OMCs keep diesel, petrol prices unchanged on Monday
Oil marketing companies (OMC) have kept diesel and petrol prices unchanged across major Indian cities on Monday. Accordingly, diesel and petrol prices in Delhi stood at Rs 86.67 per litre and Rs 95.41 per litre, respectively. In the financial capital Mumbai, the rates were also unchanged at Rs 94.14 and Rs 109.98, respectively. Prices also remained static in Kolkata at Rs 89.79 and Rs 104.67, respectively. In Chennai too, it remained untouched at Rs 91.43 and Rs 101.40, respectively. Across the country as well, the price of the fuel largely remained unchanged on Monday but the retail rates varied depending on the level of local taxes.
Sudan owes ONGC Videsh $560 mn in unpaid dues: Govt to Parliament
Sudan owes ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) a total of USD 560 million in unpaid oil dues and cost of pipeline built by the Indian firm built for the African nation, the government told Parliament on Monday. OVL, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), had a 25 per cent stake in Block 2A&4 in Sudan. Sudan had since 2011 not paid OVL and partners for oil it bought from the block. “The amount due to OVL on account of over lifting of crude oil under the Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) is USD 339.75 million and under sale and purchase agreement (SPA) is USD 90.94 million, which amounts to USD 430.69 million in total,” Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli said in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha. OVL had also not been paid for the 741-km-long pipeline it built from Khartoum to Port Sudan. The company initiated arbitration proceedings against the Government of Sudan to recover the dues and has terminated the Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA). “Under Sovereign Guarantee- Pipeline Contract Agreement (SG-PCA) arbitration between OVL and Sudan Government, OVL has raised a demand of USD 98.94 million principal amount along with interest/damages for unpaid and delayed installments from the Sudan government,” he said. The African nation has admitted before the arbitration tribunal that it owes about USD 131 million to OVL in pipeline dues. “The Sudan government, in its statement of defence, has admitted about the unpaid instalments amounting USD 98.94 million and interest of USD 31.0 million payable on unpaid and delayed installments,” the minister said. The arbitration tribunal at the International Court of Justice in Hague is hearing the matter. “The outcome of the arbitrations are contingent on the Hon’ble Permanent Court of Arbitration, based outside India,” he said. OVL had in 2003 acquired 25 per cent interest in the Greater Nile Oil Project in Sudan. China’s CNPC holds a 40 per cent stake in the project, while Malaysia’s Petronas has 30 per cent and Sudapet of Sudan owns the remaining 5 per cent. GNOP consisted of the upstream assets of on-land Blocks 1, 2 and 4 spread over 49,500 sq km in the Muglad Basin, located about 780 km South-West of the capital city of Khartoum in Sudan. The crude oil produced from the oil field of GNOP is transported through a 1,504-km pipeline to Port Sudan at the Red Sea. Upon the secession of South Sudan from Sudan in July 2011, the contract areas of Blocks 1, 2 and 4 which straddle between Sudan and South Sudan was split with a major share of production and reserves are now situated in South Sudan. Post-secession, as the Government of Sudan’s share of total production from Sudan was not sufficient to meet the requirements of local refineries, foreign firms were asked to sell their share of crude oil to it. However, the payment of dues on account of crude oil purchased by the Government of Sudan has not been received. OVL had along with state-owned Oil India Ltd constructed and financed a 741-km multi-product pipeline from the Khartoum refinery to Port Sudan for USD 194 million. OVL’s share of the project cost was 90 per cent, while the rest was borne by OIL. The pipeline was handed over to the government of Sudan in October 2005. The lump-sum price, together with lease rent was required to be paid to OVL in 18 equal half-yearly installments effective from December 2005. The project cost and rental totalled USD 254 million, which equated to 18 half-yearly installments of USD 14.135 million each starting from December 30, 2005. The company got a total of 11 installments (USD 155.48 million) till December 2010 and the balance seven installments amounting to USD 98.94 million remained outstanding. The remaining seven installments due from June 30, 2011, to June 30, 2014, are yet to be released. OVL, whose share of investment in the project was USD 158.01 million, has been following up for the realisation of USD 98.94 million from the government of Sudan at various levels but hasn’t succeeded so far. This prompted the company to drag Sudan to arbitration. Sudan had denied ONGC and partners an extension of licence to operate block 2B after the initial contract expired in November 2016.
