONHP-2017/11 and CB-ONHP-2017/12 — receiving three bids each. Cambay block CB-ONHP-2017/1 and Rajasthan block RJ-ONHP-2017/6 received only one bid each from Vedanta Ltd. The 55 blocks on offer were spread across the sedimentary areas including 19 in Assam-Arakan, 2 in Mumbai Offshore, 11 in Cambay, 9 in Rajasthan, 5 in KG, 3 in Cauvery, 2 in Kutch, 2 in Saurashtra, and one each in Himalayan Foreland and Ganga basin. Ray Nitschke Womens Jersey
BPCL to expand storage capacity of Cherlapalli LPG bottling plant
State-owned oil and gas giant Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) will be expanding the storage capacity of its Cherlapalli LPG bottling plant, said a senior official of the company on Monday. “We are expanding our storage capacity at the bottling unit and will be adding 1,200 tonnes to the current 1,900 tonnes. This 1,200 tonnes is under construction and is expected to be completed by January-February next year,” BPCL state head (LPG) S Dhanapal said here on Monday. The company, which caters to 22 lakh individual LPG customers in Telangana, added 2 lakh connections last fiscal. This year, thanks to Ujjwala Scheme, it has been able to provide over 1.5 lakh connections in the state. “This year, we will be able to provide around 2.5 lakh new connections in the state,” he added. Dhanapal also spoke about the digital initiatives of the company and said it had launched the Bharatgas mobile app last year. He said currently only 2% of its customers use the app and that the company would like more people to make use of it for a hassle free experience while making payments, applying for a new connection, among others. Darryl Sittler Womens Jersey
India’s first Biofuel flight takes off
India’s first Biofuel-powered flight was successfully tested for domestic operations on Monday between Dehradun and New Delhi. The Bio-fuel is expected to reduce India’s dependency on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) and help bring down air fares. The SpiceJet aircraft was flagged off by Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Trivendra Singh Rawat, and was received in New Delhi by Union Ministers of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu, and Science and Technology, Harsh Vardhan. Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet Ajay Singh, and senior government and aviation officials were also present at the occasion. “On August 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the new Biofuel policy and today we have successfully implemented it in the aviation sector. This is a great achievement for clean energy, Biofuel energy and aviation industry. The Petroleum Ministry will soon come up with a new BioATF policy,” Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told ANI. He added that ATF price is the key component in the aviation industry, and in the coming days, India is hoping to reduce its import dependency in this area. “In the emerging aviation industry, this will be beneficial for everybody since it is not only economical but also environment-friendly. It would help generate employment and additional income for the farmers,” Pradhan said. “The GST (Goods and Service Tax) on Bio-diesel has been reduced to 12 per cent from 18 per cent. On Ethanol it has been reduced to 5 per cent. Last year, we bought 35 billion of Ethanol, and it would increase. There would also be an increase in the business of Bio-diesel and Bio-CNG (Compressed Natural Gas). We have achieved the most challenging aspect that is to find a substitute for the ATF. And, in the coming days, there would be a rise in bio-energy from all sides, be it ATF, transportation liquid fuel, or CNG,” Pradhan added. Speaking on the effects of Biofuel on aviation fuel prices, Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari said the government is working to bring down the cost of this fuel. “It is Rs 70 per litre today. This would be reduced to Rs 55/litre soon and the manufacturing of aviation fuel will increase in India. There is already the market of Rs 300 billion. Tribals and farmers will get jobs from this process. We will increase the productivity using biotechnology. We had a discussion with the Petroleum Minister on making a special policy on Biofuel ATF and then bringing it in the cabinet,” Gadkari said. Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu emphasised that the use of alternative fuel would benefit the consumers. “We import oil in large quantities and it is consumed by the whole transportation sector. Biofuel would reduce the quantity of our imports, emission of greenhouse gases, and would further benefit the consumers,” Prabhu told ANI. Expressing happiness over the success of the test flight, Chairman and Managing Director of SpiceJet, Ajay Singh said that this will eventually help in bringing down the air fares. “This fuel is low cost and helps in significantly reducing carbon emissions. It has the potential to reduce our dependence on traditional Aviation Fuel by 50 per cent on every flight and bring down air fares. India is the fastest growing aviation market in the world today and it is our responsibility to grow using clean and sustainable technologies,” said Singh. Made from Jatropha crop, Biofuel has been developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR-IIP), in Dehradun. It has been recognised by American Standard Testing Method (ASTM) and meets the specification standards of Pratt and Whitney and Bombardier for commercial application in aircraft. SpiceJet had last year placed orders for 205 Boeing 737 Max fuel-efficient planes that are expected to reduce fuel consumption by about 15% and will leave 40% lesser noise footprint. SpiceJet said that the company intends to use the mixture of 75% ATF and 25% Biofuel in its operations. ArDarius Stewart Authentic Jersey
