Hardeep Singh Puri takes charge of Petroleum Ministry
Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday took charge of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. He has relinquished the portfolio of civil aviation but still holds the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. Puri succeeds Dharmendra Pradhan as India’s new petroleum and natural gas minister. The minister was greeted by Pradhan on his arrival at the petroleum ministry. He was also accompanied by minister of state for petroleum Rameswar Teli. Puri said that the focus of the ministry under him will be to increase domestic production of crude oil and natural gas and help country become Atmanirbhar. He also said that in line with the vision to create gas based economy in the country he would see that its availability and use of clean fuel is encouraged. The former diplomat also has a tough task at hand with the global oil prices surging amid supply constraints and demand hopes. Further the ever-increasing domestic petrol and diesel prices too would remain a key issue to deal with. Pradhan, off late was urging global oil exporters including the OPEC to gradually do away with the production cuts and help lower the surging oil prices. Another major task at hand for Puri would be the privatisation of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) which has been delayed due to initial subdued interest among the investor fraternity coupled with the pandemic-induced slowdown. The challenge must not be much different from his experience with the inordinately delayed privatisation of Air India which he tried to achieve during his stint as the Civil Aviation Minister.
Taiwan’s CPC signs 15 year LNG deal with Qatar
Taiwan’s state-owned refiner CPC Corp said on Wednesday it had signed a 15-year LNG supply agreement with Qatar Petroleum. CPC said that from next year it will buy 1.25 million tonnes of LNG annually from Qatar, for domestic consumption. “Since our country began importing LNG from Qatar in 1997, Qatar has always been an important source of stable supplies,” CPC said. It did not provide financial details of the agreement. Australia and the United States are Taiwan’s other main sources of LNG. The government is trying to generate more electricity from LNG as it shifts away from both coal-powered and nuclear plants.
Will TAPI gas pipeline project be given formal burial if Taliban wins in Afghanistan?
As political uncertainties grip Afghanistan with the withdrawal of US troops, what will be the future of the proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline? Energy experts told India Narrative that India will have to carefully adopt a wait and watch policy as Taliban has already started making rapid inroads in Afghanistan. The ambitious 1,814 km trans-country natural gas pipeline project is important not only for India but also for Turkmenistan, as this gives a new export market to Ashgabat. In fact, in February, Turkmenistan invited a Taliban delegation to discuss the future of this pipeline. Though the delegation led by Mullah Abdul Gani Baradar expressed full support and promised to protect the project, worries are rising for India. ‘The global energy landscape is changing faster than ever before, with new emerging geopolitical equations in Central Asia and in the Middle East in particular. The growing – and even muscular in some places – influence of China is omnipresent, resulting in a big recast in the energy chessboard all across from the north of Kazakhstan to Saudi Arabia and beyond,’ India’s leading energy expert Narendra Taneja said. Taneja however said that India, over the last few years, has diversified its sources of oil and natural gas. ‘India does not need to worry much in terms of oil and gas supply from the two regions as it (the supply) already stands quite diversified, but what should worry us is threat to the size of our presence in the energy chessboard, in the great energy game. The silence everywhere on TAPI is a classic example,’ Taneja said. ‘China hates TAPI,’ he noted. Though speculations are rife on whether the project will get a quiet burial, Subhomoy Bhattacharjee, Senior Adjunct Fellow at RIS (Research and Information System for Developing Countries) told India Narrative that it is too early to write it off. ‘It is true that the situation is tricky and we will have to wait to understand the dynamics in Afghanistan,’ he said. ‘Often totalitarian governments depend on natural resources and oil and gas will be an important one. So, it is possible that Taliban, if it comes to power, protects or provides support to the project there could be other international repercussions. India will have to weigh those implications,’ Bhattacharjee said. Even if the TAPI project gets wings, will India be ready to pay royalty to the Taliban government if the situation arises? Earlier an Observer Research Foundation report said that in light of these developments in Afghanistan’s politics, it would be interesting to see what position India adopts vis-�-vis TAPI gas pipeline and whether New Delhi would be ready to continue its participation in the project. ‘The US withdrawal from Afghanistan and its weakened appetite for a big foot in Central Asia are disrupting developments and can prove to be unfortunate for energy deficit giants like India,’ Taneja added. According to Upstream Online, an oil and gas weekly, Turkmenistan currently delivers the bulk of its gas production to China via a three-line gas export pipeline across Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, with some volumes going to Russian gas monopoly Gazprom via an old route across Kazakhstan. ‘The route to China is understood to be running at almost maximum capacity, preventing Turkmenistan from increasing gas production at its highly prolific Galkynysh group of fields, while Gazprom prohibits Turkmenistan from transiting its gas to Europe,’ it said. For Ashgabat, the TAPI project gives a lease of fresh life.
