Gulf Petrochem Group Marks First-Ever Bunker Supply by Barge at Indian Port of Paradip in Odisa
Gulf Petrochem Group, the UAE based global bunker supplier, has set another milestone in its operations with the successful execution of the first-ever bunker supply by barge at the non-conventional port of Paradip in Odisa, India’s east coast in a joint effort with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL). Gulf Petrochem arranged for the supply of 810 metric tonnes of bunker fuel IFO 180 CST by barge, which marks a major achievement for the company. Typically, supplies were made to the non-regular bunker port of Paradip only by Road Tanker Wagons (RTW) and for small volumes. MT Dolphin, a bunker barge, was introduced to expedite the supply of the 810 MT cargo to the vessel MV COUNTESS I, highlighting a major triumph for both Gulf Petrochem and the Port of Paradip. IOCL, the only physical supplier, had recently introduced the duty-free 180 CST for vessels calling at Paradip. But the supplies were made through RTWs at berth. With the introduction of MT Dolphin, bigger future volumes of bunker fuel requirement at the port can be seamlessly met. Mr. Manan Goel, Group Director of Gulf Petrochem, said: “The supply of bunker fuel by barge to Paradip will significantly scale up the efficiency of the port, and underlines our commitment to strengthen our operations and deliver truly value-added services. In future, larger volumes of bunker fuel can be supplied that will facilitate bigger vessel arrivals to Paradip, with it evolving as a strategic port on the east coast of India. We were venturing into uncharted waters, and are thankful to the support of all our partners for their close coordination that made the planning and execution smooth.” With Gulf Petrochem supplying to MV COUNTESS I, future bunker supplies at berth or inner anchorage can be executed by barge. MT Dolphin is a IV class barge of 500 MT capacity of Fuel Oil and 50 MT of Gas Oil, with a pumping rate of 150 MT-200 MT per hour for FO and 25 MT for Gas Oil. Gulf Petrochem will also arrange for the supply of smaller quantities by RTWs at berth of up to 250MT supplies in a single day. Gulf Petrochem, a worldwide bunker supplier, has bunker facilities in the UAE, India, Singapore and the entire Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp (ARA) region through its representative offices. About Gulf Petrochem Group Gulf Petrochem Group is a leading player in the oil industry, specializing in Oil Trading and Bunkering, Oil Refining, Grease Manufacturing, Oil Storage Terminals, Bitumen Manufacturing, and Shipping and Logistics. Headquartered in United Arab Emirates, and having a presence in South Asia, the Far East Asia, Africa and Europe, Gulf Petrochem has emerged as one of the well-established manufacturers and traders of petroleum products in major parts of the world. Denver Broncos Authentic Jersey
China, India’s EV push prompts IEA oil demand review
Plans by China and India to adopt energy policies that will boost the use of electric vehicles (EVs) in the coming years have prompted the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) to announce that it will review its long-term oil demand forecasts. China is aiming for one-fifth of all car sales to be comprised of vehicles using alternative fuels by 2025, while India is looking at electrifying all new vehicles by 2032. The IEA said the targets were ambitious and that it would adjust its projections for crude oil demand and EV use for the next issue of its World Energy Outlook 2017, which is due to be published in November. China and India currently consume 11% and 2% of global gasoline demand respectively. The World Energy Outlook 2016 forecast oil demand for vehicle use to rise until 2040. PTI reported this week that a switch to EVs could save India US$60 billion in gasoline and diesel costs and cut carbon emissions by 1 gigatonne by 2030, based on a report carried out by NITI Aayog and the Rocky Mountain Institute. India would need to sell some 10 million EVs in 2030, as against the approximately 1.3 million EVs on the road globally in 2015. India now has around 5,000 EVs on the road. “The exact formulation of the target and the extent of its long-term achievement … is a good step that will help India to be among the global leaders in deploying a technology that is crucial to [tempering] increasing oil import needs, local air pollution in cities, and [limiting] CO2 emissions,” the IEA said. A major shift to EVs is expected to have a big impact on Asia’s gasoline market, and consequential effect on refineries as demand falls. More than a third of the world’s refineries are located in Asia, where demand for products has been driving global oil demand. China trails only the US in oil consumption, while India comes fourth and Japan third. “The choices made by China and India are obviously most relevant for the possible future peak in passenger car oil demand,” Reuters quoted an IEA spokesman as saying. CleanTecnica reported last week that China’s Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC Group) had started building an EV production factory in Guangdong Province. The plant will cost US$700 million to build and have a capacity to produce 200,000 cars per year when it is complete at the end of 2018. Matt Bryant Authentic Jersey
Analysis: Indian jet fuel, LPG demand shrugs off demonetization impact
