Turkey says to continue buying natural gas from Iran
Turkey will continue to buy natural gas from Iran in accordance with a long-term supply deal, Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Wednesday, a day after new US sanctions against Tehran took effect. In an interview on broadcaster A Haber, Donmez said the long-term supply contract with Iran was for 9.5 billion cubic metres and in effect until 2026. Mike Palmateer Authentic Jersey
Reliance Naval sues ONGC for terminating pact for 12 vessels
Reliance Naval and Engineering Ltd has approached the Bombay high court against Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) after the explorer ended a deal for the supply of a dozen vessels to support offshore oil exploration. In its petition, the firm controlled by Reliance Infrastructure Ltd said ONGC has refused to take delivery of the eighth vessel and also invoked a bank guarantee. The company, a part of billionaire Anil Ambani’s diversified Reliance Group, is seeking a refund of more than $6.6 million (about ? 450 million), which ONGC has invoked as performance bank guarantee, along with $15.46 million (about ? 1.05 billion) as payment for the eighth offshore support vessel (OSV) that it built for India’s largest explorer. Reliance Naval also sought the court’s intervention to direct ONGC to take delivery of the eighth vessel. Reliance Naval said in its plea that ONGC had in 2008 floated a tender to build and supply the dozen vessels. At that point in time, erstwhile private shipbuilder Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Co. Ltd had entered into an agreement with Singapore-based Jurong Shipyard Pte Ltd to meet the eligibility criteria for technical support to build the vessels. The contract was bagged by Pipavav in 2009. On 4 March 2015, Reliance Defence Systems, a unit of Reliance Infrastructure, acquired Pipavav Defence—then India’s largest shipyard with a licence to build warships—and rechristened it Reliance Naval and Engineering Ltd. However, in June 2016, ONGC informed Reliance Naval that it needs to execute a fresh memorandum of understanding with Jurong Shipyard for continuing technical support. However, Reliance responded that all trials concerning the eighth ship have been completed and it also provided the progress report for the remaining four vessels. Reliance Naval, in its subsequent responses, told ONGC the technical pact with Jurong Shipyard is still binding and, therefore, a new agreement isn’t needed. In June 2017, Jurong Shipyard and Reliance Naval entered into an amendment agreement with regards to technical support. The firm had also sought an extension of a year to June 2019 to deliver remaining vessels. However, ONGC categorically informed the shipbuilder that the only reason the eighth ship was not accepted because of change of name issue and the company’s “alleged inability to substantiate Jurong Shipyard’s contribution to the project”. Also, in June 2018, ONGC informed Reliance Naval that the name change has not been accepted by them and also the company is not in a position to give any further extension. “We would like to inform that ONGC has issued a letter dated July 30, 2018, for termination of an old contract dated 16th October 2009 for the supply of 5 out of 12 offshore support vessels,” Reliance Naval informed the stock exchanges on 2 August. “As advised, the termination of the aforesaid contract is arbitrary. The company has taken and will take all necessary steps and actions to protect its rights,” it further added. According to the Bombay high court’s website, a division bench of Justice R.M. Borde and Justice V.M. Deshpande will hear the matter on 9 August. An emailed query to ONGC did not elicit any response. Nishit Dhruva, managing partner of law firm MDP and Partners who is advising ONGC along with senior counsel Kevic Setalvad, confirmed the filing of the case by Reliance Naval, but declined to divulge any details since the matter is sub judice. A spokesperson for Reliance Naval declined to comment on the issue as the matter is in the court. Senior counsel, Venkatesh Dhond who is representing Reliance Naval along with law firm Mulla & Mulla & Craigie Blunt & Caroe said the company wants to fulfil the contract to deliver all 12 vessels but declined to elaborate.
