Sri Lanka workers to strike against proposed oil deal with India
Workers’s of Sri Lanka’s state-run petroleum firm are set to launch an indefinite strike from tomorrow against the government’s proposed deal with India to jointly operate an oil storage facility at the strategic eastern port town of Trincomalee. Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) Trade Union Collective workers have threatened to cripple entire transportation sector in the country. Lanka and India are expected to sign an agreement to jointly invest and develop the Trincomalee Port and establish a petroleum refinery and other industries there. The workers have three demands which include getting the government to stop granting outright ownership of some 14 World War II oil storage tanks in the eastern port district of Trincomalee. The Petroleum Joint Union Alliance says it opposes the proposal to transfer operations rights to oil tanks to India since the agreement would benefit the Lanka IOC, Indian Oil’s subsidiary, allowing it to expand further and the CPC, which is already in debt, will incur further financial losses. They also asked the government to shelve plans to build a new oil refinery with Chinese assistance in the southern port of Hambantota and to immediately begin repairing the existing refinery near Colombo. “We will be striking from tomorrow and stop all fuel distribution in the country,” Bandula Saman Kumara a spokesman for the trade unions told reporters today. He said by mid-week the Colombo international airport would face the danger of becoming non-operational due to fuel sector strike. At least 73 of the 99 storage tanks in Trincomalee is to be managed under a new equity arrangement between the two countries, Lankan Petroleum Minister Chandima Weerakkody had said earlier. The union has taken the decision to strike after President Maithripala Sirisena has reportedly turned down a request for a meeting to discuss the issue. Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who will visit India on April 25, had said yesterday the development of eastern port district of Trincomalee will be discussed during his visit. Mike Mitchell Jersey
Government aims to cut petroleum imports as it boosts alternative fuel use
The government is aiming to cut its oil products imports to zero as it turns to alternative fuels such as methanol in its transport sector, an official said at an investor briefing on Monday. “We are trying our level best that the day will come when we don’t need to import any fuel from any country and that we will be self-sufficient,” said Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari at a conference organised by Nomura in Singapore. But he could not provide a specific timeline for the target due to challenges with the distribution and availability of alternative fuels such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the country, he said. “Auto-rickshaws are using LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) now…LNG is important but the availability of LNG and distribution is a big challenge… we have to develop that,” he said. India is also planning to start 15 factories to produce second generation ethanol from biomass, bamboo and cotton straw as it aims to develop its mandate to blend ethanol into 5 percent of its gasoline, he added. “Bamboo is available from tribal areas… our vision is to be cost effective, import substitute and pollution free,” he said. India imported about 33 million tonnes of oil products over April 2016 to February 2017, up nearly 24 percent from the same period a year ago, government data showed. The majority of the imports comprise petroleum coke and LPG. Energy consumption in India, the world’s third-biggest oil consumer, is expected to grow as it targets between 8 to 9 percent economic growth this fiscal year from around 7 percent in 2016/17. To cut the country’s carbon footprint, New Delhi wants to raise the use of natural gas in its energy mix to 15 percent in three to four years from 6.5 percent now. India is developing LNG bunker ports and plans to develop its electric vehicle fleet, Gadkari said. Bo Jackson Jersey
Sudan won’t extend ONGC’s licence to operate oil block
Sudan has denied India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation an extension of licence to operate an oil block after the initial contract expired in November 2016. ONGC Videsh, the overseas arm of the state-run firm, had a 25 per cent interest in the 2B block of Sudan and its share in the block’s output was 7,000-8,000 barrels a day. China National Petroleum Corporation and Malaysia’s Petronas are the other partners in the block. The process of surrendering the block is underway after the Sudan government gave a notice to that effect, a senior ONGCBSE 0.89 % executive said. The notice to surrender came after months of negotiations between the companies and the government yielded no result. ONGC and partners were seeking a licence renewal for 15 years but couldn’t agree to the demands of the Sudanese government. “It was not economical to commit to work programme or investment Sudan was demanding,” the executive said, requesting not to be identified. The previous 20-year contract that expired last year provided for a five-year extension without any alteration in terms but Sudan didn’t agree to that during negotiations, the executive said. The state oil companies of Sudan will now operate the 2B block. ONGC has stakes in two more producing blocks in Sudan, where the licence to operate will run till 2021-22. ONGC’s share in output from these blocks is 6,000-7,000 barrels per day. Sudan owes a few hundred million dollars to ONGC, including $100 million for the oil pipeline the Indian company built in the country and its share of the produce from the 2B block. In 2003, ONGC had purchased stake in the Greater Nile Oil Project comprising block 1, 2 and 4 in Sudan. After South Sudan was carved out of Sudan in 2011, the reserves were split between the two countries. All the blocks of South Sudan in which ONGC has stakes have been shut for about three years due to security issues. South Sudan has been seeking India’s help in reviving production at those blocks and is willing to compensate ONGC for the period the fields have not operated. South Sudan is also keen on quickly extending the licences to operate these blocks for another five years, most of which will expire in the next five years or so. Tim Tebow Womens Jersey
