National Grid to pay $36 million and lift natural gas moratorium after New York settlement
National Grid on Monday agreed to pay $36 million (£28.06 million) in response to an ultimatum from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and compensate natural gas customers in New York City and Long Island that were adversely impacted by a moratorium. National Grid, which will invest most of that money in new energy conservation and clean energy projects, said in a statement it will immediately lift the moratorium on signing up new gas customers for about two years. National Grid, which owns and operates electricity transmission networks in the United Kingdom, also supplies power and gas to customers in New York and New England in the United States, including about 1.8 million gas customers in New York City and Long Island. At the heart of the conflict was National Grid’s decision in May to impose a moratorium on signing up new gas customers in downstate New York and refusal to reconnect service to more than 1,100 pre-existing clients. The utility blamed New York regulators’ rejection of Williams Cos Inc’s $1 billion Northeast Supply Enhancement gas pipeline project from Pennsylvania to New York and New Jersey, which the blue-chip company was counting on to meet growing demand for gas. “National Grid will pay a significant penalty for its failure to address the supply issue, its abuse of its customers, and the adverse economic impact they have caused,” Cuomo said in a statement. National Grid agreed to settle after Cuomo sent a letter on Nov. 12, threatening to revoke the utility’s certificate to operate its gas franchise in downstate New York for allegedly failing to provide “adequate and reliable service” as required by state law. The governor, who has been pushing utilities to invest in renewable power and energy efficiency programs rather than new fossil-fired infrastructure, gave National Grid 14 days to say how it would fix supply problems. The governor has threatened to revoke other companies’ franchises before, but no utility has ever lost its New York franchise, according to state energy officials. Ratings agency Moody’s placed two of National Grid’s utilities in the United States on review for downgrade on Nov. 18, citing heightened regulatory uncertainty and saying the impact extended to other utilities operating in New York. “The threat to revoke a utility’s license represents a weakening of the consistency and predictability of New York’s utility regulatory environment,” credit rating agency Moody’s said. The ratings agency added that the letter seemed to bypass the regulatory process. National Grid, whose stock was up about 1.3% on Monday, was not the only New York City gas company to impose a moratorium on signing up new gas customers. In January, Consolidated Edison Inc blamed tight gas supplies when it announced it would impose a moratorium on new gas customers in March in parts of Westchester County, located north of New York City. Con Edison also received threats from the governor in 2018 and 2019 that he would revoke the utility’s electric franchise following power outages. It reached agreements with gas pipeline operators to increase the pressure on existing pipes so they can deliver more of the fuel. Con Edison said that should allow it to lift the Westchester moratorium once the new capacity is available around November 2023.
Qatar says to sharply raise gas output
Qatar said Monday it would sharply boost its liquefied natural gas (LNG) production, already the world’s largest, based on a rise in its proven reserves. Minister of State for Energy Affairs and CEO of state-owned Qatar Petroleum Saad al-Kaabi said Qatar’s LNG output of 77 million tonnes per year would increase to 126 million tonnes by 2027. The Gulf state had previously signalled a rise to 110 tonnes per year by 2024. The minister gave no figures about the expected investments required to meet the target. Kaabi also announced that proven gas reserves in the North Field, which Qatar shares with Iran, had increased to 1,760 trillion cubic feet (50 trillion cubic metres). Almost all of Qatar’s gas reserves are located in the North Field, the world’s largest gas field. “Studies and well tests have also confirmed the ability to produce large quantities of gas” from a North Field extension in the area near the industrial hub of Ras Laffan, the minister said. In addition, Kaabi said the field contains 70 billion barrels of condensates, or natural gas liquids, and massive quantities of LPG, ethane and helium. “These are very important findings which will have a great positive impact on Qatar’s gas industry,” Kaabi said in a statement. The tiny Gulf state, which has been under boycott by its Gulf neighbours since June 2017, also pumps over 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The new plans will raise Qatar’s overall hydrocarbon production to about 6.7 million barrels oil equivalent per day from 4.6 million currently. Gas has helped fuel Qatar’s rise to become one of the world’s richest countries, transforming the peninsula state and helping it to successfully bid for the 2022 football World Cup finals.
