Oil tankers to be fitted with high-tech locks
A long-awaited high-tech locking system will be installed on oil tankers this week, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) said. The advanced security locking system is expected to prevent gasoline theft during transportation from India to Nepal. The state-owned oil monopoly moved to install the locks following a spate of thefts involving traders and corporation staff. Officials hope theft will be controlled as the security lock can be opened only at the loading and unloading points. NOC said it would be implementing the system in coordination with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the sole oil supplier to Nepal. In the first phase, the locks will be installed on 220 oil tankers leaving IOC depots in India—100 tankers each at Barauni and Raxaul, and 20 tankers at Siliguri. NOC Spokesperson Sitaram Pokharel said the new locking system would be implemented as a pilot project. “In the beginning, the locks will be fitted to new tankers; later, old tankers will get them too,” he said. NOC said it would be almost impossible to tamper with the electromechanical device. Likewise, it is very difficult to make duplicates. The lock will have two keys, one will be kept at the depot in India and the other at the depot in Nepal. Pokharel said NOC was planning to make a master key that will be kept at IOC’s regional offices. “If a tanker operator loses the key, a fine will be charged.” Pokharel said tanker owners would have to install the new lock while transferring ownership of their vehicles or buying new ones. Currently, 1,552 tankers are engaged in transporting fuel from India to Nepal. NOC has targeted to increase the number to 2,300 soon. IOC will be providing the high-tech locks for all tankers used to carry oil to Nepal. Gasoline dealers doubt the new locking system will work. “This is not the first time that NOC has attempted to implement a locking system,” said Lilendra Prasad Pradhan, president of the Nepal Petroleum Dealers’ Association. He said the system wouldn’t last long because of NOC’s weak administration. Jason Kasdorf Authentic Jersey
Global oil market rebalancing speeds up, belied by inventories – IEA
The global oil market is rebalancing and the pace at which supply and demand are falling into line is picking up, even if inventories still fail to reflect the impact of OPEC supply cuts, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday. In its monthly report, the IEA kept its global demand growth forecast for 2017 unchanged at 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd), because of slowdowns in previously robust consumer countries such as the United States, Germany and Turkey. Commercial inventories fell for a second straight month in March, by 32.9 million barrels to 3.025 billion barrels. But for the first quarter as a whole, stocks in industrialised countries rose by 24.1 million barrels and the IEA said preliminary data suggested inventories increased again in April. “It has taken some time for stocks to reflect lower supply when volumes produced before output cuts by OPEC and 11 non-OPEC countries took effect are still being absorbed by the market,” the Paris-based IEA said. In the first quarter of 2017, “we might not have seen a resounding return to deficits but this report confirms our recent message that rebalancing is essentially here and, in the short term at least, is accelerating”. Global oil supply fell by 140,000 bpd in April to 96.17 million bpd, led by declines in nations outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, such as Canada. But with strong production increases in the United States, Brazil and Kazakhstan, the IEA said non-OPEC output would grow by 600,000 bpd this year. Paul Kariya Authentic Jersey
Another plume in NRL’s beret
Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) has bagged the prestigious National Technology Award-2017 instituted by the Technology Development Board under the Centre’s Department of Science and Technology for commercialisation of wax de-oiling technology developed jointly in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Engineers India Limited. The award, comprising of Rs 2.5 million and a trophy, was presented by President Pranab Mukherjee to NRL MD P Padmanabhan and NRL Director (Finance) SK Barua in the presence of Union Science and Technology Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan at a function organised to celebrate the 19th National Technology Day at the Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi recently, an NRL statement said. The 50,000-MT NRL Wax Plant commissioned in March 2015 at a cost of Rs 6.76 billion is the country’s largest wax-producing unit leveraging on the inherent properties of wax-rich crude oil from the oil fields of Assam. Manti Te’o Jersey
Niti Aayog working on plan to convert unsold BS III stock to run on Methanol-blended fuel
