Big Oil Petitions Brazilian Court To Suspend New Oil Tax
Five international oil companies active in Brazil have petitioned a federal court to suspend the 9.2% tax on crude oil exports that new president Ignacio Lula da Silva introduced soon after he came into office, angering the industry. According to the government, the new tax will serve to attract more investments in the country with a focus on local refining. According to Shell, however, the tax was announced without “significant dialogue” and it created “uncertainty about new decisions regarding investments,” the supermajor told AFP. When the new oil export tax was announced at the end of last month, Shell, along with the Brazilian subsidiaries of TotalEnergies, Portugal’s Galp, Repsol, and Equinor, filed an injunction against it. “This measure, which was announced with no significant consultation with the industry, brings uncertainty to new investment decisions, negatively impacting the country’s competitiveness in the upstream sector – one where Brazil carries significant geological potential,” Shell told Bloomberg earlier this month. According to one Brazilian professor of economics who spoke to AFP, the decision is more political than economical and aims to avoid having to raise fuel prices too much, which would create discontent. According to the government, the new tax, which will be in place between March and July, will provide Brazil with a better fiscal balance and will help offset losses incurred from not hiking fuel prices in accordance with market prices. “During the next oil auction, it is possible that the bidders will take into account the risk that the rules will change,” a researcher from education think tank the Getulio Vargas Foundation told AFP. The tax sets a precedent that will lead to legal uncertainty for investors and have a spillover effect on other industries besides oil and gas, discouraging foreign investors from putting their money in Brazil, Livio Ribeiro explained.
BHEL signs MoU with IGL on March 22
State-owned Bharat Heavy Electronics Limited (BHEL) said in a regulatory filing that it has inked an MoU with Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) on Wednesday. The company signed the MoU for “Joint collaboration for development, manufacturing & deployment of Type-IV Cylinders (CNG and/or Hydrogen), Hydrogen blending in city gas distribution (CGD) and Fuel cell-based power backup system,” the filing added. As per the tweet by the IGL, “This MoU will pave the way for collaboration in Hydrogen Value Chain, contributing towards ‘National Hydrogen Mission’ of the Government of India, making India Atmanirbhar.” “Sanjeev Kumar Bhatia, VP (BD & Gas Sourcing- IGL) and S Prabhakar, GM & Head (Marketing-BHEL) signed the MOU in the presence of Dr Nalin Shinghal, CMD-BHEL, Pawan Kumar, Director (Commercial-IGL), Upinder Singh Matharu, Director (Power & HR – BHEL), Jai Prakash Srivastava, Director (E, R&D – BHEL), and other senior officials of BHEL and IGL,” the tweet by IGL said.
India’s LNG imports continue to rise
India’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports rose for the second month in a row in February, according to the preliminary data from the oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. The country imported 2.25 billion cubic meters or about 1.66 million tonnes of LNG in February, a rise of 11 percent when compared to the same month in 2022, PPAC said. Also, February LNG imports were almost flat when compared to 2.26 bcm in January. During the April-February period, India took 24.76 bcm of LNG, or some 18.4 million tonnes, down by 12.8 percent, PPAC said. India paid $1.5 billion for February LNG imports, a rise of about 36 percent compared to $1.1 billion in 2022, while costs increased about 40 percent year-on-year to $16.8 billion in April-February, it said. As per India’s natural gas production, it rose by 1.9 percent to 2.65 bcm in February. Gas production increased by 1.1 percent in April-February to 31.49 bcm. India’s monthly LNG imports have been constantly dropping last year due to mostly high spot prices. However, Asian spot LNG prices dropped this year. Petronet LNG previously said it is expecting India’s LNG imports to increase in the first quarter of this year due to lower spot prices. At the moment, India imports LNG via six facilities with a combined capacity of about 42.7 million tonnes. Petronet LNG’s 17.5 mtpa Dahej terminal operated at 78.2 percent capacity, while Shell’s 5 mtpa Hazira terminal operated at 37.5 percent capacity in April-January, PPAC saI’d