BS Bhullar appointed new aviation chief
B S Bhullar, additional secretary in the Union aviation ministry was on Monday appointed Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). A 1986 batch IAS officer of UP cadre, Bhullar had been holding additional charge as DGCA chief since July when the previous regulator M Sathiavathy was appointed secretary in the Central government. Bhullar’s appointment was cleared by the appointments committee of the Cabinet which is headed by Prime Minister Modi. Bhullar’s elevation as DGCA chief ends the uncertainty which had gripped the aviation regulator as it awaited a full time chief. Last year, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had expressed serious concern at the lack of continuity for the position of India’s chief aviation safety regulator. Bhullar is the seventh IAS officer to become DG in past eight years. “There is a wooden board with the names of all DGs in the director-general’s office. The FAA team saw that (when it came visitng early last year) and commented at the lack of continuity,” said a source. Kurt Warner Womens Jersey
Rs 60 cr profit at ‘Ghost’ Juhu airport
The Juhu Aerodrome, which handles 100 helicopters and is the busiest heliport in India has reported a Rs 60.08 crore profit to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) kitty, making it the third most profitable airport for the government in the country, despite a host of critical requirements that will enable to make it safer for flying having remained in the cold storage.At the same time, it is listed as a ghost airport.Operators working out of Juhu are surprised at it being mentioned in the list of ghost airports. “It is shocking to note this. On the one hand, the airport is contributing to profits. On the other, the authorities have deliberately and falsely stated that all obstacles in the approach surface are temporary in nature,” Mallaya Channam, former deputy general manager – Western Region, Mumbai Air Traffic Control (ATC) said. While Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathy Raju said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Friday that airports incurred losses due to low revenue generation and that AAI has drawn up a master plan for development and increase in non-aeronautical revenues at airports across India, for Juhu all plans have only remained on paper and it finds a mention in the list of ghost airports tabled in parliament. Sources revealed that in the past three years, authorities at Juhu refused permissions to 40 aircrafts citing a space crunch, even as major li censing issues remain. After the Juhu’s aerodrome licence expired in February, the renewal process dragged on because the aviation regulator was unsatisfied with certain parameters related to safety. When the license was renewed in early June, the DGCA called for compliance reports to be submitted within a specified timeframe and this is yet to be adhered to. Jacob Markstrom Jersey
Delay in renewing DGCA licence hits flying courses
While the trainees of Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology struggle to obtain pilot licence, the institute struggles to receive flying training licence from directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA). A trainee of the institute has to pass flying tests and written examination conducted by DGCA along with minimum 40 hours of flying experience to obtain a private flight license (PPL) and a minimum of 200 hours for commercial flight licence (CFL). The institute conducts PPL course with one year duration and PPL and CPL courses combined for three years. The students of PPL and CPL course from the batch of 2013 are yet to complete the required flying hours for the license. Jerome Murphy Jersey
Sudan holds up licence extension for ONGC’s overseas arm
Sudan is holding up extending ONGC Videsh’s licence over an oil field as the government seeks higher royalties, tax and profit petroleum even as it delays paying nearly $300 million in oil dues. The licence for Block 2B expired last week and an automatic 5-year extension is available, but Sudan, whose revenues have been hit with a drop in oil prices, wants higher taxes and royalties before it agrees to the same, officials said. OVL, the overseas arm of the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), in 2003 had bought a 25 per cent stake in Greater Nile Oil Project (GNOP) comprising Block 1, 2 and 4 in the undivided Sudan. It lies in the prolific Muglad basin, about 780 kilometres in the South-West of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. The project produces about 50,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd). Upon secession of South Sudan from Sudan in July 2011, the contract areas of blocks 1, 2 and 4, spread over both areas, were split with a major share of production and reserves now situated in South Sudan. Blocks 2A, 2B and 4N are in Sudan, and blocks 1A, 1B as well as 4S are in South Sudan. Block 2B produces 50,000 bpd of oil, while Block 4 is in the exploration phase. The official said OVL and its partners China National Petroleum Company (40 per cent stake), Petronas of Malaysia (30 per cent) and Sudapet (5 per cent) want a 5-15 year extension, but Sudan is yet to agree. Sudan has not paid OVL for the oil from GNOP it consumed. Post-secession, as the Sudanese government’s share of total production in Sudan was not sufficient to meet requirements of local refineries, foreign firms were asked to sell their share of crude oil to it. However, the payment of dues on account of crude oil purchased by the Sudanese government has not been received, he said, adding that OVL’s share of the outstanding dues is about $300 million. The crude oil produced from oil field of GNOP is transported through a 1,504-km pipeline to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. OVL, along with state-owned Oil India, had constructed and financed a 741-km multi-product pipeline from Khartoum refinery to Port Sudan for $194 million. OVL’s share of the project cost was 90 per cent. The pipeline was handed over to the Sudanese government in October 2005. A lump sum price together with lease rent was to be given to OVL in 18 equal half-yearly instalments, effective December 2005. While the payment of 11 half-yearly instalments due till December 2010 was received from the government, the remaining seven instalments due from June 30, 2011 to June 30, 2014, are yet to be released. OVL, whose share of investment in the project was $158.01 million, has been following up for realisation of $98.94 million from the Sudanese government at various levels, he added. E. J. Manuel Jersey
