National Gas Grid: 68 Per Cent Work Complete, All States Likely To Get Connected By 2026
A total of 23,173 kilometre of natural gas pipelines, including spur lines, are operational in the country and another 12,206 kilometre length of pipeline is under various stages of construction. This information was provided by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, while replying to a question in Lok Sabha on 20 July. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), which is the regulator for gas pipeline infrastructure, has authorised the development of 33,592 km natural gas pipeline network in the country. The pipeline projects are being implemented by various entities including oil companies as per the authorisation by PNGRB. All natural gas pipelines are part of the ‘Gati Shakti National Master Plan’. Under-Construction Projects The Minister in his reply also furnished target dates for the completion of various natural gas pipeline network under implementation. Kakinada-Vizag-Srikakulam: This natural gas pipeline in Andhra Pradesh, which is being executed by Andhra Pradesh Gas Distribution Corporation, will be completed by June 2024. Kakinada-Vijayawada-Nellore: This pipeline, in Andhra Pradesh which has been allotted to IMC Limited, is to be completed by March, 2024. Srikakulam-Angul: The 744-km-long pipeline project from Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh to Angul in Odisha via Ganjam, Nayagarh, Khordha, Cuttack, and Dhenkanal is to be completed by July 2023. Ennore-Nellore: The pipeline connecting Chennai’s northern suburb of Ennore to Nellore in Andhra Pradesh was scheduled to be completed by April 2020, but is currently stalled due to litigation. North-East Natural Gas Pipeline Grid: The 1,656-km-long North-East gas grid, will cater to eight states of Northeastern India in a phased manner. Being executed by Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited — a joint venture company of five central public sector enterprises, namely, IOCL, Oil India Ltd, Numaligarh Refineries, ONGC, and GAIL — the entire project is targeted to be completed by 31 March 2024. Kanai-Chhata-Panitar Pipeline: Being developed by Hooghly Pipelines Private Limited, a subsidiary of H-Energy, the natural gas pipeline from Haldia to Panitar is to be completed by September 2023. Mumbai-Nagpur-Jharsuguda: The 1755-km-long ambitious project, encompassing vast geographical areas across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Odisha is under the advanced stage of completion and has sought an extension till 30 October 2024. Jamnagar-Dwarka: The pipeline between Jamnagar and Dwarka in Gujarat will be completed by August 2024. The 33,592 kilometre pipeline network will create a national gas grid in the country and help increase the share of natural gas in the primary energy mix to 15 per cent in 2030, from about 6.3 per cent currently.
China Snaps Up Record-High Volumes Of Russian Crude In The First Half Of 2023
Despite an apparent weakness in its economy, China is importing record volumes of oil and is buying record amounts of Russian crude to add to stockpiles. During the first half of 2023, Chinese imports of Russian crude oil averaged 2.13 million barrels per day (bpd), which helped Russia oust its OPEC+ partner Saudi Arabia from the top spot as the single biggest supplier to the world’s top crude importer so far this year, per Financial Times estimates based on Chinese customs data. Imports from the world’s top crude oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, averaged 1.88 million bpd between January and June, according to FT’s calculations. In June alone, China broke – for yet another month – the record for importing Russian crude oil, per data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs cited by Reuters. Chinese imports from Russia averaged 2.56 million bpd last month, a surge of 44% compared to the same month in 2022, the Chinese customs data showed. The previous record, of 2.29 million bpd, was set in May as Chinese refiners continued to buy discounted Russian oil. The discounts for Russia’s crude narrowed relative to the benchmarks in June, but this didn’t stop China from boosting imports and breaking in June the record from May. China’s imports from Saudi Arabia also rose in June, compared to May and June last year. But at 1.93 million bpd in June 2023, those imports still trailed behind the record-breaking Chinese crude oil imports from Russia. Total Chinese oil imports are also surging. China’s crude oil imports in June jumped by 45.3% on the year to the second-highest monthly figure on record, as refiners continued building up inventories despite weak domestic demand. Oil imports in June totaled 12.67 million bpd—a sharp increase from a year ago when the country was still under Covid-19 lockdowns.
