Toronto to produce renewable natural gas from Green Bin waste
Mayor John Tory announced Tuesday that Toronto will start producing renewable gas (RNG) from Green Bin organic waste and injecting it into the natural gas grid in the coming weeks. A biogas upgrading facility set up in collaboration with Enbridge Gas Inc. at the Dufferin Solid Waste Management Services will turn Green Bin organics into RNG and inject it into the natural gas grid. It will be used to power vehicles and heat City-owned facilities. “This project represents a path to low-carbon fuel for the City and will play an important role in helping us reach our TransformTO goal of becoming net zero by 2050 or sooner,” said Mayor John Tory. “Climate action remains a top priority for Toronto, with climate change and resilience identified as one of the focuses of the City’s COVID-19 recovery and rebuild work.” The Dufferin RNG facility is expected to produce 3.3 million cubic metres of RNG each year. This will result in a fuel blend that is approximately 7 per cent RNG, according to a statement from the City. By capturing the biogas instead of flaring/burning it off, the facility will also avoid more than 9,000 tonnes of carbon being released into the atmosphere annually. Toronto will not start using the gas until the beginning of 2022, to ensure production capacity has stabilized. Until then, the gas will be stored in the grid, the statement read. Cynthia Hansen, Executive Vice President & President, Gas Distribution & Storage, Enbridge said: “RNG presents a tremendous opportunity to decarbonize our economy more affordably by leveraging existing energy infrastructure, while at the same time stimulating regional economic development. This initiative is a practical example of the many ways that natural gas, working as part of an integrated system, can collaborate in a net-zero carbon future.” Toronto has also identified potential biogas/landfill gas upgrading opportunities at several other City waste facilities including the Disco Road Solid Waste Management Facility, Green Lane Landfill and Keele Valley Landfill. All of the sites combined have the potential to produce enough gas to fuel the City’s entire natural gas needs annually (excluding City Agency, Boards and Commissions). The next facility to receive RNG infrastructure will be the Disco Road Solid Waste Management Facility, with plans to have the site up and running by the end of 2023. The project, which is said to be one of the first of its kind in North America, supports Toronto’s goal of becoming Ontario’s first city with a circular economy.
Reduce VAT on natural gas from 12.5 per cent to 3 per cent, says GCCI
Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has written to chief minister Pramod Sawant asking for value-added tax (VAT) on piped natural gas (PNG) for industrial use to be reduced from 12.5% to 3%. GCCI president Ralph De Sousa said the rate of VAT on natural gas in Goa is more than four times that levied in Maharashtra, and double the rate of other states such as Gujarat and Haryana. The sharp difference between the VAT levied in Goa and in the neighbouring states will put Goa’s industrial units at a disadvantage, said GCCI. It has also called for the inclusion of natural gas under the goods and services tax (GST) regime. On June 30, the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) said the use of petcoke and furnace oil would be discontinued from December 31. GSPCB has recommended compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) as alternatives, but unlike furnace oil and petcoke, which are taxed under the GST regime, natural gas and CNG are taxed under VAT. “The industry, particularly the manufacturing sector using PNG as a fuel, is primarily affected by this transition. Due to the inclusion under GST, the industry was able to claim the benefit of the amount of GST paid as input tax credit, and thus the GST was cost neutral,” said Sousa. Since there is no VAT credit available on PNG, it would have a cascading effect on the final cost to consumers as well as make the products less competitive against those from other states. Gujarat and Haryana charge 6% VAT on natural gas while Maharashtra levies a rate of 3% on natural gas for industrial use. “The pandemic and the slowdown in the economy have dramatically affected the cost of raw materials in the state. Moreover, the significant VAT component on PNG in Goa will severely impair competitiveness,” said the GCCI president.
