Rename Mumbai High as Veer Savarkar Mumbai Offshore: BJP
Mumbai High, India’s biggest oil and gas fields, should be renamed after freedom fighter Veer Savarkar, a leading energy expert and BJP spokesperson has demanded. The Mumbai High fields, which were previously called Bombay High, should be named Veer Savarkar Mumbai Offshore, BJP spokesperson Narendra Taneja said. The fields, operated by state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), produce 40 per cent of India’s crude oil output and more than half of natural gas. In a letter to Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, he sought a direction to be given to ONGC “to name their flagship Mumbai Offshore oil and gas fields, located in his (Savarkar’s) home state Maharashtra, after the Amar Shaheed Veer Savarkar.” There will be no change of name involved as such. The fields can be just named the Veer Savarkar Mumbai Offshore, including the Mumbai High,” he wrote. Taneja said Mumbai Offshore is the single most valuable asset controlled by the Government of India. “The total value of Mumbai Offshore, based on the proven and estimated reserves of oil and gas, should be in the excess of USD 200 billion,” he said. “Naming India’s most valuable asset after the great Veer Savarkar will be a lasting tribute to his immense contribution in the freedom struggle and nation building,” he wrote. He complimented Pradhan for building the Veer Savarkar Jyot at the Cellular Jail in Port Blair last month. “However, I think we, as a nation, need to do more to remember the great sacrifices ‘Swatantra Veer’ Vinayak Damodar Savarkar made in the service of his Motherland,” he added. Derwin James Womens Jersey
Petrol price cut by 89 paise per litre, diesel cheaper by 49 paise per litre
Petrol price was today cut by 89 paise a litre and diesel by 49 paise a litre, the first decrease in rates in two months. Petrol will cost Rs 64.76 a litre in Delhi from tonight as compared to Rs 65.65 per litre currently, Indian Oil Corp, the nation’s largest fuel retailer, announced. Similarly, diesel will cost Rs 54.70 per litre as against Rs 55.19 a litre currently. This is the first reduction in rates in two months. Petrol price was last hiked by 5 paise a litre on June 16 and diesel by Rs 1.26 a litre. Petrol prices in the four hikes since May 1 had been raised by Rs 4.52 a litre, while diesel rates had gone up by Rs 7.72 per litre. “The current level of international product prices of petrol and diesel and Rupee-US Dollar exchange rate warrant decrease in selling price of petrol and diesel, the impact of which is being passed on to the consumers with this price revision,” IOC said in a statement. Barring an exemption on April 16, when price of petrol was cut by 74 paise a litre and diesel by Rs 1.30, the upward trend in rates had been a phenomenon since March 17. After discounting the April 16 reduction, petrol prices have jumped by Rs 9.04 per litre since mid-March and diesel by Rs 11.05 per litre. The movement of prices in the international oil market and Rupee-USD exchange rate shall continue to be monitored closely and developing trends of the market will be reflected in future price changes, IOC added. Phillip Gaines Womens Jersey
Panel begins work on preparing blueprint for refinery exports
An expert panel has begun work on drafting blueprint for raising India’s oil refining capacity by 2040 with a view not just meeting demands of the fast expanding economy but also to capture export market. The 12-member Working Group for preparing Approach Paper for enhancing refining capacity by 2040 held it first meeting on June 27, officials said. The panel began work by asking public and private sector refiners to present their plans for capacity expansion and asked for domestic demand assessments to be made. The panel headed by Additional Secretary in the Oil Ministry and include directors of refineries at Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL). It would also comprise of representatives of private sector Reliance Industries and Essar Oil besides managing directors of Numaligarh Refineries Ltd, Mangalore Refineries Ltd and Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd (CPCL), officials said. India has a refining capacity of 232.066 million tons, which exceeded the demand of 183.5 MT in the 2015-16 fiscal. According to International Energy Agency (EA), this demand is forecast to reach 458 MT by 2040. Considering a modest fuel demand growth of 4 per cent, the present capacity will be insufficient in next few years. “India is one of the fastest developing countries in the world and simultaneously, the world energy demand is expected to double in the next 30 years with energy portfolio undergoing a transition to one that includes a wide range of sources,” said an oil ministry order constituting the Group. Officials said expansions underway will raise the refining capacity to about 260 MT by 2018. The rise in projected demand, the order said, paves the way for gradual shift towards renewable and cleaner fuels richer in hydrogen or to neat hydrogen. “It has been envisioned that the energy mix in 2040 could be entirely different from what it is today. Also, new capacities in petroleum refining will depend upon aggregation of demand from different petroleum derived products, which itself depends upon substitution by other forms of energy and government policies,” it said. It was felt that an approach paper for refinery capacity expansion of PSU refineries by the year 2040 needs to be prepared for meeting the growing demand of petroleum products in the country, the order said. Officials said the Working Group in three months would assess primary energy requirement for 2040 as also likely technological developments in different energy fields. It would then develop primary energy mix with breakup in terms of gas, oil, coal, nuclear, solar, hydro and biofuel. India has leapfrogged from a modest 62 million tons per annum refining capacity in 1998 to 232 MT at the end of March 31, 2016. Linval Joseph Authentic Jersey