Malaysia’s Petronas agrees 10-year LNG supply deal with CNOOC valued at $7 bln
Malaysia’s state oil firm Petronas has signed a 10-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply agreement with a subsidiary of China’s offshore oil and gas major CNOOC Ltd valued at about $7 billion, the firm said on Wednesday. Petronas, or Petroliam Nasional Berhad, said the deal with CNOOC Gas and Power Trading & Marketing Limited is for 2.2 million tonnes per annum over a 10-year period. “This long-term supply agreement also includes supply from LNG Canada when the facility commences its operations by the middle of the decade,” Petronas said in a statement. The deal is indexed to a combination of the Brent and Alberta Energy Company (AECO) indices, it said. AECO is a Canadian natural gas price benchmark, similar to the Henry Hub index in the United States, but is not typically used as a pricing basis for LNG spot contracts. In Asia, the S&P Global Platts’ Japan-Korea-Marker (JKM) has been increasingly used as a pricing basis in spot contracts. Petronas signed its first LNG cargo using the AECO index to a buyer in the Far East in May. The deal with CNOOC reflects the markets’ receptiveness and recognition of AECO indexed LNG into the world’s largest LNG market, said Shamsairi M. Ibrahim, Petronas Vice President of LNG Marketing & Trading.
Cairn Energy secures French court order to seize 20 Indian govt properties
Britain’s Cairn Energy Plc has secured a French court order to seize about 20 Indian government properties in France to recover a part of USD 1.7 billion arbitration award, sources said on Thursday. On June 11, the French court had ordered Cairn Energy’s take-over of Indian government properties, mostly comprising flat; and the legal process got completed on Wednesday evening. An arbitration panel had in December ordered the Indian government to return USD 1.2 billion plus interest and penalty to Cairn Energy after reversing a retrospective tax demand. With Indian govt not honouring the award, Cairn Energy has moved in multiple jurisdictions overseas to recover the amount due by seizing Indian government assets.
Fuel rates continue to soar ; CNG, PNG prices also hiked in NCR
Fuel prices continue to soar across India and touched a record high in the national capital as petrol price is retailing at Rs 100.56 per litre and diesel at Rs 89.62 per litre on Thursday. As compared to Wednesday, petrol has become costlier by 35 paise per litre and diesel by 9 paise per litre. On July 5, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) workers held a protest outside the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. “Prices of gas cylinders, edible oil and fuel have risen. Neither LG nor CM listens to the misery of people,” said DPCC President Anil Chaudhary. Other states have also witnessed an increase in the prices of petrol and diesel. Rates have been increased across the country and differ from state to state depending on the incidence of value-added tax. The price of petrol was increased by Rs 39 paise per litre and diesel by 15 paise per litre in Kolkata. In Kolkata, petrol is now being sold at Rs 100.62 per litre and diesel prices and diesel at Rs 92.65 a litre today. Earlier, TMC leader Partha Chatterjee had announced that sit-in protests will be staged against hike in fuel prices in every block and town of West Bengal on July 10 and July 11, following all COVID protocols. The price of petrol in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal have increased by 25 paise and it stands at Rs 108.88 per litre in the city. Meanwhile, the price of diesel in Bhopal remained unchanged and stands at Rs 98.40 per litre. On Wednesday, Karnataka Congress held a protest on the issue of rising fuel prices. “Prices of petrol and diesel are above Rs 100, this is a gift of Modi government. The middle class, the poor and the industry is suffering,” Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad had said. Additionally, the Compressed natural gas (CNG) retail price in the national capital revised from Rs 43.40 per kg to Rs 44.30 per kg, while in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad it has revised from Rs 49.08 per kg to Rs 49.98 per kg with effect from July 8. The Piped Natural Gas (PNG) domestic price to be Rs 29.66 per SCM and in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad are at Rs 29.61 per SCM.