Petronet plans retail foray; to set up LNG fuel outlets
Petronet LNG Ltd, the nation’s largest importer of liquid gas, is set to foray into retail sales of liquefied natural gas (LNG) through fuel outlets across the country. The company is already in talks with oil marketing companies (OMCs) like Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) to use their retail outlets to sell LNG atleast at 1000 retail outlets across the country within the next three years. This may include sharing of the facilities by OMCs through installing LNG dispensers and also running outlets operated by Petronet. “We are in talks with all the oil marketing companies regarding the use of its retail outlets. Our aim is to have at least 150,000 LNG trucks, which would turn out to be about 0.5-1.5 million tons of LNG in terms of quantity,” Prabhat Singh, chief executive officer and managing director of Petronet LNG told Business Standard on the side-lines of Petrotech 2016. This comes at a time when India launched its first LNG-driven bus in Kerala last month. Petronet’s retail foray plan works in tandem with Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s roadmap to shift towards cleaner fuel for vehicles. Petronet is also in talks with auto companies like Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland to introduce buses running on LNG. For its retail foray, the only hurdle before the company is a clearance that it has to get from the petroleum ministry to sell fuel through outlets. Singh added that at least 200,000 trucks that join India’s fleet every year could run on LNG, as it would bring nearly 30-40 per cent price advantage compared to other fuels. According to the Paris Agreement to undertake intended nationally determined contributions’ (INDCs), India had committed to reduce its carbon emissions by 33-35 per cent by 2030. “Shifting to these many LNG vehicles can help India meet at least 2.5 per cent of this commitment,” he added. India’s target is to raise the use of gas in its energy mix to 15 per cent in three to four years from 6.5 per cent now, to curb emissions and cut its dependence on imported oil. According to Petronet, out of the total 78 million tons of diesel that the country consumes every year, the share of trucks and busses comes to around 28 MT and hence a shift to cleaner gas fuel may turn advantageous for the environment. India is planning to increase its LNG import from 21.3 million tons per annum (MTPA) to about 50 MTPA by 2022. As a step towards going more greener, India is also building three more LNG terminals its east coast, The three new terminals will be located at Ennore, Kakinada and Dhamra ports on the east coast. Olli Maatta Authentic Jersey
India expects to build three more LNG terminals on east coast
India expects to build three more liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals on its east coast, a senior oil ministry official said on Tuesday, as the country tries to increase consumption of the cleaner-burning fuel. A.P. Sawhney said the three new terminals will be located at Ennore, Kakinada and Dhamra ports on the east coast. Sawhney was speaking at the Petrotech energy conference in New Delhi. The country was also looking at reviving stranded gas-based power generation capacity, Sawhney said. Dylan Bundy Womens Jersey
India targets $100-billion worth investments in gas infrastructure by 2022
India is targeting $100 billion worth investments in natural gas sector by 2022. This includes investments in gas infrastructure including an addition of another 228 cities to city gas distribution (CGD) network. Addressing Petrotech 2016, A P Sawhney, additional secretary to the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, said, “India requires at least $136 billion investments in the gas sector by 2025 and the country is aggressively targeting at least $100 billion by 2022. This includes setting up of RLNG terminals, pipeline projects, completion of the gas grid and setting up of CGD network in more cities.” Till now, the petroleum regulator has conducted several bidding rounds for, where 28 Geographic Areas (GA) have been put forward for implementation of CGD. With the addition of 228 more cities, the demand for natural gas is expected to zoom by 80 mmscmd. Natural gas makes up for 6 per cent of the primary energy basket in India as against a global average of more than 24 per cent. In the next five years, an additional 34 million tons per annum of LNG import terminal capacity are added and pipeline capacity will also increase to 30,000 km. “About 15000 kilometre is already in the national gas grid and we have initiated works another 14500 km that has got clearances. The recent initiative of Pradhan Mantri Urjja Ganga Yojana is a big initiative towards achieving this goal,” he said. In the last two years, since Dharmendra Pradhan took charge as the petroleum minister, 35 new cities have been approved for having CGD networks. The government’s plans are to connect 10 million households to PNG (piped natural gas) network in the next three years. When asked about achieving the target of the remaining 228 cities under the radar, Sawhney said, “PNGRB will have to come up with bids for that and for this, we needs our pipeline network in place by then.” Jim Plunkett Womens Jersey
Natural Gas, LNG should be part of GST: Qatar’s RasGas