India’s new liberalised fuel retail policy: Minimum 100 petrol pumps, 5% in remote areas
India’s new liberalised petrol pump norms require licensees to set up a minimum of 100 outlets with at least 5 per cent of them in remote areas. According to a Gazette notification detailing the norms for setting up petrol pumps, the licensee would also be required to “install facilities for marketing at least one new generation alternative fuels like compressed natural gas (CNG), biofuels, liquefied natural gas, electric vehicle charging points etc at their proposed retail outlets within three years of operationalisation of the said outlet.” The government had last month relaxed norms for setting up petrol pumps, allowing non-oil companies to market fuel in the world’s fastest-growing market. Prior to this change, to obtain a fuel retailing licence in India, a company needed to invest Rs 2,000 crore in either hydrocarbon exploration and production, refining, pipelines or liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals. “Any entity seeking authorisation for retail marketing only should have a minimum net worth of at least Rs 250 crore at the time of making the application to the central government,” the notification said. It fixed the application fee at Rs 25 lakh. “The entity needs to set up at least 100 retail outlets, out of which at least 5 per cent of the proposed retail outlets shall be set up in the notified remote areas within five years of the grant of authorisation,” it said. The applicant will have to state in the application the source of supply of products, tankage and other infrastructure with capacity, means of transportation of products and year-wise number of petrol pumps proposed. The government had last set fuel marketing conditions in 2002 and the review now is based on the recommendation of a high-level expert committee. The move will facilitate entry of global giants such as Total SA of France, Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, BP Plc of UK and Trafigura’s downstream arm Puma Energy. Total in partnership with Adani Group had in November 2018 applied for a licence to retail petrol and diesel through 1,500 outlets. BP too has formed a partnership with Reliance Industries to set up petrol pumps but is yet to make a formal application. While Puma Energy had applied for a retail licence, Aramco was in talks to enter the sector. State-owned oil marketing companies — Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) — currently own most of the 66,408 petrol pumps in the country. Reliance Industries, Nayara Energy (formerly Essar Oil) and Royal Dutch Shell are the private players in the market but with limited presence. Reliance, which operates the world’s largest oil refining complex, has less than 1,400 outlets. Nayara has 5,453 while Shell has just 167 pumps. BP had a couple of years back secured a licence to set up 3,500 pumps but has not yet started doing so. It is now venturing into the business with Reliance with plans to scale up Reliance’s present network strength to 5,500. Failing to set up a minimum of 5 per cent of petrol pumps in identified remote areas would attract a penalty of Rs 3 crore per pump. But the firms can at their choice deposit Rs 2 crore per remote area pump at the time of licensing to get an exemption from the clause, the notification said. Currently, IOC is the market leader with 28,237 petrol pumps in the country, followed by HPCL with 15,855 outlets, and BPCL with 15,289 fuel stations.
Adnoc signs LNG agreements with oil majors BP and Total
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company signed agreements with BP and Total to book the majority of its liquefied natural gas production up to the first quarter of 2022. “With these new supply agreements, Adnoc LNG has shown that it can react quickly and decisively to changing market conditions while ensuring the security and quality of delivery,” said Fatema Al Nuaimi, Adnoc LNG chief executive. “With the support of our shareholders, we have maximised access to new markets with strong LNG growth potential,” she added. Adnoc LNG is a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi state oil company, which holds the majority 70 per cent share, Japan’s Mitsui with a 15 per cent stake, BP has 10 per cent and France’s Total with 5 per cent. Adnoc LNG produces 6 million tonnes annually of the super-chilled fuel from its facilities on Das Island, which has been operational since 1977. Until April, Adnoc supplied 90 per cent of its LNG to Japan’s Jera, its single biggest offtaker. However, the Abu Dhabi company has since diversified its customer base, supplying 90 per cent of its LNG volumes to clients in more than eight countries in South and South-East Asia, including India, China, South Korea, and Taiwan. “The two-year LNG supply agreement contributes to the growth and flexibility of Total’s LNG portfolio and strengthens our longstanding relationship with Adnoc LNG,” said Laurent Chevalier, vice president Middle East, gas, renewables and power at Total. Last week, Adnoc announced additional hydrocarbon reserves of 7 billion “stock tank” barrels of oil and 58 trillion cubic feet of conventional gas and 160tcf of unconventional gas, taking the UAE to the sixth position from seventh globally in terms of hydrocarbon reserves, according to data listed by the US Energy Information Administration. The UAE is reliant on imports to meet its gas needs and growing demand for cleaner fuel to generate electricity and power industry. Unlocking its gas caps, much of which is sour – having high sulphur content – as well as utilising its