Indian Oil’s Gujarat refinery starts dispatch of low sulphur marine fuel
Indian Oil Corp (IOC)-owned Gujarat Refinery on Tuesday announced it has made the first dispatch of low-sulphur marine fuel (MARPOL) meeting ISO 8217 -2017 standards. “In a pioneering feat, we have started the supply of MARPOL before the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) starts implementinga new regulation for more than 0.50 per cent global sulphur cap for marine fuels,” Gujarat Refineryexecutive director Sudhir Kumar told here. From January 1, 2020, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will implement a new regulation for a 0.50 per cent global sulphur cap for marine fuels. Under the new global cap, ships will have to use marine fuels with a sulphur content of no more than 0.50 per cent sulphur against the current limit of 3.50 percent sulphur in an effort to reduce the amount of sulphur oxide. Production of MARPOL from Gujarat Refinery marks a significant change in the marine fuels landscape as it will enable to reduce pollution from marine and shipping operations through reduced amount of sulphur oxides emanating from ships, Kumar said. This will, Kumar said, “lead to major health and environmental benefits for the world, particularly for populations living close to ports and coasts.” He also informed that Gujarat Refinery gearing up for the supply of 100 per cent BS-VI ultra clean fuels, it has already started supply of BS-VI grade MS and HSD and Winter Grade MARPOL FO (Furnace Oil). Earlier, IndianOil chairman, Sanjiv Singh unveiled the plaque marking the mechanical completion of the New Amine Regeneration Unit and ISBL (Power Grid Import) facility under BS-VI project during his visit to Gujarat Refinery. Singh said that the Gujarat Refinery has played a significant role in the companys growth and it will be seeing a number of significant projects and activities in the days ahead. Gujarat Refinery has planned to invest huge amounts on new projects and expansions in the next couple of years These include capacity expansion to 18 MMTPA, oxo-alcohol petrochemical project and Linear Alkyl Benzamine (LAB) revamp project.
Work on LPG terminal, storage facilities begins amid protests
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), which is establishing a cooking gas receiving jetty and storage facilities on Puthuvype Island, resumed work on the project after a gap of about three years amid tight police protection even as local residents, under the aegis of an organisation protesting against the facility, mounted a campaign to stop the work. The work was stopped in June 2017 after a blockade by the people, who expressed the fear that the project posed a grave threat to their lives in case of an accident. They have demanded that the storage facility be shifted to Ambalamugal, where there is land available. These allegations have been denied by IOC. The oil company maintained that the upcoming facility had the latest safety arrangements to take care of any emergency situation. But, K.S. Murali, convenor of Puthuvype LNG Terminal Virudha Janakeeya Samara Samithy, said on Monday that the people would defy the declaration of Section 144 CrPC around the project area to march to site on Saturday. Ahead of that, on Wednesday, people would blockade the panchayat office in protest against the government decision to let the work restart. “While the government should offer us protection, it is helping build the project,” said Mr. Murali, who spoke after a meeting of local residents who reiterated their concerns. Safety issues About 400 police personnel, drawn from Kochi city and neighbouring police stations, kept a watch over the situation even as IOC officials said work had resumed and reiterated their commitment to the safety of the lives and property of the people who live in the project neighbourhood. IOC said in a statement on Monday that as the construction of the LPG import terminal had restarted, “we would like to reaffirm its safety”. The company said that around 75,000 bulk LPG bullet truck movements took place across congested Kerala roads to and from Mangaluru to supply cooking gas. This is highly risky and, during the last five years, road accidents in Kerala due to LPG bullet trucks have crossed 60. “Accidents are still happening and any of them can become gruesome,” the IOC statement said, as it cited recent accidents at Karunagapally, Kollam district and Chala in Kannur district. IOC is therefore committed to lay cross country pipelines in the State to reduce road transportation of bulk LPG and the “Puthuvypeen terminal is essential for this so that LPG could be brought by sea to Cochin and further transported to various bottling plants by pipeline”. The joint venture of IOC and Kochi Salem Pipeline Private Limited (KSPPL) is already in the process of laying pipelines in the State and it is expected to completely shift the LPG bulk movement in the State through pipelines once the LPG Import Terminal is completed. The Puthuvype terminal has adopted global standards of safety norms. One third of the cost of the terminal was spent on its safety, said the IOC statement. The risk analysis study conducted by PDIL (Projects and Development India Limited, a PSU) also established that the terminal was safe, IOC added.