Centre taking necessary steps to promote CNG services across India: Petroleum Ministry
Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli further told the Upper House that the authorised entities will set up 8,181 CNG stations across the country over a period of 8-10 years. Government is taking necessary steps to promote the usage of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) services all over India, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli told the Rajya Sabha. Teli further told the Upper House that the authorised entities will set up 8,181 CNG stations across the country over a period of 8-10 years, as per Minimum Work Program assigned by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) through competitive bidding. States like Gujarat (779), Maharashtra (488), Uttar Pradesh (485), Delhi (436), Haryana (186), Madhya Pradesh (102) and Punjab (101) have the highest number of CNG stations across India as on March 31. PNGRB is the authority that grants authorisation to concerned entities to develop City Gas Distribution network including CNG stations in geographical areas as per the PNGRB Act, 2006. PNGRB classifies geographical areas for authorising the development of CGD network in synchronisation with developing natural gas pipeline connectivity and natural gas availability. Besides this, Teli also apprised the Rajya Sabha of the steps taken by the Centre to promote use and distributorship of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Steps taken by the government include promotion of CGD network for enhanced supply of natural gas including LNG to industrial and commercial customers, pooling of gas in fertiliser (urea) sector, establishment/capacity enhancement of LNG terminals, re-gasification, promoting setting up LNG stations on national highways, golden quadrilateral, etc and amendments in Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR), Static and Mobile Pressure Vessel Rules (SMPV), LNG Vehicle type testing standards, Diesel-LNG Dual Fuel Vehicle policy, etc.
Fuel demand rebound to drive earnings of oil firms: Moody’s
Moody’s Investors Service on Wednesday said earnings for state-owned oil firms IOC, BPCL and HPCL will grow over the next 12-18 months as a gradual easing of pandemic restrictions drives a rebound in economic activity and fuel demand. While earnings stability of marketing operations will help to offset low refining margins, rising fuel demand will in turn increase refinery throughput. The combination of better demand and improving fuel cracks will also support an improvement in Asian refining margins from current levels, it said. Demand for petroleum products in India declined substantially in April and May 2020 following a nationwide lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus. This led to a drop in capacity utilisation for most refiners in the fiscal year that ended on March 31 (FY21). “However, the impact on demand for petroleum products following the second wave has been a lot more muted as the lockdowns were more regional in nature,” Moody’s said. Rebound in fuel demand and gradual recovery in refining margins will drive earnings improvement. “Earnings for the three rated refining and marketing companies in India – Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) will grow over the next 12-18 months as a gradual easing of pandemic restrictions drives a rebound in economic activity and fuel demand,” it said. Stating that earnings stability of marketing operations will help to offset low refining margins, the rating agency said this primarily because of the oligopolistic structure of the fuel retailing industry in India where IOC, BPCL and HPCL together control 90 per cent of the fuel retailing network. At the same time, all three companies are ultimately owned by the government, which ensures a stable industry environment without any severe competition. “Stable earnings from the marketing operations have helped to offset the refinery segment’s weak performance over the last 12-18 months, such that the impact on Indian refining companies’ overall earnings has been limited. “The marketing business will remain a substantial earnings contributor for the Indian companies because of their large-scale fuel retailing network and entrenched market positions,” it said. Moody’s said capital spending by the three refiners will remain high on strong demand for petroleum products and government efforts to boost investment spending to support economic growth. Meanwhile, dividends will remain similar to historical levels, in line with Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) guidelines. “Indian companies have higher profitability while their scale and credit metrics are comparable to most regional peers. “Large-scale marketing and midstream operations provide earnings diversification, which mitigates the cyclicality of the refining business and results in higher profitability for the Indian refining and marketing companies,” it said.
Assam CM meets PM Modi, requests transfer of ONGC acreages to OIL
Assam chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma met Prime minister Narendra Modi and requested transfer all the acreages of ONGC to Oil India Limited (OIL). The chief minister also discussed revitalisation of fertiliser unit in Namrup. Sarma who met Modi on Monday said, “ONGC ‘s yield is not up to the mark and we are losing on royalty. We have proposed to transfer entire acreage to OIL or a special purpose vehicle to look after ONGC in Assam.” He added, “Prime has asked me that more talks will held in this regard. As third unit of Namrup fertiliser is facing problem, consideration is made to set up nano urea unit there. Prime minister asked me meet Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya in this regard.” Sarma also met Union Home minister, Amit Shah. He said, “I have informed him National Liberation Front of Bodoland (NLFB) cadres has laid down arms and with this insurgency in Bodoland is almost over.” He said government is working on industrial plan on two closed paper mills. “We have come out with a Rs 630 Crore bailout package for employees. However, there is some issue between the employees and officers which they will resolve soon. We will see what new industry can be done at the site.” Sarma said after August 15 inter district movement will resume with odd and even formula. “If we achieve 1.5 Crore vaccination or positivity rate is below five percent we may consider starting of final year classes of post graduate, degree, higher secondary and class 10.”