In a bid to promote the use of Methanol in industry, the government think-tank NITI Aayog is working on a plan that will allow India to use the alternate fuel for meeting BS VI specifications for automobiles. The think tank is drafting a business model that includes converting the unsold BS III stock of automobiles to eventually run on Methanol-blended fuel. “There are a large number of two wheelers and cars which have become redundant because of the Supreme Court order disallowing BS III vehicles form April onwards. As a result, we are coming up with a business model to convert those vehicles to work on methanol and make them BS VI compliant,” Niti Aayog Member V K Saraswat told ETEnergyworld. BS or Bharat Stage are emission standards instituted by the government to regulate the output of air pollutants from internal combustion engine equipment, including motor vehicles. The Supreme Court earlier this year banned the sale and registration of BS-III vehicles from April 1, 2017. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government recently announced its plants to skip to BS VI norms directly from BS IV emission norms that are now in force, by 2020. According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), an apex Industry body representing leading vehicle manufacturers, unsold inventory of BS III stock left with manufacturers amounts to around Rs 5,000 crore. Bulk of the unsold inventory comprises commercial vehicles and two wheelers. “We are working on how to get a conversion kit for the vehicles. A couple of people from the industry are coming forward evincing interest in getting a kit to convert these cars to work on methanol. It is imperative to create methanol production capability in India to reach that goal,” Saraswat added. Saraswat, who heads Niti Aayog’s committee on Methanol, in a recent interview to ETEnergyworld had also said the Aayog has set an ambitious target of taking Methanol-blending to 15 per cent over the coming years. According to R S Sharma, Chairman FICCI Hydrocarbon Committee; Former CMD, ONGC, efforts made towards exploration of Methanol-blended fuel is a step in the right direction. “We are already blending Ethanol with fuel but I’m not sure to what extent Methanol blending can be done. However, any effort made to use non-conventional alternate sources that can supplement conventional fuels is a welcome step given our increasing dependence on imports,” he said. In a note issued by Niti Aayog last year titled ‘India’s leapfrog to Methanol economy’ the think tank stated that Methanol and Dimethyl ether (DME) can play an important role in order to contain the rising imports and improve the energy security of India. “Methanol & DME blending with gasoline and diesel respectively can gel very well with the target of 10 per cent import dependence reduction of oil & gas by 2022 of the Government of India,” the note said. According to the note, high methanol blends offer significant vehicle efficiency improvement. Richard Sherman Authentic Jersey
Oil India starts survey to look for presence of hydrocarbons in Manipur
Oil India Limited, has commenced a survey to check for the presence of hydrocarbons in Manipur. The project manager of the Manipur State Level Convention on Oil Exploration team, Sumit Mahajan, told that they had started conducting the survey two months back, from district Jribam. The survey has reached the Khaidem Village constituency in Imphal West. “This project, if triumphant, will be useful and bring in quite a lot of opportunities for the development of both the state and nation as a whole. Assam has reaped the benefits from the availability of slew of hydrocarbons and we are hopeful about the same for Manipur. If the results are positive, there will be surge in the employment sector paving way for Manipur’s economic prosperity,” said Mahajan. The expedition survey will take about two more years and is due to get wrapped up by April 2019. Post that, the centre and the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) will reflect upon next steps. The Government of India through Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had granted license to Jubiliant Oil and Gas Private Limited (JOGPL), a Netherlands based oil exploration company, for exploring and drilling two oil blocks in Manipur located in the Jiribam (Imphal East), Tamenglong and Churachandpur districts of Manipur, without the acknowledgement and consent of locals. The contracts were awarded under the eighth round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) of the Government of India. Earlier, as well, without any intimation of the locals, the government had undertaken series of promotions globally in 2003 and 2009 to promote the oil blocks of ‘the jeweled land’, along with others through road-shows in major cities of the world like London, Houston, Calgary and Perth etc, inviting bids to oil companies. The production sharing contract for the Manipur Oil Block 1 (AA-ONN-2009/1) was signed on 30th June, 2010 and the Petroleum Exploration License was granted by the Manipur Government on 23rd September, 2010. The Contract for Manipur block II (AA-ONN-2009/2) was signed on 19th July 2010 and the license was granted by the Manipur Government on 20th September, 2010. The deeds for the exploration licenses were signed on 15th November, 2010, all without the knowledge of the people of Manipur. The total area granted for oil exploration is 3850 Square Kilometres and it is estimated that Manipur has nearly 5000 billion cubic feet of oil. The Jubiliant Energy is envisaged to drill oil from 30 oil wells, identified by the Alpha Geo Company based in Hyderabad, which has been conducting seismic studies for Jubiliant Energy. The latest Annual report of Jubilant Energy indicates that the two Manipur Blocks have prospective oil resources ranging from 380 billion cubic feet to 1.43 trillion cubic feet, with Jubilant Energy holding 100 percent participating interest. Jalen Reeves-Maybin Jersey