new discoveries for additional LNG production is part of Adnoc’s strategy to maximise value from the fuel. Abu Dhabi can expect to develop significant LNG export capacity by 2024, consultancy Wood Mackenzie said last year. On Tuesday Adnoc also signed an agreement with Rongsheng Petrochemical of China to explore domestic and international opportunities as it seeks to sell more products to customers in East Asia. The deal covers the sale of refined products from Adnoc to Rongsheng and the supply of liquefied natural gas to the Chinese company. “The agreement covers domestic and international growth opportunities across a range of sectors, which have the potential to open new markets for our growing portfolio of products and attract investment to support our downstream and gas expansion plans,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Adnoc Group chief executive and UAE Minister of State. Adnoc expects to invest about $45 billion (Dh165.3bn) in the downstream sector with partners over the next five years in Ruwais, with its domestic refining and chemicals capacities set to double and treble, respectively. The Abu Dhabi company plans to build the world’s largest integrated refinery by 2025. Rongsheng, which also has interests in chemicals and textiles, is an investor in high-value oil and gas projects. “The strategic cooperation with Adnoc will ensure that our ZPC project, which will have a refining capacity of up to 1 million barrels per day of crude, has adequate supplies of feedstock,” Li Shuirong, chairman of Rongsheng Group said in a statement.
BPCL stake sale: Race against time to achieve over Rs 1 trillion disinvestment target
The government may find it difficult to conclude the BPCL stake sale process within the deadline of March 2020 and account for the disinvestment proceeds in the current financial year given the complexity involved and the small window of time, analysts told ETEnergyworld. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) is yet to appoint transaction, legal and asset advisors for the stake sale. The government has set an ambitious disinvestment target of Rs 1.05 lakh crore for the current financial year 2019-2020. It has so far managed to mop-up around Rs 17,364 crore and may garner around Rs 60,000 crore from the sale of its 53.29 per cent stake in the company, excluding premium. “The government is yet to appoint advisors for the likely complex BPCL sale but even otherwise, it is unlikely that a true privatization, which the govt. appears keen on for a change, can conclude in four months to account it in the FY20 Budget,” equity research firm Jefferies said in a report. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had last week given a go-ahead for the BPCL sale along with Shipping Corporation of India, power generator THDC India and North Eastern Electric Power Corp to a strategic investor with management control. Also, in a move which is expected to make the task ahead for advisors more difficult, the centre announced that BPCL’s Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) will remain out of the purview of the stake sale to a private investor, and NRL will be separately sold to a Public Sector Undertaking under the oil ministry. “The process could take longer because they may have to carve out NRL first and then go for BPCL. It can happen simultaneously also but even if the process is fast-tracked it has historically taken 6-12 months for a PSU-to-PSU transfer to materialise. If NRL was part of the deal, it would have been faster,” said an equity analyst asking not to be identified. According to the Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by DIPAM, slippages in time-line would lead to termination of contract. “The Advisor will be required to undertake tasks relating to all aspects of the proposed strategic disinvestment culminating into successful completion of the transaction during the current financial, i.e. 2019-20 and accordingly draw detailed realistic timeline for completing various activities involved in the transaction. In case of slippage in the timeline, government may change the appointed Advisor,” the RFP read. Another analyst said the time-frame is very short. “It is highly unlikely that the proves will conclude in this fiscal. Even if they are able to conclude all the formalities, the proceeds of disinvestment in the government’s coffers will take its own time to come,” he said requesting anonymity. Another analyst from a research firm said that the government may not be able to sell the stake by end March but it will be able to cover a lot of ground. “The time frame is too short but by March-end at least major term-sheet, identifying of buyer and other core processes should conclude. It is a fairly large deal and it will take time to do proper due diligence on pricing, valuation, legal and financial aspects. Even if they reach the stage of signing of non-binding agreements by March end, it will be a big achievement,” the analyst said. DIPAM is expected to open the bids received against its RFP for hiring asset valuers, legal advisors and transaction advisors today. This will be followed by road shows and identifying potential buyers. BPCL is the country’s second-largest oil marketing company and operates four refineries at Mumbai, Kochi, Bina and Numaligarh with a combined capacity to convert 38.3 million tonne of crude oil into fuel. It owns 15,078 petrol pumps and 6,004 LPG distributors across the country. The Maharatna firm employs around 12,000 people and clocked a net profit of Rs 7,132 crore last financial year on a total income of Rs 3.4 lakh crore.
