India’s natural gas production dropped 10 per cent in July
India production of natural gas, a key feedstock for fertilizer, power refineries and City Gas Distribution (CGD) sectors, dropped 10 per cent in July, according to Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC), the oil ministry’s statistical arm. The country produced 2,443 million standard cubic meter per day (mmscm) of gas last month, as compared to 2,718 mmscm produced in July 2019. “After flare, loss and internal consumption by gas producing companies, the net production for sale of gas to consuming sectors like power, fertilizer, CGD, refinery, petrochemicals was approximately 76.3 per cent of the gross production during July 2020,” PPAC said. The drop in production led to a surge in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports that jumped 6 per cent to 2,963 mmscm during the month as against 2,795 mmscm imported in the same period last year. After accounting for the dip in local production and the rise in imports the country had a total 4,827 mmscm of natural gas available for sale during July 2020, a 1.7 per cent drop over 4,912 mmscm of gas available in the corresponding month last year. The total consumption of gas last month stood at 4,414 MMSCM. The fertilizer sector accounted for 33 per cent of the total consumption while the power and refineries sectors accounted for 22 per cent and 14 per cent of the usage.
Karnataka: Petroleum dealers raise red flags over sale of ‘bio-diesel’, seek curbs
Sale of bio-diesel ‘mushrooming’ in pockets of the district has raised the hackles of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi District Petroleum Dealers Association (DKUPDA). The petroleum dealers have questioned the quality of fuel that is purported to be bio-diesel and also raised red flags on the move at a time when the union government from April 1 has moved firmly towards sale of environmentally clean BSVI fuel. Satish N Kamath, immediate past president of DKUPDA told TOI that the association has dealer members engaged in retailing of fuel for public sector oil marketing companies – IOCL, HPCL and BPCL. “We have observed that suppliers of automotive fuel of unknown quality purported to be biodiesel are mushrooming in the market,” Kamath said, adding the suppliers are marketing spurious products in the name of bio-diesel. Most such suppliers are operating from covered godowns without any name or brand and free supply of such product in the market through bowsers is jeopardising efforts of ministry of petroleum and natural gas in marketing BS-VI quality of high speed diesel (HSD) available in retail outlets. This product (bio-diesel) is being sold at a price much lower than normal HSD and is not only affecting dealers directly but also affecting the exchequer, he added. This loss is accruing as there is no customs duty, excise duty nor VAT applicable on sale of bio-diesel, he said. Safety of the fuel is an area of concern as neither supply installations nor facilities of operators meet the department of explosives requirements applicable to OMC outlets or their terminals. The use of such spurious fuel in motors will ultimately affect the life of the vehicle in addition to the perils of environmental degradation, he surmised. MoPNG has permitted B-100 grade bio-diesel for blending with HSD with specific blending limits for use in consumer vehicles and will protect OMC dealers and restrict parallel market of bio-diesel flourishing in this region. Kamath urged authorities including deputy commissioner to intervene to curb unauthorized sale of bio-diesel while advising OMC’s to utilize bio-diesel available in the market for necessary blending with HSD.