ONGC’s KG basin gas field all set to touch peak in July
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp expects to scale peak output of about 5 million standard cubic meters per day from its Vashishta gas field in KG basin by July this year. Vashishta and S1 gas fields, located in the Krishna- Godavari (KG) Offshore Basin off the east coast of India, began operations in September last year. “We are producing 1.1 million standard cubic meters per day from the fields currently and hope to reach about 5 mmscmd by July,” a senior company official said. The fields were developed under a greenfield deepwater development project at an investment of $751.65 million. The Vashishta field is estimated to produce 9.56 billion cubic metres (bcm) over a period of nine years with peak production reaching 3.55 million metric standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd) during the first five years. The S1 field is expected to deliver 6.22 bcm over a period of eight years with a peak production of 2.2 mmscmd for the first five years. As part of the Vashishta and S1 field development, ONGC is drilling four wells and shipping the gas from them through a sub-sea pipeline to an onshore terminal at Odalarevu in Andhra Pradesh, he said. The Vashishta field lies in water depths varying between 500 meters and 700 meters and about between 31-35 km from the Amalapuram coast. The S1 field is located in water depths of between 250 meters and 600 meters, and approximately between 26k-29 km from the Amalapuram coast. While the Vashishta field is a free gas field with estimated reserves of 12.92 bcm, the S1 field lies to the east of G-1 field and is a free gas field with estimated reserves of 10.37 bcm. The official said Vashishta is the first field in the country to get the premium price of gas. In March last year, the government had allowed higher price for new gas production from difficulties areas like deep sea, ultra deepwater and high pressure, high temperature areas. When ONGC started production the premium price was $6.61 per million British thermal unit as against a cap price of $3.06 per mmBut for regular fields. “We got $6.61 per mmBtu for about a month,” he said. The premium price for period between October 2016 and March 2017 was cut to $5.3 per mmBtu based on benchmark rates in gas surplus economies. The rate for regular gas price also declined to $2.50 per mmBtu. The official said the gas was sold to state gas utility GAIL. “We have pricing and marketing freedom and we will auction the incremental production. Whosoever pays us the best price, subject to the government prescribed ceiling, will get the gas,” he added. Govt lets Cairn India drill 64 KG Basin exploratory, appraisal wells A committee under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has given a green signal to Cairn India for undertaking drilling works of 64 exploratory and appraisal wells in KG-OSN-2009/3 block in KG basin at Prakasam and Guntur districts of Andhra Pradesh. The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) while according to environmental clearance set a few conditions along with other specific and general environmental conditions relevant to the project proposal. After examining the facts and detailed deliberations the committee decided to recommend the proposal for grant of environmental clearance subject to compliance of following conditions along with other specific and general environmental conditions relevant to the project proposal, the EAC said in the minutes of the meeting held recently. Cairn India Limited has proposed for drilling of 55 exploratory and 11 appraisal wells in KG-OSN-2009/3 block in Offshore KG Basin. The offshore block in the Bay of Bengal along the coast of Andhra Pradesh is spread over an area of about 1988 km. The block covers partly the offshore areas of Prakasam and Guntur districts. Cairn India had earlier said it declared force majeure of two of its oil and gas blocks including KG-OSN-2009/3 due to the objections raised by the Ministry of Defence for taking up exploratory works. However, the company, in 2014, got necessary clearance from the Ministries concerned. The block was awarded to Cairn India on 30 June 2010 as part of the NELP-VIII round for exploration of hydrocarbons and production. The company has 100 per cent stake in the Block, according to the last year s annual report. Exploratory/Appraisal drilling is carried out in the identified sub-surface structures to find out if there is presence of hydrocarbons in commercially exploitable quantities, an expert in oil and gas filed said. Denver Broncos Jersey
Govt offers rebate for off-campus solar panels
For hotels and industries that have been violating the solar norms claiming installation of rooftop solar power systems is next to impossible in already-built buildings, the state government has come up with an alternative. These industries can now take on lease inexpensive land anywhere in the state and install ground-mounted solar power systems. And the power generated will be supplied to the power grid of the discom. Officials of the renewable energy department said on Tuesday the option is available only to commercial customers for now. “A hotel chain in Gurgaon has already set up a ground-mounted solar power system in a rural area. The power generated will be supplied to the grid directly,” Ankur Gupta, additional chief secretary of the department, told TOI. The discom will calculate the price for the power supplied to the grid vis-a-vis the consumption by the hotel, if it opts for net metering. Gupta said the department is also in talks with Faridabad Industrial Association for a similar project, where a group of industries will set up solar plants in rural areas where land is inexpensive. The new solar power policy 2016 mandates every new residential building more than 