India’s Mundra LNG terminal to receive commissioning cargo in H2 January
ndia’s Mundra LNG terminal in Gujarat co-owned by Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) and Adani Group is set to receive its commissioning cargo in the second half of January, a source familiar with the matter told S&P Global Platts Tuesday. GSPC issued a tender Monday seeking a cargo to be delivered over H2 January to the Mundra LNG terminal. The tender closes Wednesday, with a one day validity. The terminal has been operationally ready since late last year but commissioning was delayed due to a commercial dispute between the developers, market sources said. The Mundra LNG terminal had been due to receive a cargo from the US in November last year, but the vessel had to be diverted to Hazira, trade sources said. The terminal has an import capacity of 5 million mt/year and two 160,000 cu m LNG storage tanks.
Planned $2 bn LNG project in Philippines put on hold
Plans for the $2 billion Tanglawan LNG hub venture in the Philippines have been put on hold by backers CNOOC Gas and Power of China and Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. The facility was supposed to have a capacity of 2.2 million tonnes per year, with a targeted start-up by 2023. To support it, Phoenix also planned to build a 2,000-megawatt (MW) power plant. The two firms jointly requested the Department of Energy (DOE) put the project on hold after Phoenix parent Udenna Corp acquired a 45% stake in the Malampaya natural gas consortium, Phoenix said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. Phoenix now wanted to “reassess” its gas venture and would submit a “new concept” to the Department of Energy, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi told the BusinessWorld newspaper. Oil and shipping group Udenna said last month it had signed a deal to acquire Chevron’s 45% stake in the Malampaya gas-to-power project. Developed and operated by Shell Philippines Exploration BV, Malampaya provides fuel for power plants with a combined capacity of more than 3,000 MW. Shell holds a 45% stake and state-owned Philippines National Oil Company holds the remaining 10%. The Malampaya gas field in the South China Sea is expected to be depleted within the next decade, but its operations may go beyond the 2024 expiry of Shell’s contract with the government, as further development is likely to be pursued. Shell has requested a contract extension, optimistic that Malampaya can produce gas beyond 2024. A Phoenix spokesman declined to comment.
India in talks with Rosneft to invest in Far East Russian cluster: Pradhan
Union Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said India is in talks with Russia’s oil giant Rosneft to invest in Far East Russian cluster for ensuring energy security. India has already made its biggest energy investments in Russia in the past with state-owned firms having spent close to USD 10 billion in acquiring stakes in oilfields such as Sakhalin-1, Taas-Yuryakh and Vankor and Siberia-focused company Imperial Energy. “In Russia, we are also negotiating with state-owned company Rosneft to invest in their eastern cluster. With the change in geopolitical situation, the eastern part of Russia is coming as a promising proposition and we are concentrating on that,” Pradhan said at the India Economic conclave 2019. He said the government is interested in investing in producing oil fields in the interest of India’s energy security. On the challenges faced by the country in terms of energy security, he said, “Due to the current geopolitical scenario, there is uncertainty which is affecting the commodity price of energy. For a price sensitive country like India, the emerging economy, with a lot of poor and lower middle class population, where energy is an inevitable part of life, volatility of price is a challenge.” Accepting that nearly 70-80 per cent of our energy requirements are still met through imports, he said the government is also taking various initiatives to switch to cleaner gas and increase the production of gas. “Through all these initiatives, we are confident we will be reducing our import dependency. Not only that hydrogen is new form of energy we are focused on. India is bound to grow and we will have our own path of energy route which will be self sufficient,” Pradhan added.