Kochi: Transport authority to issue permits to CNG, LNG, LPG and e-vehicles only
Regional Transport Authority (RTA) has decided to conditionally issue city permits to autorickshaws in Kochi. The new permits will be issued to autorickshaws, which ply on CNG, LNG and LPG, and electric vehicles. According to the decisions taken by the RTA, new permits will only be given to permanent residents living in Kochi corporation limit. Applicant should produce two documents to prove that he/she is a permanent resident. Only one permit will be issued to one person. Age of these autorickshaws has been limited to 10 years. Priority in issuing new city permits will be given to vehicles registered after November 2011 and transfer of city permits will be allowed only between permanent residents in the corporation limit. RTA has mandated that bonnet number should be displayed at the front, rear and right side of the vehicle. The front part of the vehicle should be painted in cream or yellow. Registration number of electric autorickshaws should be displayed. Applicants who have experience in driving autorickshaws will be given priority while issuing permit. Those who currently operate autorickshaws in the city without permit have been told to approach the motor vehicles department (MVD) for permit variation. RTA has said that electronic fare meter, calibrated by the legal metrology and fare chart approved by the MVD, should be displayed in the vehicle. Driver should display name plate and keep identity card. Application for city permit should be submitted to the Ernakulam regional transport office before March 12. Meanwhile, people living in sub-regional transport officer’s limit should submit application at Mattancherry office. The MVD had stopped issuing new city permits to diesel and petrol autorickshaws, around four years ago. As a result, autorickshaws from rural areas started to ply in the city, and they overcharge passengers. Currently, around 5,000 autorickshaws with old city permit operate in the city.
Coronavirus has had no effect on Iran’s oil, gas production: Official
Coronavirus has not had any effect on oil or gas production in Iran, the deputy head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said on Wednesday, according to the Tasnim news agency. “The production and distribution of Iran’s oil and gas is being carried out without any effect from the outbreak,” Farokh Alikhani was quoted as saying. Iran’s crude oil exports were slashed by more than 80% after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a multilateral nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic in 2018 and reimposed sanctions. Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh departed Tehran to attend a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna on Wednesday, according to SHANA, the news site of the Iranian oil ministry.
India’s Rs 50,000 crore city gas investment plan gains viability on low LNG prices
The viability of India’s Rs 50,000 crore capital expenditure plan for city gas distribution (CGD) over the next four years has improved with the price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) expected to be subdued during the period. LNG accounts for nearly half of CGD consumption volume and a lower price augurs well for both volumes and operating margins of distributors, and project returns. Spot prices of LNG have more than halved on-year to a decadal low of less than $3 per million metric British thermal units (mmBtu) in February 2020 because of oversupply and the Coronavirus outbreak. This has sharply improved the competitiveness of piped natural gas (PNG) compared with furnace oil, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and gasoline, prices of which are typically linked to crude oil. “At a Brent crude price of $55 per barrel, the landed cost of furnace oil would be about $12 per mmBtu, while Industrial LPG will be about $16 per mmBtu. On the other hand, industrial piped natural gas, apart from being cleaner, is significantly cheaper at $10.5 per mmBtu,” said Manish Gupta, Senior Director, CRISIL Ratings. Global LNG prices are seen softer over the medium-term because supply is on course to exceed demand growth, with liquefaction capacity of about 180 million tonne – equal to 40 per cent of current world capacity – set to be commissioned over the next 4-5 years. Domestically, regasification capacity, too, is expected to witness robust growth, outpacing LNG demand. The domestic administered price mechanism-based gas, which accounts for the balance half of CGD volume, is also expected to benefit from low international benchmark natural gas prices. Typically, CGD companies pass on lower inputs costs to their compressed natural gas (CNG) and retail customers, and in return, they get a volume fillip owing to better price competitiveness. The subdued outlook for LNG prices improves the viability of Rs 50,000 crore of CGD capex relating to the ninth and tenth rounds of auctions by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB). It also improves the prospects for 44 new geographical areas set to be awarded in the upcoming 11th round of auctions.
