If petrol pump refuses to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1000, govt. will rescue: Dharmendra Pradhan
Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan today announced that if the petrol pumps refuse to accept Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes then government would coordinate in the dealings. “Every petrol pump will accept notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 till November 11, I appeal all to kindly coordinate,” he said. He urged the public to avoid chaos and panic created by the news of demonetization of the sudden withdrawal of selected denomination notes from circulation. “There should be no panic and chaotic situations should be avoided, We should all work together to make it a success,” he added. In a bid to flush out black, caused chaos on Wednesday as gas stations and some retailers refused to accept the larger bills, and bank ATMs stayed closed. From midnight, the larger banknotes ceased to be legal tender for transactions other than exchanging them at banks for smaller notes or new ones for Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000. Petrol stations run by state companies will be punished for not accepting the larger denomination bank notes, even though they had been ordered to accept them till Friday night. Pradhan said people can contact him on twitter (@dpradhanbjp) to complain about any gas stations breaking the rule. Meanwhile bank ATMs were closed and many are likely to remain shut on Thursday as banks prepare for the flood of people seeking to exchange larger banknotes for smaller ones. Phil Esposito Jersey
Experts call for India-B’desh cooperation in gas exploration
India and Bangladesh should get together for joint exploration of gas to overcome the hurdle of resource and logistic mobilization, poor connectivity and most important reduction in the cost of exploration. This was expressed by the experts of both nations during the recent two-day ‘International conference on the present and future of natural gas : challenges and opportunities in NE India’ organized at the Pragya Bhavan here by the Synergy For Energy Challenges and Opportunities in N-E (SECONE), an organization funded by Indian energy companies like ONGC, GAIL, IOL etc. “Gas is a clean fuel and is part of the energy. The focus of the conference is natural gas and we have chosen Tripura because it is lying between Bangladesh and Myanmar. There is gas in the entire region starting from Bangladesh to Myanmar. At present in the northeast (India), Tripura is producing the maximum quantity of natural gas. If more focus is given then there will be more production of gas, more exploration and more gas based industries will come and there will be more development of the region,” said Anil Kr Saikia, Secretary, SECONE. Saikia said the biggest hurdle in the exploration of gas in this region is logistics and tough terrine and due to which the exploration cost is very high. “Moreover, there is transportation bottleneck along with the law and order problem but things are fast improving,” he added. Most of the experts expressed that both nations should cooperate in using each other’s expertise, territory for resource mobilization and equipment in exploration sector to bring down the cost and for viability of the project. “Bangladesh, Northeast India and Myanmar and these areas are endured with natural resources. Our resource is so big but our reserve is small because we could not explore it. What were the major hindrances the political boundaries, logistically difficult and because of these two it becomes costlier in exploration. That is why Bangladesh could not do very good, nor India or the Burmese in the north-eastern part. If we cooperate each other; politically these are different countries but geologically it is one. There are seven to eight borders connected with very well road, communication. Hence, within no time we can mobilize our equipment and material to the sites,” said Md Maqbhul E Elahi, former director of Petro Bangla of Bangladesh and an energy expert. Elahi added: “To drill one well you need to mobilize 1200 tonnes of equipments. If we use Bangladesh roads and mobilize the equipments to Tripura or Myanmar side then in no time we can reach at almost no cost. Even to reach Digboy and these areas, it only takes six to seven hours time from Sylhet which has good road and communication. So, if we use it then the exploration cost reduces and initiative from the private partners will grow up. So, if we can cooperate then definitely we can in a very short time develop much faster compared to other parts of the world.” Meantime, ONGC Tripura Asset Manager S.C. Soni said there is a need for regional cooperation in energy sector between India, Myanmar and Bangladesh for development and prosperity. “But there is a misconception or misunderstanding in this regard. There should be cooperation between Indian and Bangladesh because we are sharing the boundary and our fields are very nearby and so we can exchange our technical expertise and our data to them and they are also actually ready to share their data so that actually we can have a mutual cooperation. We also need to have a gas grid system between India, Myanmar and Bangladesh,” he added. Soni further said that both Bangladesh and Northeast India have gas which needs to be tapped in a planned way, adding a gas grid shall come up in north-east India by 2030 which shall be connected with the neighouring nations. Teddy Bridgewater Authentic Jersey