You may soon get home delivery of petrol, diesel at your doorstep
India is considering a plan for home delivery of petroleum products to consumers if they make a pre-booking to cut long queues at fuel stations, the oil ministry tweeted on Friday. About 350 million people come to fuel stations every day, it said. Annually Rs 2,500 crore ($387.00 million) worth of transactions takes place at fuel stations. India, the world’s third biggest oil consumer, will be introducing daily price revision of petrol and diesel in five cities from May 1, ahead of a nation-wide roll out of the plan. Kemba Walker Authentic Jersey
Solar power presents huge refinancing opportunity: India Ratings
India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) estimates a possible refinancing opportunity for more than Rs 56000 crore out of the total debt of Rs 1.73 lakh crore across various infra sub-sectors in its portfolio till FY19. Of this, solar is expected to be in the forefront in terms of the number of deals with refinancing to the tune of 33%, followed by 27% in the highway sector. Also, there could be a shift in the type of instruments issued for the purpose of raising capital in the sector, largely to the capital market instruments, namely bonds, from the conventional term loans. Ind-Ra believes that the renewable energy sector, especially solar energy, would reduce its borrowing costs further by at least 100bp through bond issuances or bank loans. Around 45% of the potential refinancing candidates in Ind-Ra’s portfolio are from the renewables space. The sector is also likely to be benefited from the government’s thrust on the development of the second phase of 20GW solar energy and evolving payment security mechanisms. However, the limited improvement in the current issues such as grid curtailments, receivable days, plant load factor volatility could hinder the refinancing prospects for renewables. Ind-Ra estimates that around Rs 6000 crore could be refinanced by the first four infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) which are likely to hit the primary markets in FY18. InvITs would enable infrastructure developers to deleverage their balance sheets and refinance remaining debt at lower costs. Deleveraging would provide a fillip to the coverage metrics of solar modules housed under InvIT structures and refinancing will further improve credit profiles. James Develin Womens Jersey
Adani commissions multimodal logistics park in Punjab
Adani Logistics Ltd, a subsidiary of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) and part of Adani Group, on Thursday said it has commissioned and commenced commercial operations at its multimodal logistics park at Kila Raipur, Ludhiana in Punjab. The latest terminal was dedicated to the nation by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, the company said here in a statement. The logistics infrastructure facility, spread across 77 acres, is strategically located on the dedicated freight corridor feeder route and will facilitate double-stack train services to Mundra Port in Gujarat. ”With the commissioning of this multimodal logistics park, our third inland container depot (ICD), we are a step closer to attaining leadership in the logistics sector,” said Karan Adani, CEO, APSEZ. The multimodal park, with a newly constructed warehouse and two railway handling lines, is now open for domestic cargo and domestic container handling, he added. Riley Nash Authentic Jersey
UP govt seeks fresh technical evaluation for airport in Jewar
The newly appointed BJP government in Uttar Pradesh has approached the Centre seeking technical evaluation for an airport in Jewar, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha, said today at a press conference here. The State cabinet cleared the proposal for Jewar airport recently. Currently, the rules do not allow a new airport to come up within 150 km of an existing airport and the Jewar proposal could get stuck under this clause as it will fall within 150 km of Delhi airport. Sinha added that the State government has sought a fresh technical evaluation of the Jewar airport project as the earlier one was done some time ago. “In the next 4-8 years the capacity at Delhi airport is likely to be saturated. It will be necessary to have another airport in the National Capital Region at that time,” the Minister added. Meanwhile, he said that a discussion has also been held with all the stakeholders on how to enhance the capacity of Delhi airport from 67 aircraft movements an hour to 95 movements in the next three years. Close coordination The Minister pointed out that given that Delhi has three runways this should not be difficult and will require close coordination between the various stakeholders, including the Air Traffic Controllers, airlines and others. The Delhi airport currently handles 60 million passengers a year. Sinha also announced that a flight operation committee has been set up which will meet every month to assess capacity enhancement at the Delhi airport. Dion Lewis Womens Jersey
India shows the path for cheaper solar energy: World Bank
It is better to move towards solar energy than to continue to build coal plants, World Bank President Jim Young Kim said today, citing India’s massive efforts in solar energy which has made it “cost effective” and “quite competitive”. “There’s some really good news. We’ve our IFC (International Finance Corporation), our private sector group, has been working in India and as recently as a year and a half, two years ago, the price of solar was still around 10, 11 cents per kilowatt hour. “And so coal was still much cheaper than solar. But the latest option that we’ve been involved in got that price down to 4.4 cents a kilowatt hour. So now solar is quite competitive with coal,” Kim told reporters. He said there was need to keep doing that as the options around the world, even in emerging markets, have gone down below three cents a kilowatt hour at which point it “becomes cost effective”. “The incentives are clear that moving towards solar is better than continuing with the building of coal plants. So we need to find ways of accelerating that process. We hope to come out of these spring meetings with a platform like that in place,” Kim told reporters at the news conference held at the start of the annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. He said climate change issue continued to be a priority for the Bank. “We are thinking about how we can bring together the private sector, the public sector, philanthropists, environmental organisations, governments, to try to really create momentum around financing for climate change,” he said. On coal, he identified six countries – China, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam which are putting most of the coal-based carbon in the air. “So if we can change the incentives, and change the way that financing for energy works in those six countries, we could potentially have a huge impact on how much carbon we put in the air,” Kim said. “We call this our following the carbon initiative in that we have to make progress in these six countries of moving them much more quickly to renewable source. All right, so now the good news is that renewable source are getting cheaper,” he said referring to the low price of solar. “I’m told that storage technology is getting better very quickly, and that within a few years, we may have some major transformations in the ability to store energy from intermittent sources. So, with all that happening, we think that a major issue is going to be cost to finance, the cost of capital,” Kim said. However, he rued that a grant of hundred billion was promised, but is not coming. “I mean the Green Climate Fund is still right around 7.5 billion after two or three years. The estimation was that there would be many more billions of dollars than that. So we’re using this meeting to bring all of the leaders together to come up with a new plan,” he said. Kim said the bank was going to put on the table a different kind of platform where all the different groups that are trying to have an impact on climate can work together to put the financing tools together. “The bottom line is this, that the science of climate change didn’t change with any particular election. And I don’t see that it will,” he asserted. Peja Stojakovic Jersey
Clear dues forthwith or supply will be shut off, NTPC warns Tangedco
Power giant NTPC has issued notices to Tangedco as well as discoms in Karnataka and Telangana for not paying dues of 1,379.77 crore. Power generated by three units of 500MW each by NTPC-Tangedco joint venture NTPC TN Energy Company at Vallur has provided power to these discoms but since November last year the companies have not paid dues to NTPC. Tangedco has the highest due of 1,156.05 crore. The joint venture company has warned that supply would be cut if the money is not paid forthwith. “As per terms of the power purchase agreement (PPA), payments for energy bills are to be made by the due date. However, Tangedco has not been making the payments as agreed,” said NTECL chief executive officer M Siva Rama Krishnan in a notice addressed to Tangedco on Tuesday. The company has threatened to shut off power to Tangedco from April 26 if the dues are not settled. Similarly, the joint venture company sent notices to the Hubli Electricity Supply Company, the Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company and Transmission Corporation of Telangana. The two discoms of Karnataka owe 89.57 crore and Telangana 134.15 crore. Nearly 70% of the power generated by the three units is being purchased by Tangedco at 5.51 per unit. “We have a 60-day credit facility with NTECL. Around 400 crore is overdue. We will clear the amount at the earliest. We have also invested 250 crore in the equity of the joint venture company,” a senior Tangedco official told TOI. The Tamil Nadu discom has stopped purchase of power from NTECL as the cost of power is pretty high. It is also upset that unlike other power companies, NTECL does not offer any discount in the per unit price of power. Enos Slaughter Authentic Jersey
ConocoPhillips says keen to tap proposed trans-Australia gas pipe
ConocoPhillips will consider diverting natural gas from fields in northern Australia along a proposed transcontinental pipeline that would link directly to markets in the southeast, a senior executive told Reuters on Thursday. The U.S. oil major is also leaning towards developing the Barossa gas field offshore northern Australia, with a final decision due in early 2019, Kayleen Ewin, the company’s vice president for sustainability, communications and external affairs, said in an interview. Ewin said the proposed transcontinental pipe would open Australia’s domestic market for northern producers. The system would carry natural gas from the Northern Territory to Moomba in South Australia, the hub for gas to the country’s main southeastern markets. Australia’s government said last month it would study and possibly contribute to building the pipeline. That offers another opportunity for developing gas resources in a region where Royal Dutch Shell, Malaysia’s Petronas, Italy’s ENI SpA, and Australia’s Santos and Origin Energy have undeveloped interests. “Really our only route to market at the moment is LNG (liquefied natural gas) for northern Australia gas, and we always welcome anything that opens up another route to market,” Ewin said. “We’d definitely look into it … southeast Australia for LNG has historically been and will be in future a big market for us. Proximity to market just means there is a cost advantage in terms of competing.” A looming gas shortage for Australia’s populous east has seen prices spike and the government search for solutions, including calling a crisis meeting this week with producers, some of whom have drawn gas from the domestic market to meet export contracts. Another pipeline linking central Australia with the east is delayed. ConocoPhillips announced on Wednesday it is also considering adding a second production unit, or train, at its Darwin LNG plant and possibly processing gas from rivals’ undeveloped fields. ConocoPhilips is also in the final stages of picking a new gas field to fill the plant’s existing train, when supply from its current gas source, the Bayu-Undan field, runs out around 2022. “Barossa looks to be the lowest cost development,” Ewin said, adding its proximity and the ease of extraction means the company is leaning toward preferring it over the larger Poseidon field. The project is expected to cost up to A$10 billion ($7.5 billion). The company had said in February a final decision was due late in 2018 at the earliest. T. J. Logan Jersey