Jet fuel and LPG have turned out to be the shining stars in India’s oil demand basket so far in 2017 as rapidly growing air travel and New Delhi’s clean fuel energy push are helping the two fuels to post the sharpest growth rates among all oil products. As air travel continues to grow amid intensifying competition among airlines offering competitive fares, jet fuel demand rose by 9.5% year on year in April, to 610,000 mt from 557,000 mt from a year earlier, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. In the cumulative January-April period, jet fuel demand surged 12% year on year to 2.46 million mt from 2.19 million mt a year earlier. “While demonetization has affected consumption of some oil products, it has not affected air travel because most air tickets are booked using credit cards. Not much cash is involved. Therefore, jet fuel demand remains robust, said Tushar Bansal, director at Ivy Global Energy, a Singapore-based oil and gas consultancy. India announced the scrapping of 1,000 and 500 rupee notes with immediate effect on November 8, 2016, in a move aimed at curtailing the shadow economy but which also led to a slowdown in demand for various commodities over the following months. According to CAPA – Centre for Aviation, an independent provider of market intelligence for the aviation sector, India is likely to overtake Japan in 2017 to become the world’s third-largest domestic aviation market, behind the United States and China. In reaching this milestone, India will have achieved average domestic annual traffic growth of over 15% since the liberalization of the sector commenced in 2003-04 (April-March). While domestic traffic could grow by nearly 25% in 2017-18 (April-March) and approach 130 million passengers, international travel could growth by about 10%-12%, CAPA added. Strong economic fundamentals have contributed to the growth, although traffic has been over-stimulated by low fares. “India’s status as the fastest growing aviation market in the world creates tremendous opportunities. But risks are also heightened as the inadequacy of India’s infrastructure planning, a fast emerging shortage of skills, flawed policy initiatives, and weak regulatory oversight threaten to become major stumbling blocks,” according to a CAPA report on India’s aviation outlook. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that in the global civil aviation market, India, which is currently the eighth-largest market in the world, would become the third-largest by 2034, adding that growth in the aviation sector would multiply demand for aviation fuel in India four times by 2040. Rising domestic demand is taking a toll on India’s jet fuel exports as more cargoes find their way into local markets. Jet fuel exports in the first quarter of 2017 fell almost 12% year on year to 1.75 million mt, from 1.99 million mt in Q1 2016. Market participants expect India’s jet fuel exports to maintain a downward trend as domestic demand is expected to remain robust in the foreseeable future. LPG SPREADS ITS WINGS While LPG demand grew by only 2.6% year on year in April to 1.63 million mt, from 1.59 million mt a year earlier, it has been the second-fastest growing fuel this year, with demand rising by 6.1% year on year to 7.31 million mt in the January-April period, from 6.9 million mt in the same year-ago period, PPAC data showed. “The government is expected to speed the pace of distribution of subsidized LPG connections to the poor. That will keep the demand growth at double digits,” Bansal added. India is expected to invest $3.9 million-$4.7 billion in developing infrastructure facilities for LPG to raise household connections to 95.5% by 2020, oil ministry officials said Friday. State-own Indian Oil Corp plans to spend 10% of its overall capex of $3.1 billion for 2017-18 on strengthening the infrastructure for LPG including setting up of terminals and bottling plants. But despite the capacity build-out, IOC’s chairman B. Ashok said he expects India to continue importing LPG at least for the next 12 to 13 years after which he anticipates a slowdown in India’s LPG demand growth. India consumed 21.5 million mt of LPG in 2016-17, a 9.8% growth from the previous year (2015-16), according to the oil ministry updates. Half of the last year’s demand was met via imports, mainly from the Middle East. India’s LPG imports rose 23% year on year to 11 million mt of LPG in 2016-17. “Our main import destinations will continue to be the Middle East as shale gas production has made LPG price relatively a competitive option,” Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said. India aims to increase the number of households with LPG access to 268.7 million in 2018-19, up by around a third from 199 million in 2016-17, and to add 10,000 new LPG distributors by 2019, the minister said. The renewed push on LPG saw 4,600 new distributors open in 2016-17. India’s overall demand for oil products in April rose 2.3% year on year to 16.79 million mt, or 4.4 million b/d, PPAC data showed. January-April oil products demand fell 1% year on year to 65.7 million mt, or 4.3 million b/d. “In line with our expectations, India’s oil demand is on a recovery path as the impact of demonetization fades,” said Sri Paravaikkarasu, Head of Oil, East of Suez, at consultancy FACTS Global Energy. “Transport fuels should continue to propel oil demand growth in the coming months although LPG and other products will also contribute to a 5% to 6% average growth for the year,” she added. “The double-digit growth in fuel oil in 2016 should reverse this year, while kerosene will track the negative trend.” Lorenzo Alexander Womens Jersey