L&T ties up with Japan’s Chiyoda for emission control technology
Indian firm has signed licence agreement with Chiyoda Corp for its flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) technology, which reduces sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions in thermal power plants. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has entered into a long-term technical licence agreement with Japan’s ChiyodaCorporation for its Chiyoda Thoroughbred 121TM (CT-121TM) flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) technology. The agreement grants L&T exclusive rights to undertake EPC of CT-121TM FGD systems. As per the notification of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) issued in December 2015, new limits on sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions has been introduced for coal-based thermal power plants in India. The move, which makes Indian emission norms among the most stringent in the world, has called for mandatory installation of FGD systems in upcoming power plants, including those currently under construction and many that are already operational. “As a responsible corporate citizen, L&T is committed to containing emissions and has always complied with the relevant government norms. The agreement with ChiyodaCorporation is yet another major step in that direction,” said Shailendra Roy, CEO & MD, L&T Power and whole-time director (power, heavy engineering & defence), L&T. Ryosuke Shimizu, director & senior vice president (technology development, investment & project operations), Chiyoda Corporation, added, “We are very happy to contribute to India’s development of energy and environment in harmony with our own technology.” The CT-121TM FGD process is a unique technology developed by Chiyoda in which sulphur dioxide is absorbed from flue gas generated by coal-fired, oil-fired and other types of boilers and removed as gypsum. Unlike conventional processes in which the reagent slurry is sprayed on flue gas, the CT-121TM process uses Chiyoda’s unique absorber, the Jet Bubbling Reactor (JBR), in which the flue gas is blown into the reagent slurry, forming a fine bubble bed where SO2 is absorbed, oxidised by injected air, and then neutralised by ground limestone slurry. This technology is highly efficient, enabling low-cost removal of flue gas SO2. Moreover, it ensures that the plant remains compact and easy to maintain. L&T and Chiyoda’s relationship dates back over two decades with L&T-Chiyoda Limited, a JV that has come to be an internationally reputed design and engineering consultancy organisation catering to the hydrocarbon sector. Through the signing of this agreement, the two companies have extended their association into the power sector as well. Orlando Cepeda Authentic Jersey
Get mini gas cylinders via supermarkets soon
Targeting the city’s floating population, Indane plans to introduce small 5 kg liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders through supermarkets and malls. A customer who wants a new small-size cooking gas cylinder will have to pay Rs. 1,018, excluding the safety hose and regulator. Of the total price of Rs. 1,018, Rs. 700 would go towards the cost of the cylinder and Rs. 318 for refill, explained a source from the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC), which owns the brand. Indane had launched these cylinders in 2013 and they were made available through company-operated fuel outlets and gas agencies. However, the scheme failed to take off at fuel outlets. “This time, we are reaching out to the consumers. The price of the cylinder has also been reduced from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 700. The connections would be made available over the counter. Consumers can produce any government-approved ID proof and purchase the cylinders. Residential proof is not necessary,” explained a source. Target customers Since the cylinders are targeted at people who are not permanent residents of the city, there is a ‘buy back’ offer whereby consumers can return the cylinder and get Rs. 500 for it, he added. However, distributors said the 5 kg cylinders were already available over the counter and were being opted for by roadside vendors and those residing in places like East Coast Road where there are no gas agencies nearby. “These are cash and carry options… there is no home delivery,” said a distributor. Meanwhile, a press release from the All India LPG Distributors Federation sought to reassure consumers that they need not worry about a strike from November 15 that has been called by another association as it does not have any presence in Tamil Nadu. Ron Hainsey Womens Jersey
BP announces further progress towards rebalancing organic cash flows in 2017
