Greek authorities find crashed EgyptAir plane debris: Egyptian civil aviation ministry
Greece will scale back search and rescue assets to find a missing EgyptAir airliner after objects thought to be from the aircraft were found in waters under Egyptian jurisdiction. Greek authorities have found “floating material” that is likely to be debris from the EgyptAir plane that crashed over the Mediterranean on Thursday, the Egyptian civil aviation ministry said in a statement. Egypt’s envoy to France said Greek authorities had informed his counterpart in Athens that they had found blue and white debris as part of its search for a missing EgyptAir plane. “All I will say is that our embassy in Athens told us that it was contacted by Greek authorities who signalled that they found white and blue debris corresponding to EgyptAir’s colours,” Ehab Badawy told BFM television. “I can’t confirm it is the debris, but it would be reasonable to think it is the debris of this plane,” he said. Greece to scale back EgyptAir search Greece will scale back search and rescue assets to find a missing EgyptAir airliner after objects thought to be from the aircraft were found in waters under Egyptian jurisdiction, two Greek government sources said on Thursday. Greece had deployed a frigate and air assets to the area south of the island of Karpathos after the airliner with 66 people on board dropped off radars overnight in Egyptian airspace minutes after leaving Greek airspace. A transport aircraft would remain in the area. Pieces of plastic and two lifejackets were found in the sea area about 230 miles (370 km) south of Crete. It was all found in waters under Egyptian jurisdiction, a Greek defence source said. Greek authorities earlier reported the aircraft took a sharp 90 degree turn left, and then spun 360 degrees in the opposite direction as it plunged from cruising altitude of 37,000 feet to 15,000 feet before disappearing off radars. Terrorism suspected Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said it was too early to rule out any explanation, including an attack like the one blamed for bringing down a Russian airliner over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula last year. The country’s aviation minister said a terrorist attack was more likely than a technical failure. A Greek military official says an Egyptian search plane has located two orange items believed to be from the missing EgyptAir flight. T.J. Yeldon Jersey
Mixed bag for India’s oil firms as explorers spend less, while refiners meet Capex targets
India’s oil firms had a mixed bag in capital expenditure in 2015-16, with exploration firms spending less, in line with the global trends in the bearish oil market, while refiners met or exceeded their targets. Higher profit, lower working capital requirement and reduction in borrowings due to lower oil prices encouraged refiners to fast-track execution of projects to cater to a rapidly rising demand for fuel in the country. But oil producers slashed capex plans in part due to lower oil prices and in part due to poor execution ability. State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) spent Rs 295.02 billion during the fiscal, nearly a fifth lower than originally planned, according to the oil ministry data. Its overseas arm ONGC Videsh invested just Rs 67.83 billion or 35% less than the targeted capex. Oil India Ltd spent nearly a tenth less. ONGC’s and Oil India’s cuts in capex were driven mainly by delays in the tendering process, company executives said. ONGC Videsh, which is mostly a junior partner in several overseas fields, cut its capex to align with partners responding to lower oil prices, they said. Cairn India, a private producer that controls about a quarter of the country’s oil production, reported a capex of just $248 million in 2015-16, much lower than the original plan of $1.2 billion. Cairn slashed its capex target several times during the year due to tumbling oil prices that resulted in its biggest quarterly loss of Rs 109.48 billion in January-March. GAIL, India’s largest natural gas pipeline operator, invested barely half of its target spending, primarily due to slower progress in some of its key pipeline projects stuck for years. With an investment of Rs 143.68 billion, Indian Oil Corporation, the nation’s largest refiner and fuel retailer, almost met its capex target while Hindustan Petroleum Corporation spent Rs 54.59 billion to marginally exceed its target. Bharat Petroleum Corporation spent Rs 109.26 billion, 12% more than its target. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, controlled by ONGC, missed its capex target by 10%. Overall, state-run oil companies missed their capex target by 13.5% during the fiscal. Lower oil prices and higher economic growth in the country pushed up fuel consumption 11% in 2015-16, encouraging refiners to fast expand capacity to capture the new demand. Refiners were also aided by the declining requirement of working capital and debt. At the end of March, the borrowings at Indian Oil Corporation had fallen to Rs 490 billion from Rs 862.63 billion two years ago. Similarly, the debt at BPCL and HPCL fell 18% and 38% respectively in two years. Hisashi Iwakuma Jersey