GAIL’s online gas portal to boost transparency
The launch of an online portal by GAIL (India), allowing third-party access to its natural gas pipeline network, would ensure transparency and permit companies to understand the infrastructure further, analysts said on Tuesday. GAIL, India’s biggest gas marketing and trading firm, launched an online portal on Monday for companies to book natural gas pipeline capacity. The state-run utility, which operates more than 11,400 kilometres of natural gas pipelines across various parts of India, has been providing third-party access to natural gas pipelines since 2004. GAIL has served about 100 to 150 customers over the past few years, and, this would be the first time the company has taken the process online. “It’s a positive step towards introducing further transparency into the market,” said Nicholas Browne, senior gas analyst at energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie. “I haven’t heard of this mechanism elsewhere in Asia although other markets such as Japan have introduced third-party operators, so a visible step towards separate ownership of transmission.” While GAIL has said the portal was to bring transparency in the way pipeline capacity is sold, the move could help the utility convince the Indian government that it is not blocking access to the market as it faces the threat of being broken up, said Browne. The government had said in January it wanted to split GAIL into two companies – one for laying pipelines and the other for marketing and petrochemicals – to encourage more transparency between the two operations, but has since appeared to have changed its position. India, the world’s third-biggest energy consumer, is building infrastructure, including pipelines and import facilities, to raise the share of gas in its energy mix to 15 percent by 2030 from the current level of about 6.5 percent. LNG IMPORTS India’s imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) surged by 20 per cent in the first half of this year, compared with the same period a year earlier, said consultancy IHS Markit’s senior analyst Vidur Singhal. “With this initiative, there could be more visibility on available pipeline capacity and greater push for short-term LNG trades directly between buyers and sellers,” he added. However, constraints to increase the country’s LNG imports still remain. “The bigger constraint is actually the quantity of pipelines rather than open access,” Woodmac’s Browne said, adding that India remains critically under-served by pipelines. “Pipeline construction in India is notoriously difficult … as such, companies have proposed building their own pipelines to avoid being reliant on GAIL’s construction schedules.” GAIL is working on increasing the gas grid by another 5,000 kilometres, connecting eastern and north-eastern India. Pierre Turgeon Womens Jersey
IOCL plans to invest Rs 18.23 bn to expand east India’s first LPG pipeline
Oil marketing major Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) is planning to augment eastern India’s first pipeline, the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur LPG Pipeline and its extension up to Muzaffarpur and Patna, with an investment of Rs 18.23 billion. “Under the augmentation of Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur LPG Pipeline, new facilities will be added at Paradip and Balasore. We expect to commission the project by December 2020. This line will be extended to Muzaffarpur and Patna”, said P C Choubey, Executive Director (pipelines division), IOCL. The LPG requirement at Patna and Muzaffarpur are now met by train wagons and bullets. The investment is in addition to Rs 13.30 billion LPG pipeline planned by IOCL, the first in eastern India and proposed from Paradip to Durgapur for transportation of LPG from Paradip refinery, Choubey added. The Paradip-Haldia–Durgapur LPG pipeline will cater to the LPG demand of Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal and originates from Paradip. The pipeline will have pump stations at Paradip and Haldia and delivery stations at Balasore (Odisha), Budge Budge, Kalyani and Durgapur (West Bengal). IOCL has already commissioned the Paradip-Balasore section of the pipeline. “With the commissioning of 157-km Paradip-Balasore section pipeline, construction of pump station at Paradip and delivery station at Balasore, the road transportation of LPG from Paradip is eliminated, thereby reducing carbon emissions and traffic congestion,” sources said. Similarly, IOCL has already started work on laying of its Rs 23.21 billion Paradip-Hyderabad pipelines. It has already commissioned its Rs 18 billion Paradip-Raipur-Ranchi pipeline (PRRPL) for transport of products from Paradip refinery. IOC’s 15-mtpa capacity refinery at Paradip is spread over an area of 3,345 acres with an estimated cost of Rs 345.55 billion. The refinery can process 100 per cent high-sulphur and heavy crude oil to produce various petroleum products, including petrol and diesel of BS-IV quality, kerosene, aviation turbine fuel, propylene, sulphur, and petroleum coke. It is also designed to produce Euro-V premium quality motor spirit and other green auto fuel variants for export. Odisha is set to become the first state in eastern India to have all the pipelines in the hydrocarbon chain ranging from crude oil to petroleum products, LPG and natural gas. Riley Dixon Authentic Jersey