BP has reported a profit for the third quarter of 2016 of USD933 million on an underlying replacement cost basis. This compares to USD720 million profit for the previous quarter and USD1.8 billion for the third quarter of 2015. The quarter’s result was affected by a weaker price and margin environment. It was also negatively impacted by several mainly one-off and non-cash items in the Upstream. However, the result also included benefits from lower cash costs being incurred throughout the Group and a positive one-time tax credit. Underlying operating cash flow, which excludes pre-tax Gulf of Mexico payments, was $4.8 billion for the quarter. It was $13.3 billion for the first nine months of the year, benefitting from reliable operations and lower cash costs. BP announced an unchanged dividend for the quarter of 10c per ordinary share, expected to be paid in December. “We continue to make good progress in adapting to the challenging price and margin environment,” Brian Gilvary, BP’s chief financial officer said. “We remain on track to rebalance organic cash flows next year at USD50 to USD55 a barrel, underpinned by continued strong operating reliability and momentum in resetting costs and capital spending. At the same time we are investing in the projects, businesses and options to deliver growth in the years ahead.” BP’s cash costs over the past four quarters were USD6.1 billion lower than in 2014, continuing the Group’s progress towards 2017 cash costs being USD7 billion lower than in 2014. BP’s expectation for 2016 organic capital expenditure was reduced again and it is now expected to total around USD16 billion, compared to original guidance of USD17-19 billion given at the start of the year. BP expects capital expenditure in 2017 to be between USD15 billion and 17 billion. Cash divestment proceeds for the year to date, including the partial sale of BP’s shareholding in Castrol India, are now USD2.7 billion. At the end of the third quarter, BP’s gearing level was 25.9 per cent, within the targeted 20-30 per cent range. The Brent oil price averaged USD46 a barrel in the quarter, compared with USD50 a barrel in 3Q 2015, and gas prices outside the US were also weaker. Refining margins were steeply down from a year earlier, depressed by high product stock levels. BP reported an overall headline profit for the quarter of USD1.6 billion, which includes a net gain of USD728 million for non-operating items and fair value accounting effects. This is comparable to a profit of USD46 million a year earlier and a loss of USD1.4 billion in the second quarter of this year, when significant charges associated with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill were taken. Both of BP’s main operating segments continued to demonstrate strong operational performance, with Upstream plant reliability at 95 per cent and refining availability in Downstream at 95.4% in the first three quarters of the year. BP’s Downstream segment delivered resilient results despite refining margins weaker than both the previous quarter and, particularly, a year earlier. Underlying pre-tax replacement cost profit was $1.4 billion, compared with $1.5 billion for 2Q 2016 and USD2.3 billion for 3Q 2015. Compared with a year earlier, the impact of the lower refining margin environment was partially offset by an increased retail performance and cost reductions across the segment. BP’s Upstream segment reported an underlying pre-tax replacement cost loss of USD224 million, compared with profits of USD29 million for 2Q 2016 and USD823 million for 3Q 2015. Compared with a year earlier, the result reflected weaker oil and non-US gas prices and lower gas marketing and trading results, together with the impact of higher exploration write-offs and rig cancellation charges. The impacts of these were partially offset by benefits of cost reduction programmes in the Upstream. BP estimated its share of Rosneft net income for the third quarter to be USD120 million, compared with USD246 million for 2Q 2016 and USD382 million for 3Q 2015. In July BP received a dividend of USD332 million, representing 35 per cent of BP’s share of Rosneft’s 2015 IFRS net income. In the Upstream, BP announced an agreement for a second production sharing agreement with CNPC for shale gas in China and also amendment of a number of concessions in Egypt that enabled the fast-track development of the Nooros field. In September, BP and Det Norske completed the formation of their Norwegian joint venture. On completion of the sale of BP Norge, BP received a 30 per cent equity interest in Aker BP. The In Amenas Compression project in Algeria is on schedule to commence operation in the fourth quarter, which would make it the fifth Upstream major project to start this year. In October, BP announced its decision not to continue its exploration programme in the Great Australian Bight, off the south coast of Australia. In the Downstream, BP continues to see marketing growth with retail volumes increasing by 3 per cent in the year to date and two new convenience partnerships in Europe. Willie Roaf Jersey
Total signs first post-sanctions Western energy deal with Iran to develop largest gas field
France’s Total has signed a deal with Iran to further develop its part of the world’s largest gas field, becoming the first western energy company to sign a major deal with Tehran since the lifting of international sanctions earlier this year. Total confirmed on Tuesday it had signed a heads of agreement with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for the Phase 11 development of South Pars in the Gulf, which extends into Qatari waters where it is known as the North field. The SP11 project will progress in two stages, the first costing an estimated $2 billion, Total said. The produced gas will be fed into Iran’s gas network. The French company has already played a key role in Iran’s energy industry, including the development of phases 2 and 3 of South Pars in the 2000s, before pulling out of the country after international sanctions were imposed in 2010. Foreign companies keen to tap into Iran’s vast oil and gas reserves have so far made little inroads into the country despite the lifting of many sanctions earlier this year following a landmark agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme. Tehran has pledged to open up its oil industry but foreign companies, including BP and Italy’s Eni recently said they still have little information about Iranian oil fields and contract terms, hindering investment decisions. Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne, who has taken some major investment decisions in recent years despite one of the sector’s longest downturns, said the agreement “resulted in an attractive commercial framework.” Total said it would operate the SP11 project and have a 50.1 percent stake in it. Petropars, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company, will have a 19.9 percent stake while state-China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) will have a 30 percent stake. The development will have a production capacity of 1.8 billion cubic feet per day, or 370,000 barrels of oil equivalent, with output to be fed into Iran’s gas network. “This project fits with the group’s strategy of expanding its presence in the Middle East, where the origins of the group lie, and growing its gas portfolio by adding low unit cost, long plateau gas assets,” Pouyanne said in a statement. Total will develop the project in compliance with national and international laws and the investment will be undertaken without bank finance, he told reporters. Mikkel Boedker Jersey
GAIL’s plans and projects aligned to help India move towards becoming a gas based economy : B C Tripathi
As India marches ahead towards becoming a gas based economy, the role of GAIL (India) Ltd— India’s largest gas transportation company assumes a lot of significance. Out of India’s 15000 kms pipelines network, GAIL owns natural gas pipelines network in excess of 11,000 kms. Besides, the company is currently executing about 3500 kms of pipeline network (under construction) while a large chunk of other projects across the value chain including petrochemical plants, shipping facilities, LNG terminal and others are under various stages of planning and execution. With the increasing demand for gas in the domestic segment, GAIL is also moving fast to expand its city gas distribution (CGD) network, with the most recent being the Rs 10 billion CGD network project announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the city of Varanasi (in Uttar Pradesh). Named as Urja Ganga (or the River of Energy), the project will see GAIL laying a pipeline network of 800 kms in the city of Varanasi and feed clean fuel to nearly 3.7 million population residing in the city. Apart from possessing one of the fastest project execution capabilities for laying pipelines, the company also has six gas processing plants for production of LPG, integrated petrochemical plants, LNG importing facilities (existing and under construction) besides having a decent presence in the upstream oil and gas sector. Along with sister PSUs, GAIL has participating interests (equity stakes) in various oil and gas blocks awarded under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) bidding rounds of Government of India. In a free-wheeling interaction with Anupama Airy, the Chairman and Managing Director of GAIL (India) Ltd, B C Tripathi spoke in detail about the company’s investment plans and strategies in line with India’s plans to emerge as a gas based economy. The roadmap ahead for the company clearly holds a lot of investment potential for domestic and global companies in the energy space. While doing so, the company is also working towards while already contributing in a big way to the government’s Make in India drive while aiming to create new job opportunities and increased business options for the domestic industry. Excerpts: How is GAIL aligning itself and contributing towards the government’s plans of positioning India as a gas based economy? Also touch upon how your projects are helping the government in its Make in India drive while offering investment opportunities to investors across the globe? The larger policy push of the government is indeed on making India as the gas based economy. So we are trying to place the midstream sector and our operations in line with and aiming to fulfil the government’s vision to spread gas across the country. Even today 50% of the country does not have access to gas so the major expansion plan of the pipeline that we at GAIL have started is about 3,500 kilometers line (trunk pipelines) entailing an investment of Rs 200 billion. This is definitely going to give support to the steel companies, EPC consultancy companies and other associated local equipment suppliers and manufacturers. The second big ticket programme of this government is to supply clean fuel (gas) to households and GAIL is playing a major role in supplying piped natural gas (PNG) to households with Rs 60 billion of approved projects. We are also pushing LPG to rural areas where taking gas pipeline infrastructure is comparatively costly and the government is rightly and in a major way already supplying subsidised LPG to the rural areas. Today the biggest PNG project by GAIL is in the city of Bangalore where there is a huge potential. Now with the recent approval of the Cabinet seven more cities in Eastern India have come to GAIL for providing PNG through a network of pipeline infrastructure. With this, GAIL will be largely present across the big cities in India barring a few like Chennai in South India. All seven cities are along the Jagdishpur-Haldia pipeline and include Varanasi, Patna, Bhubneshwar, Cuttak, Jamshedpur, Ranchi and Kolkata. With these 3500 kms of trunk pipelines you will also have 20 other medium towns which