Has India’s appetite for Russian oil peaked? What latest data shows
India’s imports of oil from Russia rose to an all-time high in June. However, the growth in import was the slowest pace since October 2022 This is being seen as a signal that India’s appetite for Russian oil may have peaked, Reuters reported citing tanker data. Indian refiners have been buying Russian oil heavily ever since Russia began selling it at a discount following western sanctions in the wake of the Ukraine war. Discounts have now narrowed and problems have arisen in payments settlement. That has lately sent Indian refiners on the lookout for for alternative sources in the Middle East. India bought nearly 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude in June. It accounted for a marginal growth from over May, data showed. Before the Ukraine war, India rarely bought oil from Russia because of high freight costs. India’s June imports of Russian oil exceeded its combined purchases from Iraq and Saudi Arabia, the second- and third-biggest sellers to New Delhi. The United States emerged as the fourth-largest supplier to India, pushing UAE to the fifth place, the data showed. In terms of market share, Russia supplied about 42% of India’s crude oil imports in April-June, the first quarter of India’s fiscal year, the data showed, while the Middle East share rose to about 41% after slipping in the previous three months. Imports from the Middle East fell by about 34% in the June quarter from a year ago, while those from the C.I.S. nations – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia – nearly trebled, the data showed. Lower imports from the Middle East dragged down OPEC’s share in India’s overall crude imports.
GAIL, LanzaTech Enter Strategic Partnership to Explore Biorecycling Carbon Waste into Fuels and Chemicals
GAIL (India) Limited, India’s largest natural gas company and LanzaTech Global, Inc., USA, an innovative carbon capture and utilization (“CCU”) company that converts waste carbon into products that people use in their daily lives, have entered a partnership to explore innovative technology solutions that advance GAIL’s Net Zero 2040 goals and have the potential to support wider decarbonization applications globally. GAIL and LanzaTech will explore setting up a pilot scale CO2 capture and conversion project that has the potential to be a role model for converting CO2 into useful materials instead of emitting it to the atmosphere. Combining LanzaTech’s carbon capture and utilization technology with GAIL’s renewable H2 and CO2 gas streams, the project will enable resource utilization where the building blocks of everyday consumer goods viz. Fuel, Packaging and Clothing can be made from biorecycled material instead of virgin fossil fuel. “The possibilities coming out of this collaboration with LanzaTech are very promising and significant to improving our carbon footprint,” said Sandeep Kumar Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of GAIL. “Using LanzaTech’s cutting-edge technology will enhance our environmental stewardship and open up new avenues for driving sustainability across our operations.” “Waste CO2 can be used to make the things we need,” said Dr. Jennifer Holmgren, LanzaTech’s CEO and Board Member of the US-India Strategic Partnership. “By combining LanzaTech’s expertise in carbon recycling with GAIL’s commitment to reducing emissions and implementing renewable projects, this project has the potential to turn CO2 from an environmental liability to a value added product. CO2 can be the raw material of the future, enabling fossil carbon to stay underground. We look forward to launching our collaboration with GAIL to make this vision a reality.”
Amid supply concerns, Indian crude basket rises 4% in July
The Indian crude oil basket which was largely subdued in May and June has witnessed over 4% increase in its average price in July amid global supply concerns. The average Indian crude basket for July stands at $78.22 per barrel, compared to $74.93 a barrel in June. In May, it averaged at $74.98 a barrel as prices eased amid growing concerns of a global slowdown.
Energy storage, offshore wind, Green Hydrogen define govt’s renewable energy strategy: MNRE Joint Secy Jagdale
In order to boost and support India’s renewable energy sector going forward, the government is working on a multi-pronged strategy that focus on energy storage, offshore wind and Green Hydrogen simultaneously, according to Dinesh Jagdale, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). Speaking at the US-India Energy Summit here, Jagdale said MNRE has adopted a strategy of faster adoption of renewable energy in the Indian electricity sector. “We are following the mantra of greening the grid and more electrifying of the economy. This is the way forward and at this stage defines our endeavour to move towards India’s energy transition,” he said. agdale was speaking as a panelist in a discussion on “Fostering Innovation: Technology for Sustainability”. He said the results of MNRE’s efforts over the past 5-6 years are being seen now, the electricity grid has adopted RE at a fast pace, solar power which has shown maximum growth and wind energy’s growth is also set to pick up. “What is really important is the new areas of growth we are looking at. With more penetration of renewable energy we require more support to the grid. We now need a grid that is stronger, safer and more secure. Looking at the energy era that is going to come till 2030, and the pace at which the energy capacity will be added, it will also require a lot of support in other systems and we need to add energy storage capacity,” he said.