RIL to withdraw arbitration, begin KG drilling
RIL and its partner BP Plc are all set to begin their next phase of expansion at the Krishna-Godavari. In April, the Mukesh Ambani-led company invited tenders for drilling and recovering gas from three deep-sea clusters off the east coast of India including the R-series, Satellite-series and MJ-1 fields. But the most important aspect of any gas recovery by RIL and its partners is the pricing of gas. Sources in the government said that executives from both RIL and BP have met oil ministry officials to initiate talks of withdrawing the gas-pricing arbitration pending in Supreme Court. “These are deep-sea areas and RIL will get marketing and pricing freedom, that is, a higher price for gas from these areas, if they withdraw the litigation with the government,” said a source in the oil ministry without wanting to be named. He confirmed that the company has assured the government that it will initiate the process of withdrawing the litigation. Sources said that BP has been advising RIL to withdraw the litigation and the entire matter will be resolved by the end of the year. RIL did not respond to mails sent by HT. On March 11, the Union Cabinet had allowed free pricing of gas to developers drilling difficult terrains including deep-sea and high-pressure zones. During this decision it was also made clear that if the developer was engaged in a gas-pricing litigation with the government then this liberal pricing mechanism will not be applicable to them, unless the arbitration is dropped. According to the new pricing formula, from April a unit of gas produced from existing wells will fetch $3.15 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu), but gas from new deep sea wells will get $7 per unit. A presentation by the oil ministry said that the recent pricing freedom allowed by the Cabinet, will help monetise 6.5 tcf (trillion cubic feet) of gas valued at $28.35 billion, or Rs. 1.8 trillion. Of this, RIL has eight discoveries with 2.5 tcf of gas. BP is 30% partner in RIL’s 21 gas blocks, including the KG D6. Canada’s Niko Resources has 10% holding in KG D6. It was in 2014 that RIL proceeded with an arbitration demanding immediate implementation of the gas pricing formula as devised by the previous UPA regime Joe Kelly Authentic Jersey
Reliance Industries seeks pricing, marketing freedom for CBM output
Private explorer Reliance Industries (RIL), which is targeting to start production of coal bed methane (CBM) from its Sohagpur (West) block in Madhya Pradesh in FY17, has sought marketing and pricing freedom for the commodity. Private explorer Reliance Industries (RIL), which is targeting to start production of coal bed methane (CBM) from its Sohagpur (West) block in Madhya Pradesh in FY17, has sought marketing and pricing freedom for the commodity. On May 17, petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan reviewed the CBM output in the country that is still lagging way behind targets with the output being a meagre one million standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd). The Mukesh Ambani-promoted firm wants the government to roll out the marginal fields policy, which was put in place by the Narendra Modi government last year, for the CBM blocks. “The CBM exploration is tricky and much more difficult than the marginal fields. The explorers are of the view that the absence of gas infrastructure and gas markets make the CBM projects more challenging. The blocks are situated in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh,” said an official, who took part in the minister’s review meeting. Other than RIL, the companies taking part in the meeting include Essar Oil, ONGC and GEECL, among others. In September last year, the Modi government introduced the revenue-sharing and uniform licensing models for 69 marginal fields. Of these, 67 fields would be put under the hammer on May 25. The developers of these fields will benefit from ‘market-determined prices’ sans any government interference. Moreover, the bidders for marginal fields are given the right to sell gas to customers of their choice, unencumbered by the government’s allocation policy. Currently, GEECL’s Raniganj (South) and Raniganj (East) held by Essar Oil are the only two blocks under production. The firms have informed Pradhan that CBM blocks are planning