Tractors, power tillers allowed to be retrofitted with bio-fuel engines
The transport ministry has allowed tractors, power tillers and other agricultural vehicles and equipment that run on diesel and petrol to be retrofitted with CNG, bio-CNG and LNG engines provided their emission standards remain the same. The decision to allow the retrofitting is aimed at promoting the use of cleaner fuels and extending the lifespan of vehicles used in farming. It comes after road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari launched India’s first CNG tractor converted from a diesel-based engine. “The emphasis is to promote bio-fuels in agricultural equipment,” said a senior official aware of the development. The conversion can be done by modifying the diesel engines of such vehicles or replacing them with new CNG, bio-CNG or LNG systems. “With this, you extend an option to enhance the life of the vehicle without deteriorating the environment,” a second government official said. Retrofitting is viable in the case of tractors because their idling time is generally high. Structurally, it does not deteriorate a lot through its lifetime, which will ensure that conversion to CNG or bio-fuels will lead to a longer lifespan, the second official explained. CNG availability can be the only roadblock, the official added. In case of tractors, power tillers, construction equipment vehicles and combine harvesters, approvals for retrofitting will be given for specific makes and models. The mass emission standards for tractors, power tillers, construction equipment vehicles and combine harvesters retrofitted with CNG, bio-CNG or LNG engines will be the same as when they operated with diesel engines. The only exception is that hydrocarbons will be replaced by non-methane hydrocarbons when measuring emissions. “Once the fuel type is changed, the emission standards should be the same as it was when the vehicle was purchased. If the limit is higher, retrofitting is not permissible,” the second official said.
Capacity utilisation at IOC slips to 84% due to restrictions
Capacity utilisation at Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOC), the country’s largest refiner, had dropped to about 35% at the start of the lockdown during the first wave of the pandemic last year amid a sharp drop in demand for fuel products. Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOC) on Wednesday said its capacity utilisation has fallen to 84% currently from 100% last November as the deadly second wave of Covid-19 has forced most states to impose lockdowns. This has crimped fuel demand in India, which is the world’s third-largest oil importer and the fourth-largest buyer of liquefied natural gas. Energy consumption, especially electricity and refinery products, tends to be linked to overall demand in the economy. Capacity utilisation at IOC, the country’s largest refiner, had dropped to about 35% at the start of the lockdown during the first wave of the pandemic last year amid a sharp drop in demand for fuel products. India had imposed the world’s largest and strictest lockdown last year to contain the virus that originated in Wuhan, China. Meanwhile, IOC announced a net profit of ₹87.8130 billion for the March quarter, compared with a net loss of ₹51.8532 billion a year earlier. This was largely due to inventory gain and increased petrochemical margins. Following the Covid outbreak, the cost of the Indian basket of crude had plunged to $19.90 in April last year during the first wave of the pandemic before recovering to $63.40 a barrel in April this year, showed data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. India’s largest fuel retailer posted a huge jump in annual net profit to ₹218.36 billion for the financial year ended 31 March, from ₹13.13 billion in 2019-20 due to higher inventory gains and improved petrochemical margins. Annual revenue, however, declined 9.08% to ₹5140 billion during 2020-21 from ₹5660 billion in the previous year. The cost of the Indian basket of crude, which comprises Oman, Dubai and Brent crude, was at $68.69 a barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude had dropped to a 21-year low while US oil futures slumped to negative for the first time in April last year as the glut induced by global lockdowns overwhelmed the world’s limited storage facilities, triggering massive selling by traders. Addressing a news conference, IOC chairman S.M. Vaidya said, “IndianOil sold 81.027 million tonnes of products, including exports, during the year April 2020 to March 2021. Our refining throughput for FY2020-21 was 62.351 million tonnes and the throughput of the corporation’s countrywide pipelines network was 76.019 million tonnes during the year.” The state-run company also posted higher refining margins.