IGL Hikes Gas Prices in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan
The Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) has hiked the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) prices in Delhi, Haryana, and Rajasthan with effect from Saturday, December 4, reported the livemint. With the latest revision in prices, the retail cost per Kg of CNG in the NCT of Delhi stands at Rs 53.04. In Haryana’s Gurugram, the price of CNG gas stands at Rs 60.40 per Kg, whereas in Rewari, the price stands at Rs 61.10 per Kg. In Karnal and Kaithal, the CNG gas rates have surged to Rs 50.30 per Kg, as per the Indraprastha Gas Limited web portal. In Rajasthan’s Ajmer, Pali and Rajasamand, the CNG price after revision stands at Rs 67.31 per Kg, according to the mint report. Revised CNG prices in other cities of UP, Haryana, Rajasthan: • Noida, Greater Noida & Ghaziabad – Rs 58.58 per Kg • Muzzaffarnagar, Meerut & Shamli – Rs 63.28 per Kg • Gurugram – Rs 60.40 per Kg • Rewari – Rs 61.10 per Kg • Karnal & Kaithal – Rs 59.30 per Kg • Kanpur, Hamirpur & Fatehpur – Rs 67.82 per Kg • Ajmer, Pali & Rajsamand – Rs 67.31 per kg Incorporated in 1998, IGL took over Delhi City Gas Distribution Project in 1999 from GAIL (India) Limited. The project was started to lay the network for the distribution of natural gas in the National Capital Territory of Delhi to consumers in the domestic, transport, and commercial sectors. With the backing of GAIL (India) Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) – IGL plans to provide natural gas in the entire capital region.
Qatar Sees Green Role For LNG As World Gasps For More Energy
When it comes to the price of oil, there is no sure thing. Prices rise and fall according to weather, geopolitics, and supply. This has been on display at the ongoing, online meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its oil-producing allies, a group known as OPEC+, to decide production policy. So far, they have agreed to raise production by 400,000 barrels per day, starting in January 2022, if the price holds and there isn’t a global economic slowdown caused by the Omicron variant. Normally, the price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) moves empathetically with the price of oil. But that is unlikely now. Global energy markets are stressed at the onset of winter in the northern hemisphere as they haven’t been in decades. The result is that Qatar, the independent emirate on the west coast of the Persian Gulf, is in a particularly good place. Qatar is the world’s largest exporter of LNG for which world demand is surging. And it sees LNG as a greener fossil fuel in these climate-conscious times. Even as world leaders talked of reducing dependence on natural gas at the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, nations everywhere were desperately seeking more of it. PROMOTED Qatar has consistently bet long on LNG and got it right. While it has limited oil reserves and is a minor oil producer, as a natural gas exporter, it is a major. It sits on the world’s largest proven reserves of natural gas, followed by Russia. Qatar is upping its LNG bet by developing a vast new northern field with the aid of foreign investors. They are keen to get in on the gas play, which is getting harder and harder to do in the United States and elsewhere. When this field is at full production, it will increase the country’s LNG exports by 64 percent. Qatar’s nearest LNG rival is Australia, which has been developing this gas resource rapidly. But nothing will dislodge Qatar from its global status as the world’s top producer of LNG. Lowest Lifting Cost Fortuitously, Qatar’s LNG lifting cost is the world’s lowest, and that is unlikely ever to change. This has added a second revenue stream: liquids derived from natural gas. These include ethane, propane, and butane. While the world frets about its use of fossil fuels, it nonetheless is desperate for more natural gas. Qatar reckons gas is useful in the fight against global warming as the versatile, somewhat clean alternative to coal and oil combustion to make electricity. Qatar has just ordered 10 natural gas tankers (those huge ships with the distinctive spheres rising above the decks), six from South Korea and four from China. The Gulf state sees itself as a green knight in the climate-change battle. In October, Qatar’s prime minister and minister of interior, Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdul Aziz al-Thani, unveiled an ambitious environmental program: the Qatar National Environment and Climate Change Strategy. QatarEnergy, the state-owned hydrocarbon company, also is pursuing sustainability and is working to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In conjunction with oil giant Chevron and Pavilion Energy of Singapore, it has announced a plan to map GHG emissions from Qatar’s LNG production and transportation. Methane is a deadly greenhouse gas, and Qatar is determined to stop leaks which can occur all along the LNG chain, from well to delivery. The environment, says Qatar, is to be front and center. It