to spend nearly Rs. 90 billion in FY17 and FY18. This would help to ramp up the output to about 2.4-2.6 mmscmd from 1 mmscmd now. Of this, RIL has given projections to invest to the tune of Rs. 30 billion in Madhya Pradesh. Public sector explorer ONGC proposes to invest about Rs. 16 billion towards drilling CBM from Bokaro and North Karanpura blocks. The field development plan (FDP) for Bokaro has been approved by ONGC Board, said another government official. The PSU plans to spend Rs. Rs. 8.67 billion in the Bokaro block and the peak output is expected at 0.7 mmscmd. The block is envisaged to commence production from FY18. The FDP for North Karanpura block is still in works, where ONGC plans to invest Rs. 6-7 billion and achieve a peak output of 0.36 mmscmd. Ruias-owned Essar Oil has committed to spend nearly Rs. 26 billion to pump out more gas from its CBM blocks in West Bengal. Prada said about Rs. 100 billion have been invested in CBM in India. “By 2017, it is likely to contribute 5% of national gas production,” the minister said after the meeting. India offered 33 CBM blocks. However, 17 of them, or 50% of the blocks, have been relinquished. Though two other firms producing CBM — Essar Oil and GEECL — have a pre-approved price for their gas, RIL and ONGC would have to follow the natural gas pricing formula put in place by the government in October 2014. This means RIL and ONGC would have to sell CBM at $3.06/but, compared with more than $5-6/mBtu enjoyed by Essar Oil and GEECL. Keyshawn Johnson Jersey
Indian Oil working out review of diesel procurement for railways
Indian Oil Corporation (Indian Oil), the nation’s largest fuel retailer is working with Indian Railways on a proposal to cut down the transporter’s mammoth fuel bill through a review of its diesel procurement practices. The proposal by the railways includes importing crude oil and procuring refining capacity from Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) on lease and cutting down diesel inventories by a third to mere five days. “We want to cut down our total diesel bill from around Rs 180 billion last financial year to Rs 165 billion this year. With that objective in mind, we are trying to work out a few ideas – sourcing crude on the High Seas basis, seeking refinery capacity for our use, and even cutting down inventory costs at the Railway Consumer Depots (RCDs),” a senior rail ministry official said. Business Standard was the first to report on March 4 the railway plan to review diesel procurement processes over zonal units as part of a larger reform drive. Railways has also floated a tender for selection of a consultant to identify alternate procurement strategies enabling the transporter to procure diesel at market linked prices. “These may include but are not limited to High Seas procurement of either diesel or crude (feasibility, taxation, logistic and process aspects, optimum nature (such as blocking refining capacity) and period of contract for improving price discovery with the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs),” Indian Railway Organization for Alternate Fuel (IROAF) said in its Expression of Interest. High Seas procurement refers to a mode of transaction where the buyer sells his consignment to a third party during transit. A senior IOC official confirmed the development and said discussions have been going on for quite some time – on railways proposal to pay tolling charges to IOC for the refining capacity to be booked — and are yet to be finalized. He said IOC has set up a Joint Working Group of officials along with railways which is looking at the proposal and working out the modalities “in right earnest”. Some of the issues that need to be sorted out include the offtake. “The Railways can give us guaranteed offtake of diesel for their requirement if refinery capacity is booked as per plan. But what about other petroleum products which will be produced apart from diesel?” Besides, the railways procure diesel from oil companies at multiple locations across states. “The changed scenario may require modifications in inter-state transport of the fuel which would give rise to taxation issues. We plan to talk to the state governments on this subject,” the IOC official said. Indian Railways consume around 2.8 billion litre diesel annually at a cost of RS 180 billion – around 18% of Net Ordinary Working Expenses. The procurement price is governed by a rate contract settled through an open tender by the railway board. Through the contract with the OMCs, which is valid for a year, zonal railways place diesel orders on OMCs for supply at RCDs. The RCDs are built by OMCs but railways provides commitment to buy diesel through them for a fixed number of years. The depots maintain at least 7 days of inventory on an average, the cost of which is borne by railways. Ryan Shazier Authentic Jersey
