Govt to revisit ethanol blending progress before announcing new targets: Puri
Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced that the government will review India’s ethanol blending programme before setting new, higher targets. India achieved its target of 20% ethanol blending in petrol six years ahead of schedule, reaching 10% blending by 2022, five months before its deadline. Puri rejected concerns about E20 fuel affecting engine health and mileage, stating such claims are inaccurate. He also highlighted broader energy sector reforms, including the Oilfield (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill to attract global investors and renewed interest in rejuvenating offshore oil basins. Puri mentioned India’s first bamboo-based ethanol plant in Assam as a significant milestone and expressed confidence in India’s ability to reduce green hydrogen costs to below $3 per kilogramme, making it globally competitive.
India’s Nayara Energy raises fuel supply to HPCL after EU sanctions
India’s Nayara Energy has raised fuel sales to state retailer Hindustan Petroleum Corp after the Russia-backed refiner’s exports were hit by European Union sanctions, a government source said on Tuesday. Since the imposition of sanctions, Nayara has been operating its 400,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Vadinar refinery in western India at 70-80% capacity. Higher local sales of refined fuels would help the company to sustain its refinery runs, the source added. “We would like them (Nayara) to operate at as high capacity as it can,” the source, who did not wish to be identified, told reporters. While other state fuel retailers – Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp – are self sufficient, HPCL buys some quantity of diesel and petrol from other companies for local sales, the source said.