‘500% tariffs…’: US senator targets Russia’s oil trade partners; India also in crosshairs
Standing on Ukrainian soil, US Senator Richard Blumenthal called for a bold economic offensive against Russia — a 500% tariff on any nation that continues buying Russian oil, gasoline, or petrochemicals. The proposal, revealed during a press conference in Kyiv, aims to choke the Kremlin’s war chest and ratchet up pressure on global buyers like China and India It marks a sharp escalation in Washington’s legislative efforts to curb Moscow’s aggression, coming on the heels of a bipartisan sanctions bill introduced in April with Senator Lindsey Graham. The bill spearheaded by Senator Richard Blumenthal would impose 500% tariffs on all countries purchasing Russian oil, gasoline, or petrochemicals. “That means 500% tariffs on India and on China — which buys 70% of these goods — and on anyone else who continues these purchases,” Blumenthal said. These penalties would come into force if Russia refuses to enter good-faith peace talks with Ukraine or acts again to compromise Ukraine’s sovereignty post any agreement. The sweeping sanctions would also extend to imports from countries that continue buying Russian gas, uranium, and other critical commodities. The Senate could begin considering the bill as early as next week. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump stated the US is “very close to making a deal with India.” He also confirmed that representatives from Pakistan are scheduled to visit Washington next week. “Pakistan representatives are coming in next week. We’re very close to making a deal with India,” Trump said at Joint Base Andrews. Still, he cautioned that tensions between India and Pakistan could upend any potential agreement. “And I wouldn’t have any interest in making a deal with either if they were going to be at war with each other,” he warned.
Will India’s draft PNG regulations power or paralyze hydrocarbon E&P?
The energy sector as a whole, and Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production in particular, has always been a high priority item on the Government of India’s agenda. The fact that India still imports 90% of the crude it consumes brings the sector into sharp focus. The importance of Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production has only been emphasized further by the imbalance created by ballooning domestic demand juxtaposed against declining domestic production, and increasing geopolitical uncertainties. All Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production in India – whether by the State-Owned Enterprises or Foreign / Private Operators – is conducted and regulated by the provisions of the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act 1948 (“Act”) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules, 1959 (“Rules”). The Act and the Rules have been amended from time to time, to reflect the changing realities of the Indian E&P sector, including the entry of private and foreign operators, the introduction of Coal Bed Methane, Shale Gas, Shale Oil, and other hydrocarbons, and the policy shift, first to the New Exploration Licensing Policy at the turn of the century, and more recently, to the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy, and in parallel, from a Nomination regime to Production Sharing Contracts regime to the Open Acreage Licensing based Revenue Sharing Contracts regime. Yet, it cannot be denied that the legislative framework for the industry was getting a bit long in the tooth. After all, the Act is almost seventy-seven years old and the Rules just eleven years younger. In the backdrop of the global, regional, and local developments in the energy sector over the past two decades, in an unambiguous declaration of its openness to ‘updating’ the legislative framework, the Government amended the Act w.e.f. 15 April 2025 to move away from a ‘Crude Oil’ and ‘Natural Gas’ centric regime to a wider ‘Mineral Oils’ regime that brings the wider array of hydrocarbon energy within its fold, with an eye on boosting domestic production of mineral oils. As a follow-up, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has recently published (for receiving feedback and suggestions ) the Draft Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules, 2025 (“Draft PNG Rules”), with which it intends to replace the Rules. While it is indeed heartening to note that rather than tweaking the Rules yet again to reflect the changed energy sector landscape, the Government has chosen to bring in a ground-up fresh set of Rules, in my view, there have been as many misses as hits in the Draft. Let’s look at the hits (and these are only illustrative) first – bearing in mind India’s energy security needs and the need to maximise production expeditiously and economically, the Draft Rules postulate, firstly, an authorization for production from all parts of a reservoir including those extending beyond the geographical boundary of the contract area – and for this purpose, wherever possible, for an extension of the lease area or the merger of lease areas, and, secondly, the extension of rights under existing leases and contracts to conduct all mineral oil operations across the spectrum of energy hydrocarbons. Another big positive is the clearest indication yet, of a desire to bring in transparency and reasonableness in administrative decision-making, by making it mandatory for the Government to provide reasons in writing if any application is being rejected or if any direction is issued to the llessee/contractor following good international petroleum industry practices, to do or abstain from doing certain acts. The Draft PNG Rules also bring greenhouse gas emissions into focus, with provisions being made for in-reservoir sequestration rather than atmospheric release. Another important feature is the proposal for the development of comprehensive or integrated energy projects that may potentially combine the generation of renewable energy with conventional energy exploration and production.
Area under oil, gas exploration in India has jumped 76 pc in last 10 years: Hardeep Puri
As much as 76 per cent of the total area in India’s sedimentary basin currently being explored for oil and gas has come under active exploration since 2014, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri has said. Addressing the CII annual business summit here, the minister said that in the last decade the Government has succeeded in increasing the explored area for oil and gas in India’s sedimentary basin from 6 per cent to 10 per cent which would soon reach 15 per cent. “We intend to increase India’s oil and gas exploration acreage to 1 million sq km by 2030,” he said. The minister further stated that India’s rapidly expanding energy economy was in a robust state under the leadership of PM Modi. He pointed out that energy security was now a strategic necessity for India in a volatile global energy landscape being shaped by geopolitical realignments, conflicts, and climate commitments. “The size and magnitude of India’s energy sector can be gauged by the fact that in 2024-25, India imported around 242.4 million tonnes of crude oil and spent $137 billion on the imports, while increasing the number of countries we import from, to 40 from 27 earlier,” Puri said. India has also been able to navigate the trilemma of energy availability, affordability and sustainability through the difficult times; and in doing so, while fuel prices around the world were skyrocketing, India was the only country where the prices actually came down and have remained there as a result of proactive measures implemented by PM Modi for the benefit of the citizens, he added. Puri further stated that with key reforms and fresh thrust to growth in the sector, India is now on the fast track of growth by expanding and strengthening the energy infrastructure and implementing innovative solutions to provide momentum to green energy transition. In this context, he mentioned that India’s ethanol blending initiative has also resulted in a significant jump. “We have increased the ethanol blending in petrol from 1.53 per cent in 2013-14 to around 20 per cent in April 2025, as we now look beyond,” he added.
Govt cuts APM gas price for first time in 2 years
For the first time in two years, the government has reduced the price of natural gas used for producing CNG for vehicles and cooking gas, reflecting a decline in benchmark rates. The price of natural gas from legacy fields allocated to state-owned ONGC without auction has been reduced from USD 6.75 to USD 6.41 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), according to a notification from the Oil Ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). The reduction, which is the first since the government in April 2023 implemented a new formula to price such gas, will aid city gas retailers like Indraprastha Gas Ltd, Mahanagar Gas Ltd and Adani-Total Gas Ltd who had been reeling under cost pressures from rise in input cost. The price of natural gas from legacy fields allocated to state-owned ONGC without auction has been reduced from USD 6.75 to USD 6.41 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), according to a notification from the Oil Ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). The reduction, which is the first since the government in April 2023 implemented a new formula to price such gas, will aid city gas retailers like Indraprastha Gas Ltd, Mahanagar Gas Ltd and Adani-Total Gas Ltd who had been reeling under cost pressures from rise in input cost.