ULFA-I to release abducted ONGC employee after Himanta Biswa Sarma’s appeal
Banned United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) on Thursday said it will release Ritul Saikia, an employee of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) abducted from Assam last month, within the next four days. The outfit’s move came minutes after Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma made an appeal at a Press conference to ULFA-I chief Paresh Baruah. “Saikia’s parents, his wife and infant son are very distressed since his abduction. As an Assamese, it is my humble request to Paresh Baruah to release him at the earliest,” Sarma said. ULFA-I chief responded minutes later. “I heard the CM’s responsible appeal on TV and in response, ULFA-I assured the release of Saikia in a matter of days. It should take 3-4 days for him to be reunited with his family,” Baruah told NEWSLIVE, an Assamese news channel, over phone from an undisclosed location. Saikia, a junior engineer assistant, was abducted along with two colleagues, Mohini Mohan Gogoi (junior engineer assistant) and Alakesh Saikia (junior technician), from ONGC’s workover rig site in Sivasagar district of Assam on April 21. Alakesh Saikia and Mohini Mohan Gogoi were rescued three days later by security forces from Nagaland, close to the Indo-Myanmar border, in a joint operation. On Tuesday, Baruah had confirmed that Saikia was still in the outfit’s custody and was safe. Himanta Biswa Sarma has said Saikia was being kept at a location in Myanmar close to the border with India. Chief minister Sarma said he considers reports of ULFA-I chief’s promise as a positive step. “But I will be able to give a formal response only after I hear what Baruah has said,” he said. Soon after the abduction, ULFA-I had issued a seven-point list of demands to three major oil companies, ONGC, Oil India Limited and Indian Oil Corporation Limited that included a demand for 95% quota in jobs for indigenous residents of Assam.
Total signs deal to supply LNG to ArcelorMittal’s plants in Gujarat
French energy giant Total on Thursday said it has signed a deal to supply imported LNG to ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel’s (AMNS) steel and power plants in Gujarat. Under the deal, Total will supply up to 0.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year until 2026, a company statement said. “The LNG will be sourced from Total’s global portfolio and offloaded either in Dahej or Hazira LNG terminal, on the west coast of India,” it said. “AMNS will use the LNG to run its steel and power plants located in Hazira, Gujarat state.” AMNS India is a joint venture between ArcelorMittal (60 per cent) and Nippon Steel (40 per cent) that acquired Essar Steel in bankruptcy proceedings in 2019. “We are pleased to partner with AMNS and to supply the growing industrial LNG demand in India, a country that aims to more than double the share of natural gas in its energy mix by 2030 compared to today,” said Thomas Maurisse, Senior Vice President LNG at Total. “The supply of LNG will contribute to the reduction of AMNS’s carbon emissions, in line with Total’s ambition to offer its customers energy products that emit less CO2 and to support them in their own low-carbon strategies.” While the pact strengthens Total’s relationship with AMNS, the supply of gas in its liquid form (LNG) will contribute to the decarbonisation of the steel industry, which still relies heavily on coal. Total is the world’s second-largest privately owned LNG player, with a global portfolio of nearly 50 million tonnes per year by 2025 and a global market share of around 10 per cent. It has interests in liquefaction plants in Angola, Australia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Russia and Qatar, and markets LNG globally.
Iran wants to rope in India later for gas project: Government
After losing the ONGC-discovered Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf, the government said on Thursday that Iran wanted India to get involved in the project at a later stage. “Last July, Iran had decided to develop the Farzad B gas field on its own and wanted to involve India appropriately at a later stage,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, adding that the Indian consortium remained in touch with Iranian authorities on the issue. “The involvement of the Indian consortium is underway and we are in touch with them. The latest development is, of course, part of Iran’s own efforts to develop the gas field and our consortium is in touch with Iranian authorities,” he added. The Iranian oil ministry’s official news service Shana reported three days ago that the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) signed a contract worth nearly $1.8 billion with Petropars Group on May 17 for the development of the Farzad B gas field in the Persian Gulf. ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas investment arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), had in 2008 discovered the gas field in the Farsi offshore exploration block.