PM Narendra Modi, Sheikh Hasina to unveil oil pipeline next week
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina will next week jointly inaugurate two key connectivity projects that are expected to strengthen Hasina’s position ahead of parliamentary polls there. ET has learnt that the two prime ministers will launch, via video conference, a cross-border oil pipeline and an India-financed railway line that will seek to ease travel to Bangladesh capital Dhaka. The oil pipeline will supply 1million metric tonnes of high speed diesel per annum to Bangladesh. The diesel is currently transported through a cross-border train from Numaligarh refinery in Assam. The railway line will connect Joydevpur and Tongi with Dhaka. India has so far offered almost $800 billion line of credit to Bangladesh, the highest for any country, in the backdrop of growing bonhomie between Delhi and Dhaka. Alexander Mogilny Womens Jersey
Asia to dominate long-term LNG demand growth
The ‘Global LNG Outlook 2018’, the latest forecast from Bloomberg NEF (BNEF), shows that LNG demand will be 308 million tpy this year, up from 284 million tpy in 2017. Half of the 24 million tpy of growth will come from China and the remainder largely from Japan, South Korea and India. The report highlights that Asia will be the core growth region in the coming decade. “The region will add a total of 143 million tpy in 2017 – 2030, accounting for 86% of the world’s total LNG demand growth in the period.” commented Maggie Kuang, head of Asia Pacific LNG analysis and lead author of the report. BNEF expects strong demand from China and emerging markets in South Asia to boost global LNG trade in 2019, with 12 million tpy likely to be added. This demand growth will slow down during 2020 – 2021, when Japan restarts its ninth nuclear plant and Russian pipeline gas starts to supply China. However, any global supply surplus after 2019 is likely to be modest and brief. Ashish Sethia, global head of LNG analysis stated: “Average utilisation of export plants in 2020 – 2021, when post-FID supply capacity peaks, will likely be 87%, which would be the lowest in the past decade, but that only suggests a modest surplus. Post-2021, growth will rebound with South and Southeast Asia becoming the main growth engine due to faster depletion of local gas and significant infrastructure build-out.” BNEF has cut its long-term forecast on European LNG demand (including Turkey) to 60 million tpy by 2030. John Twomey, head of European gas analysis said: “Growth of renewables and batteries will marginalise gas-fired generation in the European power system. This will restrict the growth of LNG imports, despite declines in Dutch and Norwegian gas production. Europe will limit its reliance on Russian pipeline gas imports.” On the supply side, 103 million tpy of new capacity will be added globally during 2017 – 2021. Global post-FID capacity is expected to peak at 392 million tpy in 2021, providing sufficient supply to meet demand to 2025. About 17 projects will likely take FID in coming years, potentially adding 172 million tpy of capacity by 2030. The growth of demand in Asia and a further drive to cut the cost of US LNG will likely lead to some new sales and purchase agreements for US LNG. “About 90 million tpy of ‘likely’ FIDs in the next few years are from North America, mostly in the Gulf of Mexico” said Anastacia Dialynas, lead LNG analyst, Americas. Volumes of new LNG term contracts signed each year since 2015 have been stagnating. In the first eight months of 2018, some 7.1 million tpy of supply contracts were signed, the same as a year earlier. The share of short-term (1 – 4 years) contracts went up to 41%, up from less than a quarter over the last decade. This indicates buyers’ increasing preference for shorter tenure. BNEF expects contract signing activities to revive from 2021 when existing contracted supply becomes thin. New contracts to underpin FIDs on new supply projects will also need to take place by 2021 to provide sufficient supply capacity post-2025. Tyler Myers Womens Jersey
Russia is our largest investment destination in oil, gas sector: Pradhan
Hailing Russia as India’s largest investment destination in the oil and gas sector, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday said that Moscow will always be a priority in New Delhi’s foreign and energy policy. Speaking at a conference titled ‘India-Russia in the 21st Century: Enhancing the Special Privileged Strategic Partnership’ here, Pradhan said: “I believe that our time-tested relationship has no expiry date. Russia will always be a priority in India’s foreign and energy policy and both our countries will remain as a role model for global communities.” He told ANI on the sidelines of the conference that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin share a “deep friendship” and that the two countries have built an ‘energy bridge’ between themselves. “Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin share a deep friendship and respect for each other which is beyond the business and diplomatic relations. Today Russia is the closest friend,” he