will be in the catchment of these pipelines. They will offer investment opportunities in the city gas sector where the private sector players can come on their own or as Joint venture partners with GAIL and start expanding the city gas network. The other expansion that we are looking at is the east coast LNG terminal at Kakinada. We hope this will be the first LNG terminal that will be commissioned on the east coast. It is on FSRU based project and the target is that by December 2017, this terminal should be commissioned. Lot of activities have already happened and the state government of Andhra Pradesh has already given their in-principal approval to be one of the partners and be the anchor load customer there. This gives support for the financial closure of the project. This is another opportunity where we could invite the international investors to come as partners in the LNG infrastructure on the east coast. Apart from this, in the western India, the old terminal of erstwhile Dabhol will now go for a breakwater as the demerger is going to happen. Following the de-merger, the LNG terminal will be a separate company led by GAIL and we have agreed to infuse further equity (alongwith NTPC Ltd) to create the breakwater facility. So this terminal will also be functional in 2-3 years and unlike now when it remains shut for 5-6 months, it will be made functional round the year after the breakwater facility is created. Then we have the Dhamra LNG terminal in Odisha where we are working with Adani and IOC, where we have taken the equity as also the capacity, should also be ready by 2020. There will also be an LNG terminal in down South near Chennai by IOC apart from our LNG terminals Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra. Then in Kochi you already have an LNG terminal as also in Gujarat. So, the whole
Modi’s Ujjwala scheme set to cross 10 million mark this week
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to give liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to the poor without upfront charges is gaining the scale of a flagship entitlement scheme akin to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) piloted by the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The Ujjwala scheme of distributing clean cooking fuel to women in poor households launched in May by Modi is set to cross 10 million connections this week, with states in the east, north-east and hilly regions being the biggest beneficiaries, a person involved in implementing the scheme said on condition of anonymity. Poll-bound Uttar Pradesh is the largest beneficiary state with 3.4 million poor women getting the connection, followed by states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Jharkhand and the north-eastern states too have got priority status under the scheme with no cap on the number of connections to be issued. Members of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and minorities are the major beneficiaries of the scheme. Interestingly, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had performed well in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, the party wants to consolidate its position in states like Odisha and make further inroads into the north-east which together comprise 25 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP is in power in Assam. It also partners government in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Similarly, West Bengal and Odisha remain crucial for the BJP because the two states together control 63 Lok Sabha seats. Jammu & Kashmir is also a priority area for the BJP where it had won seats in Jammu and Ladakh regions, while the party continued its dismal performance in the Kashmir valley where it drew a blank. The performance was repeated in December 2014 when BJP won seats in Jammu but didn’t open an account in the Valley. The steps taken by the NDA is also crucial because the BJP leadership hopes to play a decisive role in the assembly elections in states like Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarkhand, Uttar Pradesh and north-eastern states in the next two years. States are given priority status if LPG use is less than the national average of 61% of households. Geographically and economically-challenged states received priority as LPG access has been less in those regions. “Our target for the current financial year is 15 million connections. We have already cleared applications more than that and are working towards releasing all of that shortly. In a day or two, we will cross the 10 million mark,” explained the person quoted above. To make sure that all the households that are given connections get easy refills, oil companies Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd are adding the number of distributors. This year, the companies added 300 distributorships and more than 1,600 applications are being processed. Companies have also identified 400 locations for new distributors in Uttar Pradesh. The drive to promote LPG as a clean cooking fuel is altering the country’s energy mix resulting in higher import of LPG and sufficient kerosene for industrial purposes as well as for exports. The drive is also part of a strategy to veer the country towards a gas-based economy in light of the climate change action plan. According to Kalpana Jain, senior director, Deloitte in India, how well gas is absorbed in the economy is a function of infrastructure available to take the fuel to the consumption points. Mikkel Diskerud Jersey