ENN receives LNG cargo at China’s first major private import terminal
Chinese gas distributor ENN has received its maiden cargo for the country’s first major privately-owned liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, Thomson Reuters Eikon shiptracking data showed. The LNG tanker ‘Stena Blue Sky’ arrived at Zhoushan port on Tuesday after loading the cargo at Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG terminal on July 22, the data showed. ENN could not immediately be reached for comment on the matter. The company’s Zhoushan terminal in China’s eastern Zhejiang region, with a capacity of 3 million tonnes per year, was expected to start operations in July. ENN has signed long-term deals including sales and purchase agreements with Chevron Corp and Australia’s Origin Energy and also has an agreement to buy LNG from Total . The deals total about 1.5 million tonnes per year of LNG. China overtook South Korea as the world’s second-largest LNG importer in 2017 with imports of 38 million tonnes, 46 percent higher than the year before. The imports soared after the government ordered millions of homes to switch to natural gas and electric heating from coal to counter rising air pollution. To meet the higher demand and to reduce their dependence on supply from state-owned companies, Chinese companies are building their own LNG terminals to import the fuel directly. Peyton Manning Jersey
MEIL to supply cooking gas to 10 districts of Telangana
To supply cooking gas to 10 rural districts of Telangana, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has finalised bids on Tuesday. The Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) has bagged the project to supply cooking gas to the 10 districts covering about 5.5 lakh families. According to a press release by MEIL, of the total bids called for all the districts by PNGRB, Warangal urban, rural, Jayashankar, Bhupalapalli, Mahbubnagar, Jangaon, Bhadradri, Kothagudem, Khammam, Nalgonda, Suryapet, Yadadri Bhongir districts have been opened and a few more are yet to be opened. PNGRB Chairman Vandana Sharma has sent official communication to MEIL confirming them as successful bidder. The PNGRB has decided to provide cooking gas supply to all the rural areas in the country by 2020. As of now, only Hyderabad has been getting piped cooking gas supply that too only some areas. As of now the Centre has been supply to the needs of Krishna in AP, Tumkur in Karnataka, Gruha in Belgauvi district, but is also taking care of the industry needs in addition to supplying Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to vehicles. Speaking on this occasion, MEIL vice president P. Rajesh Reddy said, “the MEIL, which is supplying Gas with the Slogan, ‘Megha Gas Its smart, Its Good’, is gearing up for Gas supply in the new districts of Telangana by dividing as three units. The company has secured Warangal Urban, Warangal Rural, Jayashankar Bhupalapalli, Mahbubabad and Jangaon districts as one Unit, Bhadradri, Kothagudem, Khammam, districts as the second Unit, Nalgonda, Suryapet, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri districts as the third Unit.” He said a pipeline covering 3,100 km will be laid in all the 10 districts for the supply of cooking gas. While the cost of the Warangal unit is Rs 300 crore, Nalgonda unit cost is Rs 500 crore and Khammam unit cost comes about Rs 300 crore. Megha Gas is already providing its services in Agiripalli and Kanuru of Krishna district, as well as Tumkur and Belgauvi in Karnataka. Thon Maker Womens Jersey
MNGL finds no takers for 2L piped gas connections
The state-owned gas company, Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited, is facing a unique problem — the company has infrastructure ready to provide over two lakh new Piped Natural Gas (PNG) connections in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, but there are no takers. According to MNGL officials, the pendency has piled up over the last two to three years. Speaking to TOI, director, commercial for MNGL, Santosh Sontakke said, “There are about 1.25 lakh connections for which the PNG pipelines have been laid from the main line on the road to people’s kitchens. It is a 15-minute task to start the connection in these 1.25 lakh households. However, due to several reasons, these households are not willing to obtain the connections. We cannot force citizens to have PNG connections and so the infrastructure is lying unused.” Sontakke said one of the main reasons for people unwilling to get piped gas is that the pipeline may affect the aesthetics of the house. “Many people are apprehensive that having the pipeline running on the walls may spoil the appeal of the interiors and thus are unwilling. Other reasons include their comfort with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders, flats purchased only as investment or occupancy by tenants,” he explained. According to Sontakke, another one lakh connections are pending due to absence or delay in digging permission from the civic bodies. “In areas like Baner, we have created the entire infrastructure in residential societies but we have to take the connection from the main line to the society for which we need permission from Pune Municipal Corporation to dig up the road. However, permissions are either unavailable or delayed and we are unable to carry out the work. In cases of concrete roads, the corporation has told us to wait until the defect liability period of three years is over before we can start work,” he said. Sontakke added that ready-to-fit connections are available in and around areas including Bibvewadi, Model Colony, Kothrud, Baner-Balewadi, Kharadi, Hadapsar, Kondhwa, Wanowrie, Hinjewadi, New Sangvi, Chinchwad, Moshi, Rahatni, Thergaon and Wakad. Orlando Cepeda Womens Jersey