sees natural gas as the transition fuel — an ally in fighting GHG emissions as it enables countries, particularly those in Asia, to stop burning coal, the primary contributor to atmospheric carbon. While U.S. environmentalists seek to shut in natural gas, the world gasps for it. Only by burning gas can China, India and other coal based-electric systems switch to a cleaner fuel while they build nuclear and install wind and solar generation, argues Qatar and others looking globally. New Way of Thinking Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, Qatar’s energy minister, said at a seven-nation virtual ministerial last December that the post-Covid-19 world will be different and will require a new way of thinking about economics and the environment. “This is where, I believe, natural gas plays a pivotal role and displays its most important economic and environmental qualities,” he said. Qatar protrudes like a thumb into the Persian Gulf. It is a little smaller than Connecticut, but its population is 2.9 million – some 313,000 are citizens and the rest are expatriate workers. For three years, four Arab states imposed a blockade against Qatar. The cause of their unhappiness was the country’s independent streak. Qatar funds in part the Al Jazeera television network, whose broadcasts were deemed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt as being supportive of terrorism. Egypt said they were giving voice to the Muslim Brotherhood during a period of stress. Also, Qatar refused to curb its relations with Iran. Following Kuwaiti and U.S. mediation efforts, the five Arab brothers kissed and made up last January. On a visit to Doha, Qatar’s ultramodern capital city, I saw signs of its difference with neighbour Saudi Arabia everywhere. You can buy a drink in its hotels; most women don’t wear niqabs and burqas, and they come and go in public. Qatar is a devoutly Muslim country, but accommodatingly so. Qatar will host global throngs during the FIFA World Cup, which opens on Nov. 21, 2022. That will put the country on the world stage in a very different way. Qatar has two aces: Its natural gas and its extraordinary friendship with the United States. It hosts the Al Udeid Air Base, America’s largest in the region, which has been invaluable in our military operations in the Middle East. Qatar was the go-between for Washington and Afghanistan’s Taliban and today hosts a Taliban embassy, giving the United States the ability to talk to the Taliban without opening formal relations with Kabul. Energy policy, climate change and politics are inextricably entwined. Qatar’s management of these issues shows that
What is green hydrogen? Can India make it affordable?
Green hydrogen is hydrogen that is produced using renewable energy through electrolysis. This method uses an electrical current to separate hydrogen from oxygen in water. If the electricity needed for electrolysis is generated from renewable sources such as solar or wind, the production of hydrogen in this way emits no greenhouse gasses. Will green hydrogen form the core of India’s clean energy mix? Experts are optimistic about the potential of this ‘fuel of the future’. Like all fuels, hydrogen when burnt produces energy. But the by-product of burning hydrogen is water, making it the most environmentally friendly fuel. This ‘green’ approach to producing hydrogen is good for sustainability. But it drives up costs, which could obviously hamper India’s plan to ramp up the production of green hydrogen. Add to that, only a handful of Indian companies manufacture electrolysers, which are used to generate green hydrogen. Now, according to The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the cost of green hydrogen production is $5-$6 per kg. At this rate, it is not easy for industries like steel, fertilizer and long-range shipping to adopt this fuel. For that, we need green hydrogen prices to come down to at least $2 per kg. Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani has proposed that India should aim to bring down prices to $1 per kg. But this reduction in prices will not be possible unless we start manufacturing electrolysers on a much larger scale in India. According to a recent report in Business Standard, the government could bring a Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturing electrolysers for producing green hydrogen. On the other hand, it does seem that in certain areas, the Centre is slow to get off the blocks despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterating the ‘green hydrogen’ commitment in his Independence Day speech this year. The central government is yet to come out with a policy, despite having launched the National Hydrogen Mission last year. Setting up more manufacturing facilities, indigenous production of important components such as electrolysers, and production linked incentives such as the schemes being rolled out by the government for various sectors, will be the most important steps that Indian industry and policymakers need to take to help bring down costs per unit of green hydrogen output.