Chennai Petro won’t last as standalone, has to merge with us: IOC Chairman
Merger of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL) with Indian Oil Corporation is inevitable, taking CPCL’s viability into account in a volatile situation, says IOC’s Chairman. The public sector firm held talks with Naftiran Intertrade, the Swiss subsidiary of National Iranian Oil Company, which is yet to come forward and dilute its shareholding to pave the way for the merger. The development is a recent twist in the company’s story. Naftiran Intertrade’s stake in CPCL had, at one time, been a major issue in the wake of US sanctions against Iran. Besides, it was also a bottleneck for the company, which wanted to merge with IOC. The Iranian firm holds 15.4 per cent in CPCL, while IOC holds 52 per cent. B Ashok, chairman, Indian Oil Corporation said under the current circumstances the viability of a standalone refinery such as CPCL’s is questionable, given the current volatile situation prevalent in the sector. CPCL is the only standalone refinery in the country. CPCL has had a rough time in recent years and even was even referred to the BIFR in 2014-15, due to an erosion of more than 50 per cent in its net worth, to Rs 16.55 billion as on March 31, 2015. The company managed to turn around last year and by end of March 2017, its net worth was Rs 33.14 billion. CPCL also reported the second highest profit in its history, at Rs 10.2975 billion, up form Rs 7.4186 billion, a year ago. Ashok attributed this improvement in performance due to increase in operational efficiency and successful cost cutting measures. “In order to be a sustainable company, a company needs to be operational across segments and well diversified so that it can address volatility risk. That is what IOC did and it is better for CPCL also to be the same.” CPCL is also planning to take up a Rs 270 billion project for which about Rs 90 billion equity is required at Nagapatinam in Tamil Nadu. As a standalone company, CPCL may not be able mobilise such an amount, so we have asked the Iranian partner to bring in some equity. We have given lot of options to them (the Iranian company) and are in continuous dialogue with them,” said Ashok. Meanwhile the company reported a drop in net profit to Rs 1.7089 billion during the quarter ended March 31, 2017 as against Rs 2.4788 billion. The drop was mainly due to provisions the company made towards salary and pension and towards a project. Total income during the quarter rose to Rs 94.8688 billion from Rs 91.7169 billion. Paul Richardson Authentic Jersey
Iran Wants India To Pay Three Times Gas Price For Awarding Block To OVL: Report
Iran wants India to pay more than triple the gas price for award of the coveted Farzad-B natural gas block to ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC). Iran wants India to buy all of the natural gas to be produced from the Persian Gulf block at a price equivalent to the rate Qatar charges for selling liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India under a long-term deal. Qatar, as per a revised formula agreed upon in December 2015, sells 7.5 million tonnes a year of LNG to Petronet LNG Ltd – India’s biggest gas importer – at a price of $7-plus per million British thermal unit. The rate being sought by Iran is triple of $2.3 per mmBtu rate OVL is willing to pay for the gas during low global oil prices. If global rates rise, OVL is willing to pay $4.3 per mmBtu, sources privy to the development said. When oil prices move up, rates of LNG from Qatar would also rise. Sources said that since the lifting of western sanctions, Iran is playing hardball over award of the field which was discovered by OVL. OVL has recently submitted a $5.5 billion master development plan for bringing the gas in Farzad-B to production. Iran allows all the cost sunk in by an operator to be recovered from sale of oil or gas. For this reason, it wants OVL to reduce the cost of development as well as pay a higher gas price. The two nations were initially targeting concluding a deal on Farzad-B field development by November 2016 but later mutually agreed to push the timeline to February 2017. Now, the deal is being targeted to be wrapped up by September after the two sides agree on a price and a rate of return for OVL’s investments. Farzad B was discovered by OVL in the Farsi block about 10 years ago. The project has so far cost the OVL-led consortium, which also includes Oil India Ltd and Indian Oil Corp (IOC), over $80 million. Iran was initially unhappy with the $10 billion plan submitted by OVL for development of the 12.5 trillion cubic feet reserves in Farzad-B field and an accompanying plant to liquefy the gas for transportation in ships. It felt the $5 billion cost OVL and its partners have put for developing the field was on the higher side and wanted it to be reduced. ONGC Videsh will earn a fixed rate of return and get to recover all the investment it has made in the field development. Sources said that in the new master development plan (MDP), the company has estimated cost of putting up a facility to convert gas into LNG and shipping it to India at $5-6 billion. The field in the Farsi block has an in-place gas reserve of 21.7 tcf, of which 12.5 tcf are recoverable. New Delhi is keen that the gas from the field comes to India to feed the vast energy needs. But it initially felt deterred from investing because of the fear of sanctions imposed by the US. But with the lifting of sanctions last year, it is back to discussing a master development plan. Demarcus Lawrence Womens Jersey