noted. Pradhan also opined that the signing of the declaration on the India-Russia Strategic partnership between former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Putin was a “watershed moment in our relations”. “Vajpayee ji’s efforts infused warmth and transformed our co-operation into Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. Last year, we celebrated 70 years of diplomatic ties between India and Russia. The seventy plus years of our bilateral relations has been further strengthened by Prime Minister Modi and President Putin in the last couple of years by adopting the historic St. Petersburg declaration,” he said. Our energy relations were never as strong as they have become in the last couple of years. Our engagement in the hydrocarbon sector, including some major investments, has become one of the key pillars of our bilateral relations. India and Russia have deeply strengthened their hydrocarbon engagement and we have also built an ‘Energy Bridge’ between our two countries. Soviet technology helped us in oil and gas since 1960s. Striking oil at Bombay High, India’s biggest oil and gas field, was also due to soviet experts,” the minister added. Pradhan stated that Prime Minister Modi and President Putin have placed “special emphasis on the energy sector as a priority area in our bilateral cooperation”. “Russia is one of the largest producers of oil and natural gas in the world and it can become an important source to fulfill India’s requirements. India has embarked on the path of becoming a gas-based economy. Russian supplies will help us in meeting the objectives of price stability and energy security. Our oil and gas PSUs are continuing to explore their participation in more oil and gas projects in Russia,” he underscored. Brian Urlacher Jersey
Petronet LNG CEO Prabhat Singh gets 12.5 per cent higher commission in FY18
Petronet LNG, India’s biggest liquefied natural gas importer, has paid a 12.5 per cent higher commission-on-profit to its chief executive Prabhat Singh and company directors in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018. According to the company’s Annual Report for 2017-18, Singh was paid a commission of Rs 2.250 million over and above his remuneration. This compared with Rs 2 million commission he got in the 2016-17 fiscal year. Petronet Director (Technical) Rajender Singh earned a similar commission in both the years. The commission to Prabhat Singh took his total remuneration to Rs 11.6 million in 2017-18 as compared to Rs 10.8 million in the previous fiscal. Petronet, which is registered as a private limited company but is headed by the Oil Secretary, also paid its three independent directors — A K Misra, Sushil Kumar Gupta and Jyoti Kiran Sukla, a commission ranging from Rs0. 314 million to Rs 0.85 million over and above their sitting fee. Prabhat Singh took over as the Managing Director and CEO of Petronet LNG on September 14, 2015. That year he was paid a commission of Rs 0.821 million. The commission to other full-time directors including Rajender Singh and the then Director (Finance) R K Garg was Rs 1.5 million. According to the 2017-18 annual report, the ratio of the remuneration paid to the chief executive to the median remuneration of the employees of the company was 9.4:1. Petronet earned a net profit of Rs 20.78 billion on a turnover of Rs 305.99 billion in 2017-18 fiscal. This compared with Rs 17.06 billion net profit on a turnover of Rs 246.16 billion in the previous year. In the annual report, Petronet said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Andaman and Nicobar Administration for the establishment of a small-scale floating LNG receiving, storage and regasification terminal and gas-based power plant at South Andaman. Pre-project studies like environment impact assessment, geotechnical investigations and marine studies including navigational studies have been completed which would be used to prepare a detailed feasibility report. Petronet has also signed an MoU with Petrobangla of Bangladesh for setting up a land-based 7.5 million tonnes a year LNG receiving, storage and regasification terminal at Kutubdia Island. It has also inked a pact with Sri Lankan authorities for developing LNG infrastructure in the island nation. Petronet, which is 50 per cent owned by state-owned oil firms, operates two terminals for import of natural gas in its liquid form (LNG) in India – 15 million tonnes facility at Dahej in Gujarat and a 5 million tonnes a year unit at Kochi in Kerala. Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), GAIL India Ltd and Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) each hold 12.5 per cent stake in Petronet. Its chairman, however, is the Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Petronet said it is working on the use of LNG as a transportation fuel in place of diesel and CNG. The “company has prepared a business plan based on traffic study on Indian roads and decided to develop an LNG corridor covering 4000 kms of National highways,” the annual report said, adding it has shortlisted 20 locations to develop LNG dispensing stations as a pilot project.