Gajendra Singh joins oil regulator PNGRB
Former director for marketing in gas utility GAIL India Ltd Gajendra Singh has been appointed as a member of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), which is downstream oil regulator. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appointed Singh and GAIL Director (Finance) Anjani Kumar Tiwari as members in the PNGRB, according to an official order issued on August 7. Singh has accepted the appointment and joined PNGRB on Monday. Sources said Tiwari hasn’t joined as he is yet to be relieved from GAIL, where he is serving as Director (Finance). His term at GAIL is till November-end. According to the order, they have been appointed to the post for five years from the date of assumption of charge of the post, or till attaining the age of 65 years, or until further orders, whichever is the earlier. Singh, who has 35 years of exposure in the gas sector, retired from GAIL in June last year, and will have a tenure of almost four years. During his career, he served at different leadership positions, the last being Director (Marketing), GAIL. He was also chairman of Indraprastha Gas Ltd, MGNL, BGL and GAIL-Global Singapore and a member of the empowered gas pool committee of the government. PNGRB regulates downstream oil and gas transportation and distribution. It authorises entities for laying pipelines as well as gives out licenses to retail city gas. It comprises a chairman and four members, including one member legal. Prior to these appointments, the board had become practically defunct. Its last chairman Dinesh K Sarraf completed his 3-year term in December last year, while members retired at different times, the last being SP Garg, whose term ended last month. A government Search Committee in June selected former power secretary Sanjeev Nandan Sahai to head the Board. His appointment is under consideration of the ACC.
India should bid for long-term oil contract: Guyana
India should bid along with other companies if it wants to secure a long-term oil contract with Guyana, the country’s vice-president Bharrat Jagdeo said. Guyana concluded a successful bid by India for its last shipment of crude but “we don’t want to be doing this on the short term”, he said, adding Guyana does not want to go into a bilateral arrangement. “I am hoping that within a matter of weeks a decision would be made that will settle who sells our oil for the next, may be, a year at least, one-year contract,” Jagdeo said in a video interview transcript. Indian state-controlled refiner IOC had bought Liza crude from Guyana as part of a move to expand its purchase options. The company had chartered the Militos to take the crude cargo from Guyana to Paradip, on India’s east coast. The Suezmax is carrying 1mn bl of Liza and will reach Paradip this week, shipping data from Vortexa showed.
Union government paid Rs7.03 trillion in fuel subsidies since 2011-12
The Union government has paid Rs7.03 trillion in fuel subsidies since 2011-12, minister of state for petroleum and natural gas, Rameswar Teli said in a reply in Lok Sabha today. “The prices of petroleum products in the country are linked to the price of respective products in the international market. The Government continues to modulate the effective price to consumer for subsidised domestic LPG,” ministry of petroleum and natural gas said in a statement. Price of non-subsidised domestic cooking gas has been increased in the backdrop of the finance ministry slashing allocation for petroleum subsidy by two-thirds to ₹129.95 billion for FY22. “The Budget Estimates for F.Y. 2021-22 for LPG & Natural Gas (NG) subsidy is Rs. 129.95 billion,” the statement said. India had 287.4 million LPG consumers as on 1 January 2021, with the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, a government programme that aims to provide free cooking gas connections to poor families, increasing India’s LPG coverage to 99.5% on 1 January this year from 61.9 % as on 1 April 2016. “The prices of non-subsidized Domestic LPG are however determined by the OMCs in line with changes in the international markets. The subsidy on the product increases/decreases with the increase/decrease in the product price in international market and decision of Government on subsidy,” the statement added.