Away from OBOR, India pushing for ‘energy diplomacy’ in neighborhood
Away from the arc lights that accompany China’s OBOR project, India has been quietly working on creating connectivity grids in its neighborhood and moving beyond physical connectivity to energy as a tool of connectivity. From Indonesia to Mauritius, India is working on a web of energy relationships that seeks to leverage India’s position as a big source of petroleum products, sharing of technology and building inter-dependencies. “We are trying to use energy as a means of diplomacy in a very different way, not only to find overseas sources of hydrocarbons,” Dharmendra Pradhan, energy minister said to TOI. Mauritius, one of India’s closest partners in the Indian Ocean region could become a hub for petroleum storage and bunkering for which India has started building infrastructure. India already supplies petroleum products to Mauritius from Mangalore refineries as well as being a retail player in that country. As a petroleum hub, Mauritius’ can secure its own energy supplies, while India can use it to market in other parts of Africa. On the other side of the Indian Ocean, India and Indonesia are beginning an energy relationship — Indonesia is one of the world’s bigger sources of hydrocarbons and has been in and out of OPEC. But after power minister Piyush Goyal restarted an energy dialogue with Indonesia in April, India is working on a new project — to build floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) for Indonesia to help it supply energy to the thousands of islands in the country. In return, India is asking Indonesia to supply LNG kits for Indian transport vehicles. After his visit, Goyal was quoted as saying, “(we) have agreed to explore cooperation in number of areas such as upgrading of refineries in Indonesia, relocation of gas-based plants from India to Indonesia, sharing of experience in use of LEDs and renewable energy in India, sharing the expertise of Indonesia in gasification of fuel oil, exploration of oil, gas and coal fields,” Goyal said. Indonesia has asked India to bid for refineries in that country, which is the next stage. Myanmar may have its own energy sources, but China takes almost 80 per cent of its gas through a pipeline deal struck years ago. As Myanmar develops, India has taken up the job of supplying diesel to this eastern neighbor from the Numaligarh refinery in Assam. India, however, is seriously considering building an LNG terminal in Sittwe — that would be used to provide energy products to Myanmar, and, once the Kaladan multi-modal transport project is complete, can also be used to supply LNG to Aizawl in Mizoram. India is also trying to get into LPG storage and distribution in Myanmar, although the Aung San Suu Kyi government canceled a tender won by India but had been given by the former military government. The idea here, as in other neighborhood countries, said official sources, is that India wants to develop inter-dependencies, rather than make these relationships either extractive in nature or a one-way street. That way, both sides can take home wins which also makes these deals more acceptable all around. For India to use energy as a diplomatic tool, there has to be huge development on its eastern seaboard. Almost all of India’s new energy relationships are part of its Act East policy and with eastern neighbors, since the west is largely blocked off due to India’s problems with Pakistan. To address this, India is working on building LNG terminals in Ennore, Vizag/Kakinada and Dhamra all on the east coast. In recent weeks, India has cemented big energy relationships with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In Sri Lanka, India has fully utilized the Trincomalee lower tank farms, of which 10 are exclusively for the use of the Sri Lankan government. Consulting company, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) has been tasked with working out a business development model for the upper tank farms for which the lease has just been extended to 99 years. Bangladesh is emerging as the poster child for neighborhood ties. From syncing gas grids to supplying diesel (to Parbatipur) to building pipelines and gas-based power plants India plans to help Bangladesh power up. In the process, Bangladesh is allowing India to use transit facilities and even the Bangladesh grid to supply to India’s northeast. A recent unusual quid pro quo was electricity supply from India in return for Bangladesh giving internet bandwidth to India’s northeast. India is working on building a 7.5 mmt LNG terminal in Qutubdi island off Bangladesh’s coast, while Bangladesh is already lighting up with over 1000 MW power from India. Nepal did not have power cuts last winter, thanks to power supplies from India, Nepal’s ambassador Deep Upadhyay said. The new effort is to build an oil pipeline from Raxaul to Amlekhganj and onward to Chitwan — this would not only be cheaper, but Nepal is insured from phases of poor relations with India which could disrupt energy supplies. As part of BBIN, an electricity sharing MOU between India, Bangladesh Bhutan and Nepal is also in progress, which could allow Bangladesh to source power from Bhutan, or Nepal once the Himalayan country can get its act together to build more hydropower projects. The difficulties come in the form of quick delivery of projects, which is a place China scores over India. Patrick Chung Jersey