500 sq yards to have a photovoltaic solar power panel. The same policy also mandates all private hospitals and nursing homes, industrial establishments, commercial establishments, malls, hotels, banquets and tourism complexes with connected load of more than 50 KW to install solar power panels. Additionally, all private educational institutes, schools, colleges, hostels and universities with a connected load of 30 KW and above will also have to install the photovoltaic solar power panels, along with all government buildings, offices, colleges and universities under the policy. But TOI had earlier reported ambiguity over the policy has affected its implementation and nullified the impact. The lack of implementation is due to the delay in drafting of compliance provisions by departments concerned (Huda, HSIIDC, urban local bodies and DTCP) specifying procedure, penal action and amount of penalty for non-compliance. Darian Thompson Jersey
Centre agrees to supply LNG to households in Yanam: Pondy CM
Chief Minister V Narayanasamy today said the Centre has acceded to the Puducherry government’s plea to supply cooking gas to every household through pipelines in Yanam region, an enclave of Puducherry in Andhra Pradesh. The announcement was made at the inauguration of the month-long ‘Oil and Gas conservation mass awareness programme’ organised by Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) here today. Narayanasamy said the natural gas available in the Godavari basin off the coast of Kakinada would be used for supply of Liquefied natural gas (LNG) to every house hold in Yanam region. “Necessary work to get infrastructures in place would begin soon,” he said adding supply of LNG through pipelines was also being contemplated for Karaikal and Puducherry regions. A terminal would come up in Karaikal as per the assurance given by the Ministry for Petroleum and Natural gas. Narayansamy also noted that the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) had under its corporate social responsibility programme installed a dialysis equipment in the Indira Gandhi Government Medical college hospital here. The territorial government had also decided to show considerable concessions in the sales tax for sale of the fuel by the IOC for the flights that would be operating soon from Puducherry airport, he said. Welfare Minister M Kandasamy and Parliamentary Secretary to Chief Minister K Lakshminarayanan were among those who spoke. Students from various institutions took a pledge to conserve energy. Mark Gastineau Womens Jersey
RIL writes down $6 billion for New Accounting Standards
Reliance Industries (RIL) has written down almost $6 billion (Rs 39,570 crore) of investments in its Krishna Godavari Basin D6 block and US shale gas assets attributing it to change in accounting policy. In the past, the billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led company had to write down investments in the KGD6 block on account of steep declines in output and also in its shale gas assets in the US as prices plummeted. But the write-down reported by the company is believed to be significantly higher in the December quarter due to its transition from Indian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (IGAAP) to Indian Accounting Standards (Ind-AS). RIL said that while IGAAP recognises two methods of accounting for oil and gas activities, namely, full cost method and successful efforts method, the new method under Ind-AS only recognises the successful efforts method which resulted in the huge write-down. “RIL and its subsidiaries have adopted Ind-AS with effect from April 1, 2016 pursuant to the notification issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The impact of Rs 39,570 crore is entirely on account of change in accounting policy from full cost method to successful efforts method (SEM),” an RIL spokesperson said in response to an ET query . The write-down constitutes Rs 20,114 crore on domestic oil and gas assets, mainly the KG-D6 fields. “Major differences impacting such change are in the areas of expenditure on surrendered blocks, unproved wells, abandoned wells and expired leases and licences and seismic cost which has been expensed under SEM; and depletion on producing property is calculated using Rs Proved Developed Reserve, as against Rs Proved Reserve’ in full cost method,“ the company explained. RIL’s upstream business has been a drag on the company as it remains a “low volume-low price“ business. The company’s flagging KG-D6 field produced 0.26 barrels of crude oil and 24.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas in the third quarter of FY17, a reduction of almost 30% year-on-year. Its shale gas production in the US also declined 9% sequentially. Realisations, though, witnessed some improvement. In a result review report, JM Financials said, “We roll forward to December 2017 to arrive at a target price of Rs 1,155 as we believe long-term investments into upgrading the refining complex and increasing the petrochemicals capacity based on refinery flue gases are long-term positives; while in the near-term the stock performance will depend on news flow on telecom.“ RIL’s consolidated net profit rose 3.6% to Rs 7,506 crore in the December quarter driven by petrochemicals business. Its consolidated turnover grew 16% to Rs 84,189 crore, aided by a growth in other income that rose due to profit from the sale of investments in fixed asset instruments. Emmanuel Sanders Womens Jersey
India, China to fuel demand for natural resources, says Saudi energy minister