Great Eastern Energy to invest $1 billion on natural gas, shale
India’s first producer of natural gas from coal seams in the country’s oldest mining region will spend about $1 billion to look for some of the newest forms of energy. Great Eastern Energy Corp. Ltd will invest as much as Rs 20 billion ($312 million) over the next four to five years to drill 144 new wells at its Raniganj block in the eastern state of West Bengal, according to chief executive officer Prashant Modi. The company, which began looking at the block in 1993, will invest an additional Rs 50 billion in other unconventional assets, including shale. “We are thinking about shale in the manner we thought of coal-bed methane more than 20 years back,” Modi said in an interview in New Delhi on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is easing rules to make exploration more attractive in a bid to reduce imports. The government has freed gas prices, given marketing autonomy to producers, and approved a uniform licensing policy that will give operators the right to explore all forms of oil and gas resources, including coal-bed methane, shale gas and oil under a single license. “These steps will help push India’s goal to produce more hydrocarbons locally,” according to Great Eastern’s Modi. “We expect about 15 CBM blocks that had been sitting idle should see some development starting.” Budding industry India has awarded 33 blocks for extracting coal-bed methane, but only three have started production so far. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Ltd. last month began commercial production from its coal-bed methane block in central India after winning extraction rights in 2002. Great Eastern, which was the first to start coal-bed methane production in India in 2007, currently produces 500,000 cubic metres of gas a day at the Raniganj block, while Essar Oil Ltd said last year it produces about 900,000 cubic metres a day from another block in Raniganj, where coal mining started in the 18th century. Producing gas from coal beds is a budding industry in India. Coal-bed methane contributed only about 1% to the total gas consumption in India in the year ended March, which is estimated to have established reserves of about 10 trillion cubic feet of the fuel. In contrast, coal-bed gas production on Australia’s east coast is used to supply its domestic market as well as feed three liquefied natural gas projects that sell the fuel to buyers across Asia. Patchy infrastructure India is seeking to increase the share of natural gas in the nation’s energy mix to 15% by 2020 from 6.5% and is investing over $8 billion to develop the gas market in eastern India, including building new pipelines and import terminals. The company sells most of its output to about three dozen industrial companies close to the block such as steel mills, sponge iron plants and bakeries, limited by a lack of infrastructure such as a regional pipeline to take output further afield. “More infrastructure means greater market access for gas producers like us,” Modi said. “Maybe we can take our gas to a bigger market like Kolkata in the future.” Ryan Switzer Authentic Jersey
Nearly 30 candidates in race for ONGC CMD’s job
More than two dozen candidates including Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) director Shashi Shanker and Oil India director Biswajit Roy have applied for the top job at India’s most profitable company, ONGC. At the close of application for the job last week, nearly 30 candidates applied for replacing incumbent chairman and managing director Dinesh K. Sarraf when he retires on 30 September this year. The candidates are being screened and the shortlisted will be called for the interview to be held next month, people privy to the development said. Top of the list of candidates is ONGC director for technical and field services Shashi Shanker. None of the other five functional directors of ONGC were eligible to apply as they did not have the requisite service of two years left. ONGC Videsh Ltd director (finance) Vivekanand has also applied and so have three of ONGC’s executive directors—Sanjay Kumar Moitra (asset manager for Bassein and Satellite Fields), Rajesh Kakkar (asset manager of Mumbai High fields) and A.R. Morbole (asset manager of Neelam-Heera fields). The people said OIL director for human resources and business development Roy too has applied for the ONGC job. Besides, Balmer Lawrie chairman and managing director Prabal Basu has also applied. Once PESB selects a person after interviews, the name will be forwarded to the government for approval. The administrative ministry will first seek clearance from anti- corruption agencies and then forward the name for approval to the Cabinet Committee on Appointments (ACC). Incumbent Sarraf has been the head of ONGC, India’s largest oil and gas producer, since March 2014. He will retire on attaining the superannuation age at the end of September. The new head will have his job cut—rapidly increasing oil and gas production to help achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s target of cutting country’s oil import dependence by 10% by 2022. Since the time Modi set the target in March 2015, oil dependence has only gone up—from 77% to 81%, mainly because of stagnant domestic oil output pitched against a rising local demand. ONGC being the flag-bearer will have to raise domestic output to meet the target. Torrey Smith Jersey