Qatar plans to boost LNG production to 126 million tonne by 2027
Qatar said on Monday it aimed to lift production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 64% to 126 million tonnes per year by 2027, putting oil majors racing to secure a stake in the Gulf country’s expansion plans under pressure to make the best offer. The expansion of Qatar’s LNG facilities is the world’s largest and one of the energy sector’s most lucrative projects. The world’s top oil and gas majors have showered state energy giant Qatar Petroleum with some of their most prized ventures for a role in QP’s new LNG project. The estimated increase in Qatar’s LNG production comes after new drilling and appraisal work in the expanded North Field mega project showed that confirmed gas reserves of the field exceeded 1,760 trillion cubic feet, chief executive of Qatar Petroleum Saad al-Kaabi told reporters in Doha. “I am pleased to announce that our appraisal efforts have borne fruit, and that we have confirmation that the productive layers of the North Field extend well into Qatari land in Ras Laffan,” Kaabi told a news conference. “Studies and well tests have also confirmed the ability to produce large quantities of gas from this new sector of the North Field.” Kaabi said the latest appraisal well, NF-12, was drilled onshore in the Ras Laffan Industrial City about 12 km from the shore. “These results will … enable us to immediately commence the necessary engineering work for two additional LNG mega trains with a combined annual capacity of 16 million tons per annum (mtpa),” Kaabi said. “This will raise Qatar’s LNG production from currently 77 million tons to 126 million tons per annum by 2027, representing an increase of about 64%.” That would also boost Qatar’s total output to 6.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) from around 4.8 million boed in the next eight years, Kaabi said. RIVALS CLOSE BEHIND Qatar’s plans come as LNG prices languish at multi-year lows due a surge in production of the super-chilled gas in the United States, Russia and Australia. Australia may oust Qatar from its long-held position of the world’s top LNG producer this year. “If you look at where the big growth markets are, the bulk of demand growth is forecast in South and Southeast Asia and Qatar is well placed to target those markets,” Giles Farrer, research director global LNG at Wood Mackenzie, said. But the addition of 16 mtpa on top of Qatar’s already planned increase of 33 mtpa will add to the anticipated oversupply in global markets post 2025, Farrer added. Having dwarfed other countries in LNG production thanks to the North Field, the world’s biggest natural gas field it shares with Iran, Qatar faces growing rivals. The United States, in particular, has gone from being an LNG importer five years ago to becoming the world’s fourth largest last year and by 2025 it will be closing in on Qatar with production of 106 mtpa. QP had said before it was lifting its LNG production to around 110 million tonnes per annum by 2024, and that it would build four new production facilities, known as LNG trains. Kaabi told Reuters in September that QP has short-listed international oil firms for a stake in its expanded North Field mega project, but may still choose to go it alone unless oil majors offer it significant value.
