Rs 1.40 lakh crore of oil & gas investments likely in Odisha: Pradhan
Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday said Odisha is going to be the epicentre of petroleum and gas sector, with around Rs 1.40 lakh crore investments proposed under various oil and gas projects in the state. “Around Rs 1.40 lakh crore of investments have been proposed under various oil and gas projects in Odisha. While Rs 43,000 crore has been invested in the Paradip Refinery alone, creating a need for skilling youth for the future jobs in the sector,” said Pradhan. He said refinery expansion, raw material for textiles, petrochemicals, polymers, pet coke gasification, LNG terminal, LPG terminals and several other projects are underway. Pradhan, also the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister, on Sunday inaugurated the main campus of the Skill Development Institute (SDI), Bhubaneswar. “As promised, I have met my timelines of ensuring that the campus gets ready in 2019. Odisha got the Petroleum Ministry’s first SDI in the state capital with Indian Oil as the anchor investor and managing company,” said Pradhan. The institute through its dual education system combining apprenticeships in industries and vocational education will pave the path for the youths in the country and Odisha, he said. The institute will impart skill training to over 50,000 students in 25 regular trades pertaining to the hydrocarbons sector, local industry needs including future skills for the next 10 years apart from other employment-oriented training.
UAE’s ADNOC seals $4 bln pipeline infrastructure deal with KKR, BlackRock
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has sealed a $4 billion midstream pipeline infrastructure deal with U.S. investment firms KKR and BlackRock, the government-owned company said on Sunday. ADNOC has been expanding through strategic partnerships since 2017. Last month it won a combined $5.8 billion investment from Italy’s Eni and Austria’s OMV for a stake in its refining business to establish a new trading operation owned by the three partners. The latest deal follows ADNOC’s capital markets debut with its Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline bond, the IPO of ADNOC Distribution and other initiatives. A new entity called ADNOC Oil Pipelines will lease the oil company’s interest in 18 pipelines, transporting crude oil and condensates across ADNOC’s upstream concessions for a 23-year period, ADNOC said in a statement. The 18 pipelines have a total length of over 750 km and capacity of 13 million barrels per day. Funds managed by KKR and BlackRock will form a consortium to hold a 40 percent stake in the entity, with ADNOC owning the rest. ADNOC will have sovereignty over the pipelines and management of pipeline operations. The deal, expected to close in the third quarter of 2019, will result in upfront proceeds of some $4 billion to ADNOC. The statement cited Sultan al-Jaber, ADNOC group CEO, as saying the deal validated ADNOC’s approach of “unlocking value from its portfolio of assets while retaining control over their ownership and operation”. BlackRock is investing through its Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Fund series while KKR’s investment is through its third Global Infrastructure Investors Fund, the statement said. “We believe that today’s agreement among ADNOC, BlackRock and KKR will be followed by many more such partnerships to invest in the future growth of the region,” said BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink. This is KKR’s first direct investment in the region, co-CEO Henry Kravis said, adding that there is substantial potential for more. ADNOC has undergone major changes since al-Jaber’s appointment in 2016, embarking on privatisation, oil trading and expanded partnerships with strategic investors. “I think the approach taken here by ADNOC reflects a desire to monetise assets they have under their control,” said Edward Bell, director of commodities research at Emirates NBD. “So I think it reflects an attempt to realise the value of the infrastructure they have in place more than a strategic shift into midstream oil and gas.” ADNOC produces about 3 million barrels of oil and 10.5 billion cubic feet of raw gas a day.