India is set to play a bigger role in shaping the energy policies of the Middle East due to its growing hunger for oil. Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih, during the 2017 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week being held at Abu Dhabi in UAE, said fossil fuels cannot be just wished away since rising car ownership in India and China will fuel the demand for natural resources. Although al-Falih, who is also the chairman of Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s petroleum and natural gas giant, pledged $30-50 billion investment by Saudi Arabia in renewable energy by 2023, he appeared bullish on oil and gas. “We are going to need clean oil and gas for generations to come,” he said. “We have seen bio fuels create more pollution than fossil fuel. Poor people using bio fuels are more likely to pollute than people who have access to clean oil and gas.” Passenger car ownership in India is estimated to grow by 775% over the next 24 years, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Phil Dawson Womens Jersey
Watsa’s Bangalore International Airport investment plan gets government nod
The government has given the long-awaited security clearance to billionaire Prem Watsa’s proposed investment in the GVK-led Bangalore International Airport (BIAL). A GVK spokesman confirmed the development and said this will pave the way for the deal “to be concluded very soon”. Sources said the security clearance had been recommended by the Ministry of Home Affairs several months earlier. The Ministry of Civil Aviation however had kept some approvals pending and sought several clarifications from both parties as well as from the Karnataka state government. Indian-born Watsa’s Toronto-based Fairfax Group had in March last year, announced its decision to buy a 33% stake in BIAL from GVK Group for Rs 2,149 crore, valuing the eight-year-old airport at about Rs 6,500 crore. A month later, Fairfax signed another deal to buy 5% stake held by Flughafen Zurich AG in BIAL. GVK had said the sale was one of its fund-raising steps to reduce debt. The conglomerate has total debt of over Rs 22,000 crore on its books. The Bangalore airport is Fairfax Group’s largest investment in the country since it opened an India-dedicated investment company in 2014. It is also the company biggest bet on India’s infrastructure sector. Post the deal, Fairfax will hold 38% of BIAL, followed by Siemens Project Ventures with 26% while the governments of India and Karnataka will each own 13%. GVK will hold the remaining 10%. When contacted, BIAL managing director Sanjay Reddy told ET that GVK will “continue to be responsible for the management of the company and also operate the airport. The MD and CEO will be from GVK,” Separately, a person close to the development said that Fairfax may nominate Watsa himself, Harsha Raghavan, CEO of its affiliateFairbridge Capital and Deepak Parekh, chairman of HDFC and an independent director at Fairfax as board representatives in BIAL. The rest of the board composition is yet to be decided. According to its latest annual report, BIAL’s board as of end FY16 had former Air India chief and chief-secretary Karnataka governmentArvind Jadhav as chairman, GVK Reddy as co-chairman, Sanjay Reddy as managing director, GVK CFO Issac George, GVK board member Krishna Ram Bhupal, Airports Authority of India’s Sudhir Raheja, Venkatramana Hedge from the aviation ministry, IAS officers Vandita Sharma and Arvind Shrivastava, DR Kaarthikeyan, as well as Basil Justin Wetters, Johannes Schmidt, Pramod Bhambani and Daniel Schmucki from Siemens. S Balasubramanian and A Meher Prasad were independent directors. A few months earlier, Subhash Chandra Khuntia, the new chief secretary of the Karnataka government took over as chairman, BIAL. Bangalore airport handled more than 20 million passengers last year. It now has a built capacity to cater to 20 million passengers annually but upon completion of its expansion plans the number can go up to 50 million. Michael Irvin Authentic Jersey
Budget 2017: Ministry seeks cut in excise duty on jet fuel
The civil aviation ministry, as part of its Budget recommendations, has sought a reduction in excise duty on aviation turbine fuel (ATF), or jet fuel, to 8% from 14%, by rolling back an increase made last year. The government had raised the duty to compensate for its tax loss, as global crude oil prices fell to below $30 a barrel. Crude oil prices have doubled now. “Excise duty was raised when crude prices were low. Now they are inching up and the government can easily cut excise duty, which will also help shield airlines from a hike in jet fuel prices,” said a government official, who did not want to be named. “The government’s revenue would also not be impacted, as any revenue impact shall be compensated by a positive realisation due to the high output multiplier,” said an industry source, pointing to the impact a healthy industry can have on the economy. Rising fuel cost is a concern for the airline industry, which has started reporting profits after a long spell of losses. A more than 20% increase in air passengers and low fuel prices were the key drivers of the improved performance. To be sure, the duty hike helped temper volatility in fuel prices — though local prices didn’t fall in line with global rates earlier, they may not rise too much either now, if the government rolls back the tax increase it made. “Any rise in price of fuel, which constitutes a large part of our cost, is a concern but we may not be impacted that much because the government was raising taxes when crude was falling. So, the full benefit of crude decline was never transferred to airlines, which can act as a shield for us,” SpiceJet Chairman Ajay Singh said at a press conference last week. The ministry is, for the first time, sending the Budget wishlist after getting it vetted by professional consultants. This decision was in line with an idea mooted by the minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha, who had called a meeting of all industry representatives to discuss Budget demands last week. Other requests include keeping ATF in the GST ambit. Fuel products aren’t included under GST and are set to attract higher taxes than those proposed under the new indirect tax system. “ATF is kept outside the GST ambit. However, globally ATF is delinked from other petroleum products and is included under the scope of GST and not considered a ‘sin’ product. Vonn Bell Authentic Jersey