Shell says will expand investments in India
Royal Dutch Shell Plc. will be committing further investments in India after its February merger with BG Group Plc., a spokesperson for the oil and gas company said. Shell has so far invested around $1 billion in its India operations. A Shell India spokesperson said by email, “We have a long history in India and have consistently looked to expand our investments. I can assure that our overall approach towards investment in India remains positive.” Shell announced its merger plans with BG Group in April 2015 and completed the same in February 2016. On Monday, Shell India announced the appointment of Nitin Prasad as its new chairman after Yasmine Hilton retires in September. Shell is one of the few international oil companies in India present in the downstream and midstream segments. With BG Group’s assets in tow, Shell becomes an upstream player too through the Panna Mukta and Tapti (PMT) oil and gas fields where Shell now partners Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). Shell holds a 30% interest in the mid and south Tapti gas fields and the Panna/Mukta oil fields, while ONGC holds a 40% stake and RIL 30%. Production from the PMT fields has been falling and Shell and its partners may have to invest around $1 billion to arrest it. Added to this will be extension to the production sharing contract (PSC) that the consortium has been seeking for the past few years. The PSC expires in 2019 and for further investments to be viable and attractive it would have to be extended by at least five years, an ONGC official said. “No decisions will be taken about specific locations where BG had operations until we have a good understanding of their potential. We look forward to entering into a close dialogue with the government about the future of the operation, and any areas of uncertainty, as soon as we are in a position to speak with some authority,” Shell added in the emailed reply. Another asset added to Shell’s portfolio is the country’s second largest compressed natural gas (CNG) retailer Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL). MGL is in the process of launching its initial public offer (IPO) of around Rs. 12 billion shortly. Shell India and state-owned GAIL (India) Ltd, the promoters, will sell 12.5% each in the IPO. The promoters currently hold a 49.75% stake each in MGL, while the Maharashtra government holds a minor 0.49% stake. MGL sells CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in Mumbai and its adjoining suburbs. It has 128 CNG filling stations in Mumbai and greater Mumbai and 45 in Thane, Navi Mumbai and Panvel. Last month, Shell said it is nearly doubling its headcount to 1,000 at its Shell Technology Centre Bangalore, (STCB) to insource more work. The centre is one of its three global hubs for technology, after Houston and Amsterdam. STCB provides access to Indian talent and resources to Shell worldwide. The STCB currently employs around 900 engineers. Shell is also the only global oil company to have a fuel retail licence in the country. The company has a marketing licence from the centre to set up a network of up to 2,000 fuel retail stations in India. Currently, about 77 Shell fuel retail outlets are operational. Through its Rs. 30 billion Hazira Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) storage and re-gasification terminal with a capacity of 5 million tons per annum (mpta), the company is a significant player in the downstream segment. The terminal is being expanded to 7.5 mtpa by March 2017 with the capacity to be further expanded to 10 mtpa. Royal Dutch Shell through its unit Shell Gas holds a 74% stake in Hazira LNG, while Total Gaz Electricite France, a unit of France’s Total, holds the remainder. Shell also has a 26% stake in building the Kakinada LNG terminal on the east coast. AP Gas Development Corp., a joint venture company between the Andhra Pradesh government and GAIL and GDF Suez hold 48% and 26% equity in the project, respectively. “It is a good time to be in India. It is the largest consumer market in all segments of energy and Shell is in a good position to gain significantly from the Indian market,” said an energy consultant at a large consulting firm on condition of anonymity, as he is not allowed to talk to the media. Brynden Trawick Jersey
Ekart to launch courier service to take on DTDC Express, First Flight Courier and others