Turkmenistan to prepare new gas pipeline construction projects
During a government meeting President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stressed the importance of resolving the tasks of the fuel and energy complex, including those related to attracting investments for the development of the complex, Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper wrote. President Berdimuhamedov gave a number of concrete instructions pointing to the need of taking comprehensive measures to successfully solve the tasks outlined in “Program for the Development of the Oil and Gas Industry of Turkmenistan until 2030”, as well as the preparation of new pipeline construction projects, given the growing demand for natural gas in other countries. According to the BP report, Turkmenistan with its natural gas reserves ranks fourth in the world and presently, the country exports gas to China and Iran. At the same time, Russia, a traditional buyer, completely stopped to buy Turkmen gas in 2016. Construction of the Turkmen section of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline (TAPI) was launched in December 2015, while the Afghan section – in February 2018. Turkmen gas is expected to be supplied through TAPI during 2019. The total length of the pipeline with a capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year will be 1,840 kilometers reaching the settlement of Fazilka on the border with India. Being the leader of the international consortium TAPI Pipeline Company Limited, “Turkmengas” – having a controlling stake – performs the functions of the main financier and manager of the project. The consortium also includes the Afghan Gas Corporation, Pakistan’s Inter State Gas Systems (Private) Limited Company and India’s GAIL Company. Turkmenistan continues to work on the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline construction project, chairman of the Turkmengas state concern Myrat Archayev said at the international gas congress in Avaza in May 2018. The East-West internal pipeline in Turkmenistan, designed for export supplies, has already been constructed. Negotiations on the supply of Turkmen gas to Europe have been held since 2011. The Southern Gas Corridor, including the Trans-Caspian project, remains a priority for the EU. Energy ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Vice-President of the European Commission for the Energy Union Maros Sefcovic signed the Ashgabat Declaration on Energy in May 2015. The project of laying a 300-kilometer gas pipeline along the bottom of the Caspian Sea to the shores of Azerbaijan is optimal for the supply of Turkmen resources to the European market. Then, the Turkmen gas may be supplied to Turkey, which borders European countries. Jori Lehtera Jersey
Reliance Industries’ bid for jet fuel JV spooks oil marketing firms, AAI
The oil marketing companies (OMCs) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) are unable to decide whether to bring in Reliance Industries (RIL) in the joint venture to sell aviation turbine fuel (ATF), Business Standard reported. While state-run OMCs are blaming the aviation ministry for excluding private players, government sources told the newspaper the OMCs were against the move as they did not want to lose the monopoly in the aviation market. The government has been planning for the three oil marketing companies – Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) – along with the AAI to set up a joint venture to share the ATF infrastructure in India. In the planned joint venture, AAI has a 25 percent stake, BPCL has 18.75 percent, HPCL stands at 18.75 percent while IOC at 37.5 percent. If RIL joins, the share of the OMCs will fall, the report said. Buffalo Bills Jersey
Genel Energy sees significant output boost in 2019
Iraqi Kurdistan-focused Genel Energy is likely to significantly increase its oil production guidance next year, Chief Financial Officer Esa Ikaheimonen said on Tuesday. The output boost is expected to come from 11 wells currently being drilled in three fields in the region, eight of which are expected to begin producing this year. Genel on Tuesday reaffirmed its 2018 production guidance of 32,800 barrels of oil per day. “We maintained that guidance …signalling that even with the existing level we would exceed guidance,” Ikaheimonen told Reuters. “There is a good chance that we enter the new year with a significantly updated level of production,” he added. Justin Pugh Jersey
Pradhan Mantri Ujjawla Yojana: Smokeless kitchens are becoming a reality