Exxon outlines its steps to reduce harmful methane emissions
Exxon Mobil on Tuesday outlined how it is reducing the methane its operations release into the atmosphere, detailing its efforts as governments around the globe write new rules to regulate the harmful greenhouse gas. The oil and gas giant is seeking to influence the way those rules are written, hoping companies and regulators adopt the procedures Exxon says helped reduce methane emissions by 20 per cent in some of its US drilling operations over the past two years. “Our industry has developed high-tech advances to curb emissions, and we also hope this framework will be helpful for governments as they develop new regulations,” said Darren Woods, chairman and CEO of Exxon, in a statement accompanying a document outlining Exxon’s procedures for reducing methane emissions. Some environmental advocates see Exxon’s move as a rebuke of President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency, which in August proposed relaxing regulations on methane emissions. But they also said Exxon needs to be much more aggressive in its efforts to curtail global warming. “The steps Exxon Mobil has taken and the commitments the company announced are nowhere near sufficient to get us there,” said Kathy Mulvey, accountability campaign director at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “We need to see much more ambitious and urgent actions taken by companies like Exxon Mobil.” Methane has 86 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. It is the main component of natural gas, and when companies drill for oil, they generally also get natural gas, whether they want it or not. Methane is released in the atmosphere during extraction and distribution of natural gas, and while many scientists agree this is a major problem, there is little data to show exactly how much is leaking into the atmosphere. Last year, Exxon and other oil giants pushed back the EPA’s proposal to relax regulations on methane emissions. At the time, many had already invested in equipment and upgrades to satisfy emissions regulations enacted under former President Barack Obama. Major oil companies are also under pressure from investors to prove they will be able to adapt to future regulations that aim to curtail global warming. “With the climate crisis upon us, companies can’t afford to ignore their contributions to climate change,” said Ben Ratner, senior director at the Environmental Defense Fund. “In at least one or two parts of (Exxon’s methane) framework, what they are recommending appeared to fall considerably short of what would be considered the best available operational practice and regulatory requirements.” Exxon’s model framework included establishing a leak detection and repair program to identify and fix gas leaks as soon as possible, with inspections for leaks happening at least once per year. Some major oil companies are conducting inspections monthly, using sensors mounted on drones, Ratner said. “The truth is it needs to be much more, and we need to be driving to a world of continuous, real-time monitoring and rapid mitigation of this highly potent greenhouse gas,” Ratner said. “Once-a-year inspection is not a serious proposal for regulatory requirements that are up to the magnitude of the challenge.” Exxon, which is based in Irving, Texas, said its framework is a starting point for discussions for policy makers, and that governments or private companies could choose to go above and beyond what’s presented in the model. The company also suggested that if an oil and gas operator had to vent natural gas, it would be better to burn it off, or “flare” it, instead of releasing methane directly into the atmosphere. It suggested improving the combustion efficiency of flares so that methane isn’t accidentally released as a result of incomplete combustion. But flaring releases carbon dioxide, and while that is less potent than methane, it lasts longer in the atmosphere. Widespread flaring in the Permian Basin and other oil fields has been an ongoing problem. Gas flaring activity in the US increased 48 per cent from 2017 to 2018, reaching 1.4 billion cubic feet per day, which is roughly the same amount as the total gas consumption of a medium-sized European country such as Belgium or Romania, according to the World Bank. The surge in flaring happened as natural gas prices fell so low, and pipeline capacity was so constrained, that some producers were paying to have it carted away instead of selling it. Exxon released its methane document as regulators in the European Union, Nigeria, Argentina, New Mexico and elsewhere are writing methane policies. The European Union is a major natural gas importer, giving it leverage to demand much cleaner natural gas, Ratner said. For example, the EU could say that it will only import natural gas with a methane intensity – which measures the amount of methane emissions compared to the total amount of natural gas produced – of 0.2 per cent or lower, Ratner said. Exxon was also responsible for a major methane leak in February 2018 from a blowout at a gas well in Ohio. The methane released during the incident was reported to all regulatory agencies, a spokesman said.