Indian Oil Team Holds Fresh Talks on Farzad-B
Senior Iranian and Indian officials met in Tehran on Tuesday to discuss and settle a recent dispute over oil and gas ties. The meeting was held between Amirhossein Zamaninia, deputy oil minister for international affairs, and an Indian mission, led by Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Shana, the Oil Ministry news service reported. Following the lifting of international curbs against Tehran last year, Indian company ONGC Videsh Ltd. ramped up efforts to secure the development rights of Farzad-B, a large gas reservoir in the Persian Gulf. But Tehran says the ONGC proposals are not financially attractive. In response to the rebuff, Indian state refiners announced plans to cut crude oil imports from Iran by a quarter in fiscal 2017-18, a measure that led to an exchange of strong words between the two governments. “Senior officials in both countries are willing to discuss and find an agreement over the Farzad B project,” Zamaninia was quoted as saying. “The two sides agreed to a meeting between representatives of ONGC Videsh (OVL) and National Iranian Oil Company executives, including chief executive officer Ali Kardor and deputy for development and engineering, Alireza Manouchehri,” he said. The field was discovered by a consortium of Indian companies in 2008, but they could not obtain the field’s development rights due to international economic restrictions imposed over Iran’s nuclear dispute. Unsettled oil dues of private Indian refiners as well as schemes to carry Iran’s natural gas to India were also discussed. Last month, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh underlined India as one of the “good costumers” of Iranian oil, but asserted that “We cannot sign a contract under threat.” Both sides had hoped to wrap up the Farzad-B deal by March. But as it turned out, hope alone was not enough. Iran has also asked other countries to submit their proposals for developing the huge oilfield. Dion Lewis Jersey
Iraq replaces Saudi as top oil supplier to India in April: Trade flow data
Iraq replaced Saudi Arabia as top crude supplier to India in April as refiners moved to boost their processing margins by purchasing the cheaper Basra Heavy oil grade, ship tracking and Thomson Reuters trade flow data showed. India’s April imports from Iraq topped 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first time, up by about a third from March and 8 percent from a year ago, according to ship tracking data obtained from sources and data compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research & Forecasts. “Basra heavy is good for refineries with coker units, it is also good for conventional refiners that make bitumen as that is in demand in India. Also (the crude) is available at discounts so it is value for every dollar that we spend,” said M. K. Surana, chairman of Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Indian refiners in recent years have invested heavily in modernising plants to more efficiently process low grade crudes into diesel and gasoline, helping to boost operating margins and giving greater flexibility in the oil grades they can buy. This has allowed refiners in the third-largest oil consumer to shop around during periods of tightness, and remain profitable in a fast-growing, cost-sensitive market. India’s crude mix is highly diverse as a result, with just over 15 percent of its flows stemming from Africa in April, nearly 13 percent from Latin America, and most of the rest coming from the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, usually India’s main supplier, shipped about 750,000 bpd to the South Asian nation in April, a decline of about 5 percent from the previous month and 8 percent from a year ago, the data showed. With each barrel of Iraq’s Basra Heavy oil trading at roughly $2.85 less than a barrel of Saudi Arabia’s Arab Heavy mix when the deals were done, Indian importers were able to realise a substantial cost-savings by making the switch, without much impact on product output. India’s lower Saudi purchases were partly due to firmer Saudi prices following the production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) since January. Iraq is OPEC’s second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, but so far has been resistant to an aggressive cut given its reliance on oil revenues to fund its economy. “Iraqi oil is a good alternative to other heavy grades from OPEC. Basra is sold at a huge discount to Dubai or other heavy grades in spot markets, whereas Saudi oil is available only at the OSP (Official Selling Price),” said Ehsan Ul Haq, Senior Analyst at KBC Energy. A delay to Venezuelan oil loadings due to problems at a major port helped to boost India’s demand for Iraqi oil, and India also took more Russian Urals crude. Iran emerged as the third-biggest oil supplier to India in April, replacing Venezuela, which slipped to the fifth spot, behind Nigeria, the data showed. Harold Baines Jersey
Gulf Petrochem Group Marks First-Ever Bunker Supply by Barge at Indian Port of Paradip in Odisa