Critics of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) have pointed to the poor refill rates of PMUY beneficiaries to question its utility. While refill rates must increase to achieve the vision of a smokeless kitchen, the situation is both more complex and more optimistic than many give credit to. Numerous studies have reported that although the poor people aspired to have liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections, the biggest barrier to LPG adoption was the high upfront cost (about Rs 4,000) associated with a new LPG connection. PMUY was specifically designed to make the cost associated with a new LPG connection affordable even for the poorest of the poor. The scheme reduced the upfront cost for a new single bottle connection to Rs 3,300 (by compressing various costs and by negotiating a special price for the LPG stove with the suppliers) and by proposing to bear Rs 1,600 of the reduced cost from the fiscal budget. For the balance amount, in case a prospective beneficiary expressed her inability to pay upfront, the oil marketing companies (OMCs) offered a loan facility. As a result, within 26 months since its launch, more than 4.5 crore poor women now have LPG stoves in their kitchen. Of course, access by itself does not automatically translate into usage, especially for PMUY beneficiaries who are overwhelmingly rural poor. Overall low cash income makes it less enticing for a poor family to move away from free fuel to commercial fuel—LPG is an additional expense in an already tight family budget. The reality is that PMUY beneficiaries have other priorities (for example, saving for emergencies) and different aspirations (for instance, sending children to private, English-medium schools) that can take precedence over their desire for a quick, convenient and smokeless cooking fuel. In addition, seasonality of income (for agricultural workers) and daily/weekly cycles of income/purchase make it a challenge to save enough to buy even a subsidised cylinder. Furthermore, cooking with LPG involves changes in habits for the person concerned, generally a woman in the Indian context. Going from cooking on a mud stove in a squatted position for decades to a standing position as required for LPG is easier said than done. We also need to recognise the cultural challenges where many people don’t like the taste, texture or aroma of food cooked on LPG stoves. When biomass is scarce or is expensive, people are forced to adjust to the new reality—like the transition to LPG in urban and peri-urban areas. However, for the rural poor with relatively easy access to non-monetised biomass, it is an altogether different story. Therefore, there are real barriers to the use of LPG, but the first step to overcoming those barriers is for people to obtain LPG. Further, singling out PMUY customers for low refills is erroneous when we look at the bigger picture. The average LPG consumption was decreasing even in the pre-PMUY period (from 2006 to 2016) for registered customers. During that time, the LPG market was already expanding from the saturated urban markets towards the rural areas. As more and more rural poor became LPG customers, it pulled down that average consumption figure—the average LPG consumption per consumer reduced by 2.6% year-on-year, while in the post-PMUY period the average annual decline is 4.1%. However, the number of new LPG consumers in the pre-PMUY period of 10 years was only double of the two-year post-PMUY period. This decline will likely continue as more rural poor with access to alternative non-monetised fuel and cash crush continue to enrol as LPG consumers but use LPG frugally. Eventually, the trend will reverse, as LPG consumption for new customers starts to grow. Moreover, we estimate that a significant fraction of PMUY beneficiaries use LPG for more than half their cooking needs. The annual ‘useful’ energy (actual energy used for cooking food) consumption by rural Indian households can be estimated using secondary sources such as government data and published research, along with primary data from independent fieldwork. There is a wide range of values—2,450 megajoule (MJ) to 4650 MJ—for a typical family (of five members). This can be attributed to variation in income levels, cooking styles and diet preferences. As PMUY mostly caters to poor households in rural India, we estimate their annual useful cooking energy requirement, on an average, to be 3,000 MJ. We also assume an efficiency of 60% (conservative compared to the minimum 68% efficiency required for LPG stoves sold under PMUY) and roughly 385 MJ per cylinder (accounting for LPG’s energy content and some loss in the cylinder). Under those conditions, a typical PMUY household should consume eight cylinders of LPG in one year, if they cook with LPG exclusively. While the aim of PMUY is a smokeless home that requires near-exclusive LPG usage, a more realistic but ambitious short-term goal is LPG becoming the primary cooking energy source (providing more than 50% of useful energy requirement). This requires consumption of about four cylinders of LPG within a year and should be viewed as an important milestone in the journey towards smokeless home. Full consumption of four cylinders means the consumer would have purchased at least five cylinders within