No demonetisation impact; airlines flew 23.91% more passengers in December
In a clear indication of not being impacted by the government’s demonetisation move, which has seen sectors witnessing drop in demand, air passengers flown by airlines during December grew by 23.91% over same month last year, shows data released today by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The aviation sector, in terms of passenger growth, had registered a growth of 22.45% during November – PM Modi had announced a move to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8, 2016. During December, which is also traditionally a peak travel month, all national scheduled carriers flew their planes with over 80% of their seats full. The list was led by SpiceJet, which recorded load factors of 93.7% and flying its panes with over 90% seats full for 21 months in a row. IndiGo came close second by flying its plane with 91.45 full followed by GoAir with 90.7% PLF. SpiceJet also topped the chart of airlines that flew the highest number of its flights on time. The data shows that SpiceJet flew 70% of its flights on time at four airports –Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru- in the country. Jet Airways and Jet Lite came second by flying 64.3% of its flights full followed by Vistara, which flew 64.2% of its flights full. Air India was last in the list by flying 59% of its flights in time. Roquan Smith Jersey
Tata Power becomes India’s largest renewable company with 3,060 MW operating capacity
Integrated power company Tata Power Co Ltd today said the company has become the largest renewable energy company in India with its non-fossil operating capacity reaching 3,060 Megawatt. Tata Power said its non-fossil fuel portfolio comprises 693 MW hydro, 918 MW solar, 1,074 MW wind and 75 MW of waste gas-based generation. The company added that it the company has revised its share of non-fossil fuel based capacity up to 35-40 per cent by 2025. In FY16, Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Power, completed the acquisition of Welspun Renewables Energy Private Limited (WREPL) to become the largest Renewable Energy Company in India. Welspun Renewables has one of the largest operating solar portfolios in India spread across ten states. It has about 1,008 MW of Renewable Power Projects comprising of about 862 MW Solar Power Projects and about 146 MW of wind power projects. In FY16, Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Power, completed the acquisition of Welspun Renewables Energy Private Limited (WREPL) to become the largest Renewable Energy Company in India. WREPL has one of the largest operating solar portfolios in India spread across ten states. It has about 1,008 MW of Renewable Power Projects comprising of about 862 MW Solar Power Projects and about 146 MW of Wind Power Projects. “This is one of the many key milestones in our endeavor to generate 35-40 per cent of Tata Power’s total generation capacity from clean energy sources. This mammoth leap is well in line with our aim to enhance and increase our non-fossil fuel capacity, and maintaining our value of sustainable growth,” Anil Sardana, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Tata Power, said. Tata Power together with its subsidiaries and jointly controlled entities has an installed gross generation capacity of 10496 MW and a presence in all the segments of the power sector such as fuel security and logistics, generation, transmission, distribution and trading. Cameron Meredith Womens Jersey
Cairn India gets nod for drilling 64 exploratory, appraisal wells in KG-Basin
A committee under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has given a green signal to Cairn India for undertaking drilling works of 64 exploratory and appraisal wells in KG-OSN-2009/3 block in KG basin at Prakasam and Guntur districts of Andhra Pradesh. The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) while according to environmental clearance set a few conditions along with other specific and general environmental conditions relevant to the project proposal. “After examining the facts and detailed deliberations the committee decided to recommend the proposal for grant of environmental clearance subject to compliance of following conditions along with other specific and general environmental conditions relevant to the project proposal,” the EAC said in the minutes of the meeting held recently. Cairn India Limited has proposed for drilling of 55 exploratory and 11 appraisal wells in KG-OSN-2009/3 block in Offshore KG Basin. The offshore block in the Bay of Bengal along the coast of Andhra Pradesh is spread over an area of about 1988 km. The block covers partly the offshore areas of Prakasam and Guntur districts. Cairn India had earlier said it declared force majeure of two of its oil and gas blocks including KG-OSN-2009/3 due to the objections raised by the Ministry of Defence for taking up exploratory works. However, the company, in 2014, got necessary clearance from the Ministries concerned. The block was awarded to Cairn India on 30 June 2010 as part of the NELP-VIII round for exploration of hydrocarbons and production. The company has 100 per cent stake in the Block, according to the last year’s annual report. Exploratory/Appraisal drilling is carried out in the identified sub-surface structures to find out if there is presence of hydrocarbons in commercially exploitable quantities, an expert in oil and gas filed said. Cam Talbot Jersey