OIL offers to do its bit for island village
Public sector oil company Oil India Limited (OIL) has come forward to develop the island village Lanka of Thane Lanka in Mummidivaram mandal of East Godavari district with an expected outlay of Rs. 15.50 million and handed over Rs. 5 million to the district administration towards the first instalment. Lanka of Thane Lanka has one of the eight gas wells allocated to OIL in East Godavari district and the engineers found the site suitable for high pressure and high temperature (HTHT) rigging. The OIL commenced the natural gas exploration works at the well in November last with the support from the local residents. Now, as part of fulfilling its corporate social responsibility, the OIL decided to contribute its mite for the development of the village and the surrounding areas. Deputy General Manager of the firm B. Prasantha handed over the cheque for Rs. 5 million to Collector H. Arun Kumar here. Accompanied by the CSR in-charge Ramakrishna, Prasantha called on Mr. Arun Kumar in the latter’s chambers and explained in detail the natural gas exploration operations by the OIL in the district. Lauding the firm’s initiative, Arun Kumar called upon the corporate companies to join hands with the district administration for the overall development of the district. Corey Seager Womens Jersey
GAIL begins gas supplies to Chinese wheel producer
GAIL India Ltd, the nation’s biggest natural gas transporter, has begun supplying gas to the India unit of the world’s largest automotive Aluminium wheel producer Wanfeng Group. Gas supplies to Wanfeng Aluminium Wheels (India) Pvt Ltd’s plant at Rewari in Haryana commenced on June 27, company sources said. The Rewari plant is the first overseas manufacturing facility of the Chinese company. Wanfeng invest about USD 50 million in the plant which will have an annual prod… Wanfeng invest about USD 50 million in the plant which will have an annual production capacity of 3 million motorcycle wheels. The plant which became operational last year will also produce other auto wheels. The Chinese Group produces 12 million automotive wheels a year and 18 million motorcycle wheels. Sources said gas supplies to the plant Rewari plant of the company was provided as part of government’s programme to push for manufacturing in the country through the ‘Make-in- India’ initiative. GAIL is supplying gas to the unit through Sultanpur-Neemrana gas pipeline. It will supply 25,500 standard cubic meters per day of gas for five years. The gas being supplied to Wanfeng is imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), sources said. The Rewari plant will manufacture alloy wheels for companies like Maruti Suzuki, Hero Moto Corp and Honda Motorcycle and Honda Car. Globally, Wanfeng’s main clients include General Motors, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, PSA, Fiat, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Hyundai Kia Automotive Group Erik Haula Womens Jersey
Govt decides to extend budgetary grants to Gail, GSPC
The government has decided to extend budgetary grants to Gail India Ltd and Gujarat State Petroleum Corp. (GSPC) to meet any shortfall in the cost of their pipeline projects, in a bid to speed up doubling the country’s gas transportation network over the next few years from 15,000km now. The agreement between the oil ministry and the finance ministry to help pipeline projects reach financial closure, along with the planned revival of three fertilizer factories that will buy natural gas from Gail, will aid the expansion of the country’s gas highway which has made little progress in the last two years, said a government official who is involved in the discussions. Problems relating to project viability, absence of anchor customers for natural gas along the pipeline and political opposition from southern states—Tamil Nadu and Kerala—had delayed India’s ambitious plan to expand the pipeline network. That situation is changing now. “Reviving the state-owned fertilizer factories at Sindri in Jharkhand, Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and Barauni in Bihar will provide anchor gas customers to the Phulpur (Allahabad)-Haldia pipeline project of Gail. The finance ministry has agreed to provide budgetary support to bridge the shortfall in covering the project cost of this and other pipeline projects,” said the official quoted above, asking not to be identified. This project is divided into different phases and, once completed, will transport 16 million metric standard cubic metres of gas per day along a 1700km route, supplying fuel to industrial units and facilitating city gas distribution. State-owned NTPC Ltd and Coal India Ltd announced setting up of a joint venture on 17 May to build new gas-based fertilizer units in the premises of Fertilizer Corp. of India’s (FCIL) Sindri and Gorakhpur units and Hindustan Fertilizer Corp. Ltd’s Barauni unit, which will help these ailing companies. Indian Oil Corp. is in the process of joining the project. The ministries initially considered supporting the pipeline projects with viability gap funding, a scheme to provide capital support to infrastructure projects built through public-private partnerships, but instead decided to give direct budgetary support because finding a private partner will be time consuming, the official said. Grant from the government could be up to 35% or 40% of the project cost as per the requirement, said the official. An email sent to Gail on Wednesday remained unanswered. A gas transportation network across the country is essential for enabling many fertilizer units to replace naphtha (a liquid hydrocarbon) with more efficient gas as feedstock and many power plants to move from diesel to the less polluting gas. Shifting to a gas-based economy is part of India’s climate change plan. Part of the land acquisition problem for Gail in the south for its 884km Kochi-Koottanad