Final phase of Ennore LNG pipeline to be completed by Feb 2022
IndianOil has said it will complete the final phase of Ennore LNG pipeline by February, 2022 which will link Ennore and Ramnad. The 1,444 km long LNG pipeline, which is being laid by the pipelines division of IndianOil Corporation, has completed about 85% of the work, said executive director and state head of Indian Oil, P Jayadevan. “We have completed the construction and commissioned the gas supply through the main trunk (i.e) gas pipeline from Ennore to Manali currently, and will soon complete the third and final phase by February, 2022,” he added. The LNG Pipeline commencing from this terminal in Ennore would run alongside the existing Chennai, Trichy, Madurai pipeline for liquid fuels and touch all these major cities. From Madurai it would be linked to the Ramnad – Tuticorin section of the pipeline which has already been commissioned and is operational from February this year. The main Pipeline would be connected through branch lines and spur lines to all the major commercial and industrial clusters in Kanchipuram, Asanur, Puducherry, Sriperumbudur, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam. The pipeline would also have a separate loop line passing through Tiruvallur to Bengaluru. Along its route the LNG line would cover three states and 21 districts.
Cairn tax case: Parliament passes bill to bury ghost of retrospective taxation
Parliament on Monday cleared a bill to burry the ghost of retrospective taxation which had created “discontent” among foreign investors even as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured the Rajya Sabha that the legislation does not dilute the sovereign right of India to levy taxes. The Rajya Sabha returned The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 after a brief discussion. Opposition parties, Congress, DMK and TMC had walked out of the House to protest against listing of the bill in the supplementary business circulated just hours before the House took it up. The amendment bill, passed by the Lok Sabha last week, will enable the government to withdraw all tax demands made on companies like Cairn Energy and Vodafone using a 2012 legislation on indirect transfer of Indian assets prior to May 28, 2012. The 2012 legislation, commonly referred to as the retrospective tax law, was enacted after the Supreme Court in January that year rejected proceedings brought by tax authorities against Vodafone International Holdings BV for its failure to deduct withholding tax from USD 11.1 billion paid to Hutchison Telecommunications in 2007 for buying out its 67 per cent stake in a wholly-owned Cayman Island incorporated subsidiary that indirectly held interests in Vodafone India Ltd. The Finance Act 2012, which amended various provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961 with retrospective effect, contained provisions intended to tax any gain on transfer of shares in a non-Indian company, which derives substantial value from underlying Indian assets, such as Vodafone’s transaction with Hutchison in 2007 or the internal reorganisation of the India business that Cairn Energy did in 2006-07 before listing it on local bourses. Using that law, tax authorities in January 2013 slapped Vodafone with a tax demand of Rs 14,200 crore, including principal tax of Rs 7,990 crore and interest. This was in February 2016 updated to Rs 22,100 crore plus interest. Replying on the debate, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “This (bill) is appealing enough and putting an end to this ghost which we have been carrying all these while from 2012.” She stressed that the government has a right to tax, “but to apply it in retrospective has created a lot of discontentment”. “I seek support of the House to make India look very clear, transparent and fair taxation land. …this whole thing about retrospective amendment bill, which was brought in, since then we were bearing the negativity of this all over the world.” The minister also told the House the bill provides for no payment of interest on refunds made under this and the parties seeking relief would not pursue further appeals or litigation in these cases. Seeking support of the House for the legislation, Sitharaman assured the Rajya Sabha: “We continue to have the sovereign right intact. That is not getting diluted. This is just a right decision which had to be taken years ago”. The minsiter said the government waited for the decision of arbitrations before bringing in the amendment. She further stressed that any correction in retrospective taxation “should be through Indian laws and not through any of the court outside”. While introducing the bill in the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman also took a jibe on the Congress party saying it takes different positions in Parliament and outside on the same issue. While there was no substantial amount involved in the Vodafone case, in the case of Cairn Energy, the tribunal had asked the Indian government to return the value of the shares it had seized and sold, tax refund withheld and dividend confiscated to enforce the retrospective tax demand. With the government refusing to honour the award, Cairn Energy Plc moved a court in the US to seize assets of Air India. It got an order from a French court to freeze 20 Indian properties in Paris to recover USD 1.2 billion-plus interest and penalties. The move clubbed India with nations such as Pakistan and Venezuela that have faced similar actions by entities seeking enforcement of awards. Finance Secretary T V Somanathan said a total of Rs 8,100 crore was collected using the retrospective tax legislation. Of this, Rs 7,900 crore was from Cairn Energy alone. This money will be repaid. As much as Rs 1.10 lakh crore in retro taxes was sought from 17 entities that were levied taxes using the 2012 legislation. Of these, major recoveries were made only from Cairn.