At a time when the GST Council is yet to reach consensus on the contentious issue of dual control, a global oil and gas giant Qatar-based RasGas has questioned the government’s logic of excluding liquefied natural gas(LNG) and natural gas from the purview of the goods and Service Tax (GST). Addressing Petrotech 2016, Hamad Mubarak Al Muhanndi, the chief executive officer of RasGas said, “Introduction of GST in India must be applauded, but we must ask why LNG and natural gas are excluded from the GST while some fuels like LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) and naphtha are included.” RasGas is one of the largest LNG suppliers to India and is a supplier to Petronet LNGLtd’s Dahej terminal. While products like kerosene, naphtha and LPG will be under the ambit of GST, products like crude oil, natural gas, aviation fuel, diesel and petrol have been excluded. This may lead to a dual tax regime for petroleum sector making compliance difficult for the companies and may also increase costs for oil companies. “The government has to understand that petrol, diesel and LPG are the business to consumer (B2C) products, while natural gas is a business-to-business (B2B) product. If it gets included, it will make sure supply bottlenecks are minimised. I hope the GST council will rectify this and add natural gas too,” said Gokul Chaudhri, Leader, Direct Tax, BMR & Associates LLP, focussing on oil and gas energy. The government is planning to implement GST from April 1, 2017. However, it has to roll out GST before September 2017 as the existing indirect taxes regime will come to an end by then. The next meeting of the Council is set to be held on December 11 and 12. The GST council will have to formalise the model GST, Integrated GST (IGST) and compensation laws. GST has four supporting bills, which includes central GST (CGST), state GST (SGST), compensation for revenue losses to states and integrated GST (IGST). Other than SGST, the other three bills need Parliament nod. Meanwhile, Muhanndi added that India is ill-equipped to transform itself into a gas-based economy due to lack of proper infrastructure. Muhannadi added that India needs more LNG terminals to unlock demand and the country is set to become the world’s second-largest spot and long-term LNG buyer this year. Jalen Ramsey Authentic Jersey
India gas demand growth stymied by slow infrastructure development
India, the world’s third-biggest energy consumer, is striving to grow its natural gas use and shift away from oil and coal for power and industry, but its lack of gas import infrastructure is stymieing faster adoption of the cleaner-burning fuel. And while India is the world’s fourth-biggest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) – behind Japan, South Korea and China – and is seen as a market on the rise, growth in consumption of the fuel is still far outpaced by oil and coal. In a presentation to the Petrotech conference in New Delhi, consultancy firm KPMG said that the lagging development of natural gas infrastructure has helped to cut its portion of India’s energy basket in half from a high of 12 percent five years ago. “India is a compelling market … (but) continues to lack infrastructure to support a gas-based economy,” Hamad Mubarak Al Muhannadi, chief executive of Qatar’s RasGas, told delegates at the conference on Tuesday. “Coal and liquid fuels continue to meet the majority of India’s energy needs.” India’s LNG imports from RasGas represent around 10 percent of the Middle Eastern nation’s overall annual output. RasGas has a big presence in India through its 25-year contract with top importer of the fuel, Petronet LNG, and provides more than 50 percent of the country’s LNG shipments. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the conference on Monday, called natural gas the “next-generation fossil fuel, cheaper and less polluting.” But he acknowledged the need to improve India’s gas import infrastructure to meet demand. Modi said his government planned to extend piped gas to 10 million houses over the next five years; double the length of the national pipeline network to 30,000 km; and build a new gas line to the underdeveloped eastern region. India’s oil ministry is planning to invest up to $15 billion in developing pipelines and setting up LNG terminals over the next five years, a senior government official told Reuters on Tuesday. State-owned consultancy Engineers India Ltd has also signed an agreement with Gazprom to study the construction of a gas pipeline to India from Russia, the Indian government said in a statement in October. “It’s important that the exuberance of foreign companies is met with infrastructure to be able to absorb that supply,” the government official told Reuters, declining to be named. A Gazprom executive told Reuters his company wanted to be “as big as RasGas in India” given the country’s market size and its fast-growing economy. It already has a long-term supply agreement with state-controlled GAIL India Ltd. “India is a great market, it is a growth market. We would like to have a good share,” said Frederic Barnaud, chief commercial officer of marketing and trading for Gazprom. India renegotiated a long-term LNG supply deal with RasGas last year, nearly halving the price and avoiding a $1.5 billion penalty fee for lifting less gas than agreed as customers there preferred cheaper spot supplies. Kam Chancellor Authentic Jersey
India expects to build three more LNG terminals on east coast
India expects to build three more liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals on its east coast, a senior oil ministry official said on Tuesday, as the country tries to increase consumption of the cleaner-burning fuel. A.P. Sawhney said the three new terminals will be located at Ennore, Kakinada and Dhamra ports on the east coast. Sawhney was speaking at the Petrotech energy conference in New Delhi. The country was also looking at reviving stranded gas-based power generation capacity, Sawhney said. Brent Qvale Authentic Jersey