Ekart, Flipkart’s logistics unit, is set to launch a courier service that will take on the likes of DTDC Express and First Flight Courier, as it builds a consumer-facing vertical to complement its core supply-chain management business. The courier service will help bolster Ekart’s new positioning as an independent logistics powerhouse, with Flipkart recently deciding to hive off the unit to allow it to cater to other companies. Ekart’s clients now include Madura Garments as well as online retailers Jabong and Paytm. Ekart has aggressive plans for its courier service, with an aim to capture 5-10 per cent of the market in the first year. Ekart Courier, which pegs the size of the consumer-to-consumer courier market at Rs 2,200 crore, expects revenue of more than Rs 200 crore in the next one year, effectively squeezing out more revenue per delivery executive. “We expect this service will be as disruptive as Flipkart’s entry into the ecommerce space,” said Amitesh Jha, vice-president at Ekart. “The industry is still very unorganised. No one provides an end-to-end proposition that consumers want.” Ekart has plans also to enter the hyperlocal logistics market and has started piloting deliveries for restaurants in Bengaluru, according to two people aware of the company’s plans. Jha declined to comment on this. Ekart Courier will provide customers door-to-door pick-up of parcels in under 4 hours and delivery in two days. Customers can book the service online and get real-time tracking and SMS updates. Ekart will offer complimentary packaging. The pick-up service will be rolled out in Bengaluru next week and in 50 other cities by September. Ekart Courier will drop parcels at any of the 3,800 pincodes it directly reaches across the country. Jha did not disclose the pricing but said it will “be competitive to tier-1 courier players. We will be offering far more value for the same cost.” Experts tracking the logistics space say the courier market is highly competitive with thousands of regional and national players, which makes generating profits from the service a tough proposition. They pointed out that courier companies handle about two million shipments a day with networks of thousands of branches. Parcel sizes are typically less than half a kilogram, whereas ecommerce parcels are usually 1-2 kg. “Courier market is very pricesensitive. Typically, the yield players get in the courier market is Rs 15-25 per delivery. But for etailing-focused logistics players, the cost structure is way too high to address that market because they get around Rs 85 yield per delivery and are still not profitable,” said Manish Saigal, managing director at consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal. Jha said he is not worried about the competition and that he expects Ekart’s entry to expand the courier market and increase the number of packets delivered by each delivery executive. “Every additional item increases utilisation (of the executive),” he said. Ekart has about 15,000 delivery executives. For its core business-to-business logistics facility, Ekart is aggressively seeking external clients and 50 companies have expressed interest in its services, Jha said. “We will have six customers in ecommerce and four in the normal B2B business boarded by June,” he said. By next year, Ekart expects shipments from non-ecommerce businesses to contribute to half its revenue. The company handles deliveries for third-party online retailers under a new initiative called Fulfilled by Ekart. NewsletterA A Weston Richburg Womens Jersey
Shipping Ministry rescinds 6 more obsolete rules
The Shipping Ministry has notified the final rescinding of six rules under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958. These rules are Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention Certificates) Rules,1975; Merchant Shipping (Radio Direction Finders) Rules, 1968; Merchant Shipping (Distress Messages and Navigational Warnings) Rules 1964; Merchant Shipping (Muster) Rules 1968; Merchant Shipping (Pilot Ladder) Rules 1967; Life-boatmen’s (Qualifications and Certificates) Rules 1963. Total 13 Earlier, seven obsolete rules were rescinded through a notification on November 17, 2015. With the latest order, the Ministry has so far rescinded 13 rules under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958. Many of the old rules have become redundant and are causing delay. The context, purpose and objectives of the rules and regulations were studied and 13 were found obsolete. It was decided to rescind them in keeping with the government’s motto of minimum government, maximum governance. The officials expressed the hope that the new step would simplify the legislative framework governing merchant shipping sector and streamline the processes and procedures. ‘Not much difference’ However, shipping experts are of the view that the current move does not make any significant difference to the industry, but it should be supported so that DG Shipping will be encouraged to bring Indian maritime legislation up to international standards. There is need to strengthen the manpower at DG Shipping. The under-staffed agency, which is responsible for regulating the industry, is now more concerned with managing their workload, experts said, adding that recruitment of more surveyors would free up senior management to focus on regulations and modernisation. All maritime legislations such as Indian Ports Act, Major Port Trust Act and Merchant Shipping Act are outdated, they added. Bruce Bowen Jersey