Shell to buy out Total in Hazira LNG terminal
Royal Dutch Shell today said it will acquire French oil major Total’s 26 per cent stake in the company that operates 5-MTPA Hazira LNG terminal in Gujarat. The size of the deal was however not disclosed. “Shell Gas BV, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc, has signed a binding Letter of Intent (LoI) with Total Gaz Electricité Holdings France to acquire its 26 per cent equity in the Hazira LNG and Port venture in India, subject to regulatory approvals,” it said in a statement. Hazira LNG & Port venture comprises two companies — Hazira LNG that operates an LNG regasification terminal in Gujarat and Hazira Port, which manages a direct berthing multi-cargo port at Hazira. “The move would allow Shell commercial and operational flexibility over Hazira to maximise integrated value and offer creative customer value propositions,” it said. This portfolio action is consistent with Shell’s strategy to deepen its presence in the gas value chain in India, the fourth largest LNG consumer in the world, Royal Dutch Shell said. Rick Barry Womens Jersey
Dharmendra Pradhan rules out splitting GAIL, but wants petrochemical business divested at a good price
Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday ruled out separating GAIL’s gas transportation and marketing businesses but said the state-owned gas utility should divest its non-core petrochemical business at a good price. To resolve the conflict arising out of the same entity owning the two jobs, GAIL will bifurcate the accounts and give outside parties access to its vast pipeline network. “GAIL board has considered the issue and has assured that it will operate the two businesses of gas transportation and marketing independently and autonomously,” Pradhan said. He was speaking at the launch of the company’s online portal for common carrier capacity booking by marketing entities and consumers for transportation of natural gas through its pipelines. Splitting GAIL “is not on the government’s agenda,” he said adding his ministry wants efficiency in operations of the company. Pradhan said GAIL was formed with the objective of building pipelines and over the past three decades has also become a major marketer of gas. Pipelines are crucial for taking natural gas to consumers across the country. Currently, the pipelines are concentrated in the western and northern part of the country only. “GAIL has to concentrate on pipeline laying. It is unacceptable that they neglect pipeline for marketing and petrochemicals,” he said. “It is unacceptable that they dress up their balance sheet with margins earned from gas marketing and petrochemicals.” Later talking to reporters, he said the company board has deliberated on the issue and agreed to separate balance sheets of the two businesses as also operating the pipelines on the transparent basis by giving third party access. Petrochemicals is “non-core business” of GAIL, he said. “GAIL should exit petrochemical business when they get a good price.” GAIL, he said, has to perform and fulfil the aspirations of taking gas to every nook and corner of the country. There is an estimated 30 million standard cubic meters per day of natural gas that cannot be produced now because of lack of pipeline infrastructure to take the fuel to the consumers, he said. India’s current domestic natural gas production is around 70 mmscmd. Pradhan said GAIL will separate balance sheets of marketing and transportation business. This would mean that if GAIL were to sell gas to a consumer, its marketing division will have to enter into an agreement with the unit owning and operating the pipelines on the same terms and tariffs as being offered to outside third parties. The oil ministry has been for last few months considering bifurcating GAIL’s businesses to resolve the conflict of the same entity doing both the jobs. One of the reasons for this was some industry players alleging that GAIL was not giving them access to its 11,000-kilometer pipeline network to transport their gas. GAIL Chairman and Managing Director B C Tripathi said GAIL gave first open access to its pipelines in 2004 when four companies booked capacities. Today, there are 115 consumers using GAIL pipelines, he said. The ministry had in January stated that it is considering to split GAIL into two – one for laying pipelines and the other for marketing and petrochemicals – to encourage more transparency between the two operations. This is because it believed that all entities authorised to lay natural gas pipelines including GAIL have to “provide mandatory open access of its gas pipeline infrastructure on common carrier principle at the non-discriminatory basis, at transportation rates determined by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB)”. Citing a 2006 policy, it stated that in the long run with the maturity of gas markets, the authorised entities should have transportation of natural gas as their sole business activity and not have interest in gas marketing or city gas distribution network. GAIL is the country’s biggest gas marketing and trading firm and owns most of the country’s pipeline network. Louis Domingue Womens Jersey