Netherlands was top destination for US LNG supplies in May
The Netherlands was the top destination for US LNG exports in May, according to the Department of Energy’s newest LNG monthly report. The report shows that US terminals shipped 64.5 Bcf of LNG to the Netherlands in May, 51.7 Bcf to France, 31.2 Bcf to Japan, 26.9 Bcf to Argentina, and 25.2 Bcf to the UK. These five countries took 54.4 percent of total US LNG exports in May. Previously, the UK was the top destination for US LNG supplies for six months in a row. The Netherlands has expanded its capacity with the launching of Gasunie’s Eemshaven FSRU-based LNG terminal. The country’s first FSRU-based terminal adds to the Gate LNG import facility in Rotterdam, also operated by Gasunie and Vopak. US LNG exports rise 4.4 percent The US exported in total 366.7 Bcf of LNG in May, up by 4.4 percent compared to the same month last year and a drop of 1.4 percent from the prior month, the DOE report shows. US terminals shipped 127 LNG cargoes in May, compared to 114 cargoes in May 2022 and 110 cargoes in April this year, according to the report. Cheniere’s Sabine Pass plant sent 38 cargoes, while its Corpus Christi terminal shipped 18 cargoes in May. In addition, Cameron LNG dispatched 29 shipments, Freeport LNG sent 28 cargoes, Cove Point LNG sent 11 cargoes, and Elba Island LNG dispatched 3 shipments. 4816 LNG cargoes According to DOE’s report, the weighted average price by export terminal reached 7.05/MMBtu in May. Moreover, the report said that in the period from February 2016 through May 2023, the US exported 4816 cargoes or 15,368.6 Bcf to 44 countries. South Korea remains the top destination for US LNG with 524 cargoes, followed by Japan with 393 cargoes, the UK with 390 cargoes, France with 364 cargoes, and Spain with 371 cargoes. Besides these five countries, China, the Netherlands, India, Turkey, and Brazil are in the top ten as well
India’s Vedanta to Sink Billions into Oil and Gas, Commodities: Report
India’s largest private producer of crude oil Vedanta plans to invest billions of dollars into the oil and gas sector and its commodities-related business, according to a report by S&P Global Commodity Insights, citing company chairman Anil Agarwal. Agarwal said that the changing energy landscape will increase demand for oil and gas, as well as metal resources, in the foreseeable future, according to the report. Vedanta owns Cairn Oil & Gas, which is the largest private sector producer of crude oil in India, owning assets in the regions of Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat in India, according to the company website. The Mangala field in Rajasthan, discovered in January 2004, was the largest onshore oil discovery in India in two decades. The Mangala, Bhagyam, and Aishwariya fields, the three major discoveries in the Rajasthan block, cumulatively have reserves of approximately 7.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Bboe). Cairn has 62 licenses in India, which are estimated to contain over 3.0 Bboe of gross unrisked prospective resources. In an earlier news release, Cairn said that its estimated total gross 2P plus 2C resources have reached 1.156 Bboe, of which oil accounts for 85 percent. 2P reserves are the total of proven and probable reserves, while 2C is the best estimate of contingent resources. The company is planning up to 20 potential new development projects to bring a substantial proportion of the 846 million barrels of oil equivalent of gross 2C resources into production. The company plans to drill up to 20 exploration wells in the next two years, targeting approximately 500 million barrels of oil equivalent of gross unrisked prospective resources. “Cairn has a world-class resource base of over 1.1 Bboe gross, and we continued to sustain the business last year, adding more resources than we produced”, Cairn CEO Nick Walker said. “We have significant undeveloped resources and we’re moving at pace to apply the latest technology to define a portfolio of up to 20 new projects. We’ve also a material exploration position in India and are commencing an exciting exploration drilling program aimed at continuing to grow our resources. Cairn is committed to increasing India’s domestic oil and gas production, with a vision to contribute 50 percent of the country’s crude production.” Cairn’s current total production capacity stands at 147,000 boe per day, with the Rajasthan block contributing 120,000 boe per day, or nearly 82 percent of the total. Cumulatively, the block has produced over 700 million boe in the last decade, according to the news release. In a separate news release, Cairn said it signed three memorandums of understanding with the state governments of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh for biodiversity conservation through the mass plantation of 750,000 trees. The carbon captured through the mass plantation is equivalent to emissions needed to provide electricity to 4,500 Indian households, the company said. The three agreements account for 38 percent of the two million trees that Cairn has pledged to plant by 2030 and will help the company achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The initiative is in line with India’s targets for the development of carbon sinks.