Gulf Petrochem Group, the UAE based global bunker supplier, has set another milestone in its operations with the successful execution of the first-ever bunker supply by barge at the non-conventional port of Paradip in Odisa, India’s east coast in a joint effort with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL). Gulf Petrochem arranged for the supply of 810 metric tonnes of bunker fuel IFO 180 CST by barge, which marks a major achievement for the company. Typically, supplies were made to the non-regular bunker port of Paradip only by Road Tanker Wagons (RTW) and for small volumes. MT Dolphin, a bunker barge, was introduced to expedite the supply of the 810 MT cargo to the vessel MV COUNTESS I, highlighting a major triumph for both Gulf Petrochem and the Port of Paradip. IOCL, the only physical supplier, had recently introduced the duty-free 180 CST for vessels calling at Paradip. But the supplies were made through RTWs at berth. With the introduction of MT Dolphin, bigger future volumes of bunker fuel requirement at the port can be seamlessly met. Mr. Manan Goel, Group Director of Gulf Petrochem, said: “The supply of bunker fuel by barge to Paradip will significantly scale up the efficiency of the port, and underlines our commitment to strengthen our operations and deliver truly value-added services. In future, larger volumes of bunker fuel can be supplied that will facilitate bigger vessel arrivals to Paradip, with it evolving as a strategic port on the east coast of India. We were venturing into uncharted waters, and are thankful to the support of all our partners for their close coordination that made the planning and execution smooth.” With Gulf Petrochem supplying to MV COUNTESS I, future bunker supplies at berth or inner anchorage can be executed by barge. MT Dolphin is a IV class barge of 500 MT capacity of Fuel Oil and 50 MT of Gas Oil, with a pumping rate of 150 MT-200 MT per hour for FO and 25 MT for Gas Oil. Gulf Petrochem will also arrange for the supply of smaller quantities by RTWs at berth of up to 250MT supplies in a single day. Gulf Petrochem, a worldwide bunker supplier, has bunker facilities in the UAE, India, Singapore and the entire Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp (ARA) region through its representative offices. About Gulf Petrochem Group Gulf Petrochem Group is a leading player in the oil industry, specializing in Oil Trading and Bunkering, Oil Refining, Grease Manufacturing, Oil Storage Terminals, Bitumen Manufacturing, and Shipping and Logistics. Headquartered in United Arab Emirates, and having a presence in South Asia, the Far East Asia, Africa and Europe, Gulf Petrochem has emerged as one of the well-established manufacturers and traders of petroleum products in major parts of the world. Garrett Grayson Womens Jersey
Egypt’s Sisi: Newly-discovered gas fields to save about $3.6 billion yearly
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he expected that recently discovered gas fields would save Egypt about $3.6 billion yearly as they start coming into production, state-run newspapers reported on Tuesday night. Egypt wants to speed up gas production from newly-discovered fields, with an eye to halting imports by 2019. Once an energy exporter, it has become an importer after domestic output failed to keep pace with rising demand in recent years, but the discovery of the 850 billion-cubic metre Zohr field in 2015 is expected to change that. The gas fields Sisi referred to in an interview with heads of state-run newspapers included West delta and East delta and the second phase of Zohr field. Zohr field is expected to come into production by the end of the year and will save Egypt billions of dollars in hard currency that would otherwise be spent on imports. Egypt’s total gas production is 4.45 billion cubic feet per day. It aims to increase it to 5.35 billion cubic feet in 2017/18 and in 2018-19 to around 5.9 billion cubic feet per day. Doug Baldwin Authentic Jersey
Iraq in favour of extending any OPEC-led crude oil output cut – PM Abadi
Iraq is committed to reducing oil production to decrease a glut in the global market, and will support extending output cuts in line with any OPEC decision, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets in Vienna on May 25 to consider whether to extend output cuts agreed in December last year between OPEC and 11 non-member countries, including Russia. “Iraq is with the continuation of a reduction of oil production of OPEC nations and we will push in that direction,” Abadi said in a news conference broadcast on state TV. Abadi did not specify for how long Iraq was willing to extend the current cut. The country’s oil minister said last week Iraq would support a six-month extension. Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world’s top two oil producers, agreed on Monday on the need to keep the current cut in place until March 2018. Non-OPEC member Kazakhstan however said on Monday it would struggle to join any new deal on the old terms, as its own output was set to jump. Oman said it fully supported the idea of a nine-month extension. OPEC wants to reduce global oil inventories to their five-year average but so far has struggled to do so. Stockpiles are hovering near record highs, partly because of rising production in the United States, which is not part of the existing deal. Shaquill Griffin Jersey