We have many plans in energy sector with India: Saudi Energy Minister
Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), February 20 (ANI): Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman on Monday said that Saudi Arabia has many plans in the energy sector in close coordination with India and these will come to light soon. The Minister made the statement while speaking to ANI on the sidelines of the two-day 2nd edition of the Saudi Media Forum which began in the capital Riyadh with over 1,500 media professionals and industry leaders from Arab and foreign countries joining to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the media industry. “We have so many plans in the energy sector with India and we will see it very soon,” Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told ANI when asked about Saudi Arabia’s plan in the energy sector with India. Prince Salman’s statement came four months after he visited India, and met top Indian officials as the Kingdom strengthens its energy ties with the second-largest Asian economy.
At 8.96% CAGR, India Biodiesel Market Size to Hit US$ 588.8 Million in 2027
The latest research study “India Biodiesel Market: Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027” by IMARC Group, finds that the India biodiesel market size reached US$ 360.1 Million in 2021. Looking forward, IMARC Group expects the market to reach US$ 588.8 Million by 2027, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 8.96% during 2022-2027. India Biodiesel Market Outlook: Biodiesel refers to clean and green burning fuels that are produced via the transesterification, pyrolysis, or hydro heating of non-edible and edible oils. They can be broadly categorized into B100, B20, B10, B5, and other types. These biodiesel variants are renewable, carbon-neutral, non-toxic, and cost-effective as compared to conventional sources of fuel. They further prove highly efficient in improving the lubrication of an engine and enhancing engine life. Consequently, biodiesel products find extensive applications across numerous sectors in India, such as agriculture, automotive, power generation, marine, mining, etc. India Biodiesel Market Trends: The inflating prices of petrol and diesel and the rising demand for energy are primarily driving the India biodiesel market. Besides this, the shifting preferences towards replacing traditional fossil fuels utilized in power generation and automobiles for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are also positively influencing the market across the country. Additionally, the increasing usage of the fuel variant as a heating agent in both domestic and commercial boilers is acting as another significant growth-inducing factor. Furthermore, the launch of various favorable policies and tax rebates by the government bodies aimed at promoting the utilization of renewable fuels and the escalating investments in the development of new biofuel production plants are expected to propel the India biodiesel market in the coming years.
EU Gas Price Cap: An Exercise in Futility
Last week, the European Union saw a cap on natural gas prices come into effect in hopes of curbing the risk of a repeat of last year’s eye-watering gas price jump to more than $350 per megawatt-hour. That spike in prices, which occurred in the summer after the Nord Stream pipeline—the biggest conduit of Russian gas to Europe—was blown out of commission saw businesses shut down and people gather to protest shy-high electricity bills. And the EU really doesn’t want this to happen again. The agreement for the price cap was no easy feat. It was fraught with problems from the start. Some EU members—the richer ones such as Germany and the Netherlands—opposed the very idea of capping the price of a commodity that sells on a free, unregulated market. Others, such as Spain, Italy, and the Eastern European states, defended the cap as a means of keeping gas relatively affordable. The initial proposal of the European Commission was to cap gas prices at 275 euro per MWh, or $287 if this price remains unchanged for two weeks on the spot market. Also, the price of gas in Europe had to be at least 58 euro above the average LNG price on the spot market for 10 consecutive days within those same two weeks to make matters even more complicated and unlikely to happen. Because of the level of this original price cap, the length of time it had to be in place in order to trigger the cap mechanism, and the LNG-related requirement, that first idea ended up being rejected on the grounds that it is effectively pointless. The Commission came up with a revised one that set the cap at 180 euro per MWh, equal to around $197. The cap would be triggered if prices remained at that level for three consecutive days and if that price was also 35 euro higher than the brand new EU benchmark for LNG prices. While officially approved, the cap mechanism remains largely pointless. Right now, natural gas is trading at around 50 euro, or around $53, per MWh on the EU spot market. The chances of this changing so radically that the cap needs to be triggered are, for now, remote. Gas in storage is at much higher levels than usual at this time of the year, so European buyers will not need to worry about refill season too soon. According to the Wall Street Journal’s Carol Ryan, a late cold snap could potentially empty these storage sites and push gas prices closer to the cap. But, the report notes, traders’ behavior will likely start changing before the TTF benchmark hits 180 euro per MWh. And the first thing they do will be to move their activity from the transparent and strictly regulated stock exchange to the murkier landscape of over-the-counter trades. This was one major concern that traders and ICE were quick to express during the discussions on the level and conditions for the cap. Trader associations and even the European Central Bank said the cap could destabilize the EU financial system. ICE said it could be forced to move out of the EU. “If agreed, the market correction mechanism will be imposed on customers and the market infrastructure with no time for resilient testing and thorough risk management,” ICE told Reuters in December. “It is the responsibility of ICE as the market operator to consider all options if this mechanism is agreed, up to and including whether an effective market in the Netherlands is still viable,” the exchange operator also said. ICE has not moved out of the EU yet, but it has set up a TTF market in the UK, just in case. For now, the circumstances necessary to trigger the cap are not particularly likely to emerge anytime soon. Theoretically, this should make everyone happy. In reality, it’s a bit more complicated. The European Union is ending winter with record-high gas in storage. Yet it bought this gas at prices that were multiple times higher than current prices. And it cannot sell that gas because it would mean losses of billions of euro. In other words, while from a certain perspective, the EU is safe with enough gas to weather any late winter cold spells, from another perspective, the EU is stuck with gas it bought at 100-350 euros, and now this same gas is trading at 50 euro. And at some point, buyers will have to begin buying again for next winter, and prices will be certain to jump, adding to the bill. The gloomy predictions are already out: the IEA’s Fatih Birol recently reiterated his pessimistic view of the near-term global energy supply security by noting LNG competition is set to intensify as China demand increases while supply remains unchanged. We may yet see the conditions for triggering the EU gas price cap. And it would be interesting to see how many sellers will be willing to abide by the EU cap.
GAIL India seeks three LNG cargoes for March-May delivery
GAIL (India) Ltd GAIL.NS has issued a tender to buy three cargoes of liquefied natural gas for delivery into India, said two industry sources on Monday. India’s largest gas distributor is seeking one cargo per month from March to May on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis into the country’s Dabhol terminal. The tender closes on Feb. 21, said the sources.
India’s Russian Oil Imports Surge To A Record 1.4 Million Barrels Per Day In January
India’s Russian oil imports climbed to a record 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in January, up 9.2% from December, with Moscow still the top monthly oil seller to New Delhi, followed by Iraq and Saudi Arabia, data from trade sources showed. Last month Russian oil accounted for about 27% of the 5 million bpd of crude imported by India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, the data showed. India’s oil imports typically rise in December and January as state-run refiners avoid maintenance shutdowns in the first quarter to meet their annual production targets fixed by the government. Refiners in India, which rarely used to buy Russian oil because of costly logistics, have emerged as Russia’s key oil client, snapping up discounted crude shunned by Western nations since the invasion of Ukraine last February. Last month India’s imports of Russian Sokol crude oil were the highest so far at 100,900 bpd, as output from the Sakhalin 1 field resumed under a new Russian operator, the data showed. In January, India’s imports of oil from Canada rose to 314,000 bpd as Reliance Industries boosted purchases of long-haul crude, the data showed. Canada emerged as the fifth-largest supplier to India in January after the United Arab Emirates, the data showed. India’s Iraqi oil imports in January rose to a seven-month high of 983,000 bpd, up 11% from December, the data showed.