Uncertainty In Oil Markets As Fundamentals Counter Economic Concerns
Oil prices dropped in Asian trading early on Wednesday before bouncing back slightly as market participants continue to weigh tightening supply and China’s fresh stimulus pledge against concerns of slowing developed economies amid rate hikes. In Asian trade on Wednesday, the U.S. benchmark WTI Crude was down by 0.13% to $75.65. The international benchmark, Brent Crude, recovered its early losses and was up 0.05% to $79.68. Concerns about the U.S. and European economies, coupled with the lower-than-expected Chinese growth in the second quarter, continue to put downward pressure on prices, although the American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated late on Tuesday a small draw of 797,000 barrels to U.S. crude oil inventories. U.S. gasoline inventories are also estimated to have fallen last week, per API data. If confirmed by the official EIA inventory report later on Wednesday, draws could support oil prices in the latter part of this week. The market, however, appears to be continuously concerned about the U.S. and European economies. The Fed is widely expected to raise the key interest rate by a quarter percentage point, with odds on Wall Street at 93.6% for a rate hike at the July 26 meeting. “A retail sales report confirmed the US economy is still healthy and ready for another quarter-point rate rise by the Fed,” Ed Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, said on Tuesday. Still, “Wall Street grows confident Fed will be ‘One and Done’ on rate hikes,” Moya notes. Limiting the slide in oil prices early on Wednesday was the Chinese pledge from Tuesday that it would “formulate and introduce more effective policies for restoring and expanding consumption as soon as possible.” On the fundamentals front, Russian crude oil exports are now showing signs of decline for a second consecutive week and are estimated to have sunk to a six-month low in the four weeks to July 16. “With Russian flows falling to a six-month low, expectations are growing that OPEC+ will keep this market tight throughout the summer,” OANDA’s Moya commented. “Brent crude looks like it wants to find a home above the $80 level and that shouldn’t be too hard as long as the crude demand outlook doesn’t get blindsided,” the analyst noted.
ADNOC Signs LNG Deal With Indian Oil Major Worth Up To $9 Billion
ADNOC Gas has signed a long-term agreement to supply liquefied natural gas to Indian Oil Corporation, in a deal worth between $7 billion and $9 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, ADNOC Gas, the integrated gas unit of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), will export up to 1.2 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) of LNG to Indian Oil over a period of 14 years, the Abu Dhabi company said in a statement. ADNOC Gas, which supplies around 60% of the UAE’s sales gas needs and has access to 95% of the UAE’s huge gas reserves, looks to expand its global presence as the LNG market grows and countries look to diversify supply to boost energy security. “The landmark deal marks another significant milestone for ADNOC Gas as it expands its global reach, reinforcing its position as a global LNG export partner of choice, and reaffirming IOCL as its key strategic partner in the LNG market,” ADNOC Gas said. India, for its part, aims to boost the share of natural gas in its energy mix to 15% by 2030, up from around 6% now. Competition for LNG has increased and long-term LNG contracts have returned, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine upended the global gas market, prompted Europe to pledge to ditch Russian pipeline gas by 2027, and kickstarted a competition between Europe and Asia for spot and long-term LNG supply. The United States and Qatar have recently signed major long-term deals with both Chinese and European firms. Last month Germany signed a 20-year deal with U.S. firm Venture Global LNG to import 2.25 million tons of LNG per year from Venture Global’s third project, CP2 LNG, as Europe’s biggest economy is looking to secure gas supply after Russia stopped deliveries. Chinese buyers, for their part, have recently signed with Qatar the longest LNG term deals in the history of the industry while also discussing additional agreements with QatarEnergy and with U.S. LNG developers.