the first year of becoming a PMUY consumer. Despite the widespread criticism of PMUY’s refill trends, our analysis of national-level consumer cylinder purchase data suggests an encouraging trend on this front. Of the 3.7 crore PMUY connections released in the last two years, as many as 2.1 crore PMUY beneficiaries have been LPG customers for one year or more (as of May 2018). The analysis of their cylinder purchase data indicates 30% of them (63 lakh households) have purchased five or more refills in their first year (including the cylinder provided during installation). These 63 lakh poor rural households have transitioned to LPG as their majority cooking fuel within the first year. Most of them would likely not have become LPG consumers without assistance of PMUY. State wise, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar have the highest numbers of PMUY beneficiaries, where
Vedanta set to bag 40 oil and gas blocks in country’s first open acreage auction
Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta is likely to bag as many as 40 oil and gas exploration blocks in India’s maiden open acreage auction, official sources said today. An Empowered Committee of Secretaries (ECS) has cleared award of blocks offered in OALP-1, bidding for which closed on May 2, they said. The recommendations of the panel will now go to ministers of finance and petroleum for approval, they said. The Union Cabinet had in April delegated its power to ministers of finance and petroleum to award oil and gas blocks to their winners in the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) auction. At the close of the bidding on May 2, Vedanta’s oil and gas arm, Cairn India had bid for all the 55 blocks on offer while state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) had bid for 37 blocks either on its own or in consortium with other state-owned firms. State-owned Oil India Ltd (OIL) bid for 22 blocks in a similar fashion. Sources said while Vedanta is likely to walk away with 40 blocks, ONGC may get two or a maximum of three areas. Hindustan Oil Exploration Co (HOEC) is likely to get one while OIL may get around half a dozen blocks. They said the award of the blocks is awaiting the finance minister’s nod. Piyush Goyal is officiating as the finance minister as Arun Jaitley recuperates from a renal transplant. It is being speculated that Jaitley may be back in office as early as next week and may clear the OALP-1 bids. When the bids closed on May 2, Vedanta was the sole bidder for two blocks and had either ONGC or OIL as a direct competitor in the remaining. Except for the two blocks that received three bids each, all the other 53 had just two bidders. Neither local giants Reliance Industries nor any foreign company participated in the auction, a first since India began offering oil and gas area for exploration and production through bids in 1999. India had in July last year allowed companies to carve out blocks of their choice with a view to bringing about 2.8 million sq km of unexplored area in the country under exploration. Under this policy, companies are allowed to put in an expression of interest (EoI) for prospecting of oil and gas in an area that is presently not under any production or exploration license. The EoIs can be put in any time of the year but they are accumulated twice annually. As many as 55 blocks were sought for prospecting of oil and gas by prospective bidders, mostly by state-owned explorers, ONGC and OIL, and private sector Vedanta by the end of the first EoI cycle on November 15, 2017, they said. The blocks or areas that receive EoIs at the end of a cycle are put up for auction with the originator or the firm that originally selected the area getting a 5-mark advantage. The 55 blocks have a total area of 59,282 sq km. This compares to about 1,02,000 sq km being under exploration currently, they said. Blocks would be awarded to the company which offers highest share of oil and gas to the government as well as commits to do maximum exploration work by way of shooting 2D and 3D seismic survey and drilling exploration wells. Increased exploration would lead to more oil and gas production, helping the world’s third largest oil importer to cut import dependence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of cutting oil import bill by 10 per cent to 67 per cent by 2022 and to half by 2030. Import dependence has increased since 2015 when Modi had set the target. India currently imports 81 per cent of its oil needs. The new policy replaced the old system of government carving out areas and bidding them out. It guarantees marketing and pricing freedom and moves away from production sharing model of previous rounds to a revenue-sharing model where companies offering the maximum share of oil and gas to the government are awarded the block. The government till now has been selecting and demarcating areas it feels can be offered for bidding in an exploration licensing round. So far 256 blocks had been offered for exploration and production since 2000. The last bid round happened in 2010. Of these, 254 blocks were awarded. But as many as 156 have already been relinquished due to poor prospectivity. DeMarcus Ware Womens Jersey