How Sweden is relocating an entire city
Kiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden, is sinking. In fact, by 2050, most of its structures will have collapsed into the iron mines below it. So engineers have embarked upon an ambitious project to move Kiruna-along with its 20,000 residents-two miles to the east. A new documentary explains exactly how they plan to do it. Back in 2004, knowing the city was doomed to sink into the mines below (a process known as “deformation”), the state-owned mining company Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB held a splashy global design competition to find the best idea for moving the city. Architects at White Arkitekter AB won the competition for their plan Kiruna 4 Ever and broke ground on the new city in 2014. All of the residents will be completely moved within two decades. This Is Kiruna: How to Move a City is a delightful little film made by the Swedish government that focuses on the massive infrastructural effort required to relocate a city-and one above the Arctic Circle no less, where it’s very cold, covered in deep snow, and completely dark for some of the year. Only three historical structures will actually be moved-the rest will be “recycled” with their materials reclaimed for use in new construction. There’s also an explanation for how everyone gets re-housed. Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB is giving the owners of sinking properties a choice. It will either buy these homes at market value plus 25 percent or offer residents a brand-new home for free in a new part of town. (Renters will get subsidized rent to help them transition into what will likely be more expensive buildings.) Continuing to mine the valuable iron ore from below the old Kiruna will supposedly keep the city economically flush-although not everyone believes this will be the case. What’s most amazing to see in this film is how casual the residents are about the prospect of uprooting their lives. I feel like a similar plan in the United States would be a political disaster rife with protests and lawsuits. But I think this is largely a credit to the great care that Sweden has taken to make sure that Kiruna’s citizens are upgrading to a better urban experience. When I spoke with one of the firm’s principals two years ago, it was intriguing to hear how this was a chance to fix many of the existing city’s problems. Namely, it’s an opportunity to build a denser, more compact center, but it’s also about proving to residents that an improved city design can better meet their daily needs, says architect Mark Szulgit. “The biggest challenge is to move the minds of the people.” Logan Couture Jersey
Motorola says Moto G3, Moto G Turbo discounts on Flipkart unofficial
In a surprising move, Motorola today declared that the recent discounts on its Moto G3 and Moto G Turbo smartphones offered by Flipkart were unofficial. This comes after Motorola had reportedly slashed the prices of both the smartphones by Rs 1,000, ahead of its Moto G4 Plus launch on Tuesday. “This is with reference to the price reduction of Moto smartphones on Flipkart. We have not officially announced any discount on any of the Moto smartphones available on Flipkart. This has not been endorsed by the brand,” said Rachna Lather, marketing head, Motorola India in a statement. The current prices of Moto G3 and Moto G Turbo on Flipkart are Rs 9,999 and Rs 11,499. Interestingly, rival Amazon.in is also selling both the smarpthones for the same price. Flipkart is also offering exchange offers starting at as low as Rs 1,999 and Rs 2,499 for the 16GB storage variant of Moto G3 and Moto G Turbo respectively. Motorola has partnered exclusively with Amazon.in for its latest Moto G4 Plus smartphone. In September 2015, after 18-months of exclusive tie-up with Flipkart, Motorola had decided to start selling its devices on rival platforms such as Snapdeal and Amazon India. They also took the offline route with the business entering large-format stores such as Reliance Retail and Airtel-branded shops. The new Moto G4 Plus comes at a price tag of Rs 13,499 (16GB inbuilt storage+2GB RAM version), while the one with 32GB storage and 3GB RAM has been priced at 14,999. The Moto G4 Plus is the first Motorola smarpthone to feature a fingerprint sensor. Boyd Gordon Authentic Jersey