Slow pace of private vehicles switching to compressed natural gas worries government
At a time when the National Democratic Alliance government is pulling out all stops to move towards a gas-based economy, it is concerned about the slow pace of private petrol and diesel vehicles switching to compressed natural gas (CNG), according to two officials from the ministry of petroleum and natural gas who did not want to be identified. Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan has set a target of gas contributing 15% to India’s clean energy mix. Gas currently contributes 6.5% in India’s energy basket. The Narendra Modi-led government’s inclination towards cleaner sources of fuel comes in the backdrop of its pledge to reduce its carbon footprint. India on 2 October became the 62nd country to ratify the Paris climate deal which came into effect on 4 November. “The rate at which cars are adopting gas as fuel is a little worrisome as we wanted a faster conversion rate and more sizeable quantity. A lot of cars have shifted but there are still a lot more to go. We are also looking to increase CNG outlets in the country that will facilitate vehicles to have easier access to the cleaner fuel,” said one of the officials. The petroleum ministry in a draft policy, issued on 5 March 2015, lowered the threshold investment limit for marketing rights for CNG to Rs.5 billion from Rs.20 billion to encourage new retail outlets. According to Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, an arm under the petroleum ministry, as on 31 March 2016 there are 1,081 CNG stations in the country with 2,557,895 CNG-fuelled private vehicles consuming a total of 2,155.44 thousand tonnes of the clean fuel. Queries emailed to the spokesperson of the ministry of petroleum and natural gas on 4 October remained unanswered. According to experts, while there is a sizeable chunk of vehicles that use CNG there is a need to increase the number of gas-based vehicles. “Gas-based vehicles have obvious advantages over petrol- and diesel-fuelled vehicles,” said Dilip Khanna, partner at EY, a consultancy. India’s domestic gas production fell by 5% to 33.65 billion cubic metres (bcm) in financial year 2015-16 compared with 35.40 bcm a year ago. Currently, India’s natural gas demand is 473 million standard cu. metre per day (mscmd) which is expected to increase to 494 mscmd in 2017-18 and 523 mscmd in 2018-19. Morten Andersen Womens Jersey
India may shortly move towards dynamic petroleum product pricing model
With two international oil companies set to start retail sale of petroleum products in India, the domestic market’s move towards dynamic pricing seems imminent, said two officials from the ministry of petroleum and natural gas who did not want to be named. Under dynamic, or real-time, pricing, price of a product can vary as fixed by individual retailers across locations and duration of the day. At present, retailers charge uniform prices for petroleum products such as diesel and petrol across outlets in the same region. Though the prices of domestic cooking gas and kerosene are set by the government, petrol and diesel prices are deregulated. “With international entities such as Rosneft OAO and BP Plc coming in the retail scenario, we might see dynamic pricing for petrol and diesel as competition is sure to increase,” said one of the officials. While BP has recently received a licence to set up 3,500 fuel stations, Rosneft inherited 2,700 retail outlets following a deal to acquire Essar Oil Ltd. According to an 8 September 2016 report by Mint newspaper, state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL) has already started experimenting with dynamic pricing at select outlets. Currently, India has 56,190 fuel retail outlets, including state-run and private, which sell petrol and diesel of firms such as Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOC), HPCL and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL). The other firms involved in the fuel retail are Numaligarh Refinery Ltd and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. Also, private entities such as Reliance Industries Ltd, Essar Oil (acquired by Roseneft) and Shell India also retail petroleum products. According to a draft policy by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, there are three retail outlet models in place—dealer owned dealer operated, dealer owned corporation operated and corporation owned corporation operated. Queries emailed to the spokesperson of the petroleum ministry on 4 October remained unanswered. According to experts, competition will improve the retailing standards in the country. “India will now experience international standards which will surely improve consumer experience,” said Sanjay Grover, partner at EY, a consultancy. According to BP Global data, India has emerged as the third-largest consumer of crude oil with a consumption of 4.2 million barrels per day (mbpd) for calendar year 2015, after the US (19.39 mbpd) and China (11.96 mbpd). India overtook Japan, which consumed 4.15 mbpd. A 12 September Fitch Ratings report noted consumption growth for petroleum products to remain strong over the medium term. “Consumption increased by 7.8% in the first quarter of the fiscal year to end-March 2017 compared with 10.9% in FY16. We expect growth to moderate to around 5-6% in FY17 and thereafter. We also expect continued strong gasoline consumption growth of around 9-10% over the medium term, supported by robust passenger vehicle sales amid low crude-oil prices,” the report added. Adrian Colbert Womens Jersey