India’s fuel demand rose 0.8 per cent year-on-year in August
India’s fuel demand rose 0.8 per cent in August compared with the same month last year. Consumption of fuel, a proxy for oil demand, totalled 16.60 million tonnes, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed. Sales of gasoline, or petrol, were 7.8 per cent higher from a year earlier at 2.36 million tonnes. Cooking gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales increased 2.8 per cent to 2.11 million tonnes, while naphtha sales surged 1.1 per cent to 1.09 million tonnes. Sales of bitumen, used for making roads, were 18.9 per cent up, while fuel oil use edged up 8.3 per cent in August. Erik Swoope Authentic Jersey
Gujarat: Armed with licences, gas companies unleash talent hunt
Talent hunt is intensifying among city gas distribution (CGD) companies following the government issuing retailing licences for 78 Indian cities in one go in August. With as many as four Gujarat-based companies having bagged licences, hiring activity has intensified, leaving a dent in public sector firms. In the last six months, about half a dozen top honchos have switched sides. Recently, PPG Sarma, former CEO of Gujarat Gas Ltd, joined Torrent Gas Pvt Ltd., a part of Torrent group which forayed into city gas distribution by bagging licences for nine cities. Around the same time, Shridhar Tambraparni, who retired from Adani Gas Ltd., too joined Torrent as vice-president. Gujarat Gas Limited, one of the oldest and largest players in CGD business, has been at the receiving end. In the last two months, the company has lost five senior professionals to Torrent Gas. “The development of CGD networks could result in 80,000-90,000 incremental jobs over the next five years, including contingent jobs,” said Amit Vadera, head-BFSI and PSU, TeamLease Services Ltd, a human resource service company. “There will be more recruitments in CGD space, which is currently dominated by public sector entities. Entry of private players will further increase jobs and entire sector will grow. Existing players such as GGL, Mahanagar Gas Ltd, GAIL Gas and IOC will see some attrition as well,” said a senior official of a CGD company. “Existing players have large pool of manpower and exodus of few employees won’t make much of a difference to them,” said the source, adding that similar trend was witnessed when GSPC Gas and Gujarat State Petronet Limited (GSPL) were launched. Out of the total 86 geographical areas across the country offered under the ninth round of bidding for CGD, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has granted licences to retail natural gas in 78 cities. The bidding also saw new entrants such as Torrent Gas, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd, Essel Gas and consortiums led by Think Gas Investments PTE Ltd and AG&P LNG Marketing Pte Ltd. According to industry estimates, for a new company in CGD business, 100 to 150 professionals are required to build the core team for planning, execution, administration and regulatory clearances. Apart from this, 30 onsite employees are required to serve 1 lakh connections. These jobs pertain to billing, accounting, collection and technical as well as safety support. “Assuming that each of the new 86 cities has minimum 2 lakh connections, 60 people will be required for onsite operations for one city. For all the cities, more than 5,200 people will be required for onsite alone,” said a veteran CGD business professional. Gujarat-based companies grabbed majority of cities with Adani Gas receiving distribution rights for 13 areas on its own and 9 in joint venture with Indian Oil Corporation. Tom Kuhnhackl Jersey