Assam got Rs 70 billion as oil royalty, Rs 63 billion investment in 11 months: Sarbananda Sonowal
Assam has received Rs 70 billion as royalty for crude oil and investments worth Rs 63 billion in the first 11 months of the BJP-led government coming to power in the state, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Saturday. Speaking at a function in Dibrugarh, his home district, Sonowal described this as a big achievement for his government, and said this had become possible because of the unconditional support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to unleash an era of development in the state. “I must put on record Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his vision as also for the union government’s unconditional support to unleash an era of development in Assam and the Northeast. While Assam has received Rs 63 billion as crude oil royalty including arrears during the last 11 months, the state has also received over Rs 63 billion worth investment in various industries during the same period,” Sonowal said. The chief minister said Assam had not seen such release of crude oil royalty and flow of funds for investments ever before. “Thanks to the prime minister’s vision for Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas, Assam is marching rapidly on the path of development. While projects for electrification of the railway line and doubling of railway track have taken off, a record number of projects for improvement of surface commencement have been also initiated in the past 11 months,” he said. The investments would generate direct and indirect employment for around 80,000 persons, he added. Super-speciality hospital Sonowal, along with Dharmendra Pradhan, Union minister of State for Petroleum and Natural gas, on Saturday also laid the foundation stone for setting up a multi-speciality hospital at Rajabari in Sivasagar district fully funded by ONGCL. The multi-speciality hospital is being built at a sprawling area of 50 acre at a cost of Rs 3.12 billion under ONGCL’s CSR programme and would have 362 beds. To be named after Sukaphaa, founder of the Ahom kingdom in 1228, the hospital would be run by the Babasaheb Ambedkar Vaidyakiya Prathisthan in partnership with the ONGC. Greg Monroe Authentic Jersey
India’s oil boom stalls
India’s gasoline consumption has flattened out in recent months after tremendous growth between 2014 and 2016. India’s motorists consumed 581,000 barrels of gasoline per day between February and April, according to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Gasoline consumption rose by 4 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, a sharp slowdown from the 14 percent increase between 2015 and 2016.. Gasoline consumption growth has been slowing since the middle of 2016 after surging for the previous two years. Consumption growth for most other fuels used for cooking and transportation has also been slowing for the last nine months. Demand for liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene used for cooking, heating and lighting as well as diesel used for transport all show signs of levelling off or actually falling in the first four months of 2017. The slowdown may have been compounded by the demonetisation of large-denomination bank notes announced at the start of November as part of the government’s anti-corruption campaign. Demonetisation resulted in a sharp slowdown in sales of the cheaper motorcycles favoured by first-time buyers in rural areas. Rapid expansion in motorcycle ownership has been one of the major factors driving increases in gasoline demand (“India’s new motorcycle owners drive gasoline boom”, Reuters, September 2016). Rising crude oil and refined fuel prices over the last year are also likely to have constrained the growth in consumption and other fuels. Demand for liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene used for cooking, heating and lighting as well as diesel used for transport all show signs of leveling off or actually falling in the first four months of 2017. Retail gasoline prices rose by around 10 percent between January 2016 and January 2017 while diesel prices climbed by almost 8 per cent, according to data from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. India’s emerging urban and rural middle class is relatively sensitive to increases in the cost of fuel so rising prices have curbed demand growth. Despite the recent slowdown in consumption growth for gasoline and other fuels it is too early to determine whether the deceleration is temporary linked to demonetisation and price rises or something more lasting. But India has been one of the most important sources of oil demand growth during the slump so any prolonged slowdown in consumption growth would make the task of global market rebalancing harder. Jordan Eberle Womens Jersey