ONGC ends shale exploration, winds up grand project mid-way
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGCNSE 1.41 %) has wound up its shale exploration programme mid-way after spending five years and hundreds of crores of rupees, concluding that India may not have enough commercially-extractable shale reserve. This comes as a setback to the country that had hoped to exploit its own shale rocks to augment its flagging oil and gas production, inspired by the American shale revolution that turned the United States into the largest producer of oil and gas and dramatically reshaped the global energy market this decade. ONGC recently told the government that it was ending its shale exploration programme ahead of schedule as the results hadn’t been encouraging, according to ONGC executives and government officials. It also told the government to get the country’s shale potential reassessed by a competent international agency, they said. Following this, the Oil Ministry is considering launching a new resource assessment programme for all unconventional hydrocarbons, including shale, coal bed methane and gas hydrate, they said. “The US has permian shale while India has much younger, tertiary shale. The US shale rocks are brittle and so easier to hydrofrack while those in India are elastic with more clay content, resulting in little yield from fracking,” said an executive. “The general assessment after drilling wells and data analysis was that it may not be a productive idea to sink more capital into shale projects.” India’s search for exploitable shale was marred not just by poor geology but also by the absence of an ecosystem needed to support such innovative efforts, executives said, pointing towards the lack of regulatory support, limited access to research, tech and services. In 2013, the Oil Ministry had permitted the exploration of shale by ONGC and Oil India in three phases of three years each. ONGC had to carry out exploration activities in 175 blocks, including 50 blocks in the first phase. Oil India’s responsibility included 5 blocks in each phase. Some private players have contemplated but not yet begun shale exploration. ONGC’s exploration programme ended in the first phase itself with ONGC drilling about 26 wells in three hydrocarbon basins of Cambay, KG and Assam-Arakan – spread over Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Assam- at a cost of Rs 600-700 crore, executives said. ONGC had to give up its plans of drilling in the fourth basin of Cauvery in the face of strong resistance to shale activities by Tamil Nadu politicians, according to executives. Just about a fourth of the wells drilled were exclusively for shale while others overlapped with conventional wells. In overlapping cases, the company dug deeper to explore shale into an already-planned conventional well– this meant shared cost and risk. Past estimates of India’s shale reserves vary widely from ONGC’s 187 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of shale gas in 5 basins to US Energy Information Administration’s 584 TCF of shale gas and 87 billion barrels of shale oil in 4 basins, and oilfield services provider Schlumberger’s 300 to 2100 TCF gas. A new official assessment in alliance with an international agency may bring a clearer picture on shale reserves. A thrust on research and development and strong incentives to services and technology companies to set up base in India will encourage creation of advanced knowledge and help exploration, executives said.
Oil and gas reserves of Pakistan going to India due to lack of exploration
The Hydrocarbon Exploration Licensing Policy (HELP), a vital document about way forward to self-sufficiency in oil and gas sector authored by an eminent energy expert Engineer Arshad H Abbasi associated with SDPI has pinpointed that Pakistan authorities have so far ignored the area bordering with India, Rajasthan for exploration and production (E&P) activities for oil and gas deposits knowing the fact that India in its side of border is currently producing 1,75000 barrels per day (BPD). It also raises the red flag asking as to why Pakistan companies are not active for E&P activities in this area since long and if Pakistan’s oil and gas reserves going to Indian side. The HELP document endorsed and heavily praised, by national and international czars hailing from energy and financial sectors such former Petroleum Ministry Engineer G A Sabri, international consultant for energy and climate change Farrukh Mahmood Mian, MD OGDCL and former additional secretary Mohammad Naeem Malik, former MD Pepco Tahir Basharat Cheema, former finance minister of Pakistan and currently adviser to Punjab government on finance and development Dr Salman Shah, former deputy chairman Planning Commission Dr Akram Sheikh and former OGDCL MD Mohammad Raziuddin, highlighted the fact, saying that on the map of petroleum producing states, the Indian State of Rajasthan was till recently in 2009-10 a backward state with vast stretches of desert. And western Rajasthan gained prominence after the discovery of oil by NOC of India which currently produces 175,000 bpd. The basin, especially the Jaisalmer Basin has resources with a potential of 7.8 billion barrels. India Company Carin is planning to invest an additional $5.4 billion to increase its production to 5bpd. The same company plans to drill more than 450 wells over the next 3 years along the Pakistani border. The HELP mentions saying that the oil & gas explorations companies of Pakistan have not been active in the area close to the Indo-Pak border, Tatot Block of Rajasthan which is only at 10 kilometers from the border will soon become a major oil field for India. As Pakistan’s companies are not exploring and producing oil & gas in districts Sanghar, Sukkur, Ghotki, Kasur, Bahawalnagar and Rahim Yar Khan, the question arises as to whether ‘Pakistan’s oil and gas migrating to the Indian-side?’ Indeed this should be of primary concern to the prime minister, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Finance & Ministry of Petroleum. The PTI government is inheriting an economy mired in multi-pronged crises. Massive unemployment, devaluation of the Pakistani rupee, high inflation are among the challenges it will need to grapple with. One of the fundamental causes of the economic crisis are energy imports. This dependence on energy import has crippled Pakistan. Meeting almost 85 percent of the energy demand through imports weighs heavily on Pakistan’s trade and current account deficit. To address these challenges on an economic front, Pakistan needs to enhance the domestic production of oil & gas on war-footing by removing the structural constraints. Proven oil & gas reserves are enough to meet national demand and make the country self-sufficient but lack of the conducive policy and regulatory environment hinders the boosting of domestic exploration and production. The objective of HELP report is to help government make better oil & gas exploration policy for self-reliance in production. It charts out a roadmap for exploration of hydrocarbons to make the country self-sufficient in minimum lead time and set it on a new trajectory of economic growth. The report reviews and highlights shortcomings in petroleum policies and suggests reforms to be able to attain self-sufficiency. While highlighting indigenous potential of oil and gas, HELP says that the domestic oil and gas sector has enormous potential. The balance recoverable reserves of crude oil of the country as on 30th June, 2016 were calculated at 350.632 million barrels. The total oil resource potential is 27 billion barrels while the indigenous production is 86,032 barrels per day. Further, Pakistan as the largest consumer of the gas has a total resource potential of 282 trillion cubic feet with recoverable reserves estimated at 24 trillion cubic feet and production of almost 4 billion cubic feet per day. The biggest issue in realising this potential has been a lack of commitment at the national level. As of April 2017, an area of around 361,218.72 square kilometers out of a total sedimentary area of 827,268 sq. km has been under exploration for oil and gas throughout the country. Yet only 27,710 square kilometers located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been explored. This shows that since independence, only 27% of the area of KPK has been explored for oil & gas. Recoverable potential in KPK alone is 2 billion barrels oil and 46 trillion cubic feet gas. In Balochistan alone, the total proven oil reserves are an estimated 313 million barrels and proven gas reserves are estimated at 29.67 trillion cubic feet. According to another international assessment, Balochistan has 6 billion barrels of oil in onshore/offshore and 19 trillion cubic feet gas reserves. Building a shale oil & gas industry for the future of Pakistan will generate vast investment opportunities, and shale gas exploration and production may transform Pakistan’s economy and revolutionise the existing energy mix within the country. It also mentions that Pakistan’s offshore comprises of the Makran coast and the Indus delta, which is one of the largest basins, comparable to world’s most prolific offshore deltas such as Niger, Mahakam and the Nile. Geological data is available for the offshore basin but only sixteen exploration wells have been drilled in Pakistan offshore so far and the potential has not yet been identified. Mentioning about shale oil and gas potential, it also unfolds that in terms of total technically recoverable shale gas reserves, Pakistan stands 19th in the world. It has about 205 TCF technically recoverable reserves. In the USA and Canada, the daily production of Shale Gas is 32 BCF and 4 BCF, whereas in China and Poland, despite heavy utilisation, the production is 600 and 150 million Cubic
BPCL divestment is like killing the golden goose: Congress
Leading a long march here on Monday, Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for disinvesting the public sector oil company BPCL and termed it as ‘killing the golden goose’. The long march was organised by the Ernakulam district Congress Committee and taking part in it were thousands of people who walked about three kilometres from Tripunithura to the BPCL refinery, near here. “The decision of the Centre to sell off BPCL is against the interest of the country and hence all attempts will be made to oppose this. The Kerala opposition will lend its full support to the protest by the BPCL staff against disinvestment. Modi is killing the golden goose,” said Chennithala. The Cochin refineries, here is part of BPCL, was set up by Kerala government and when it was taken over by BPCL, the government kept the five per cent stake in it. Besides, Kerala government also supported the BPCL by way of tax reliefs.
HC restrains BPCL employees in TN from going on strike
The Madras High Court on Monday restrained employees of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited in Tamil Nadu from going on a strike on November 28-29 to protest against the Centre’s decision to privatise the corporation. Passing interim orders on a petition from BPCL Managing Director M V Shenoy seeking to declare the strike call as illegal, Justice SM Subramaniam also directed the police to provide security to the premises of the public sector company in the state as prayed. The Union cabinet had on November 20 gave its nod to the plan to sell governments 53 per cent stake in BPCL saying the resources unlocked by disinvestment would be used to fund public welfare benefits. Raising objections to the move, over 20 different employees unions of BPCL called for a nationwide strike. Following this, BPCL management filed the petitions saying employees unions of such public-sector companies must give at least six-day notice to the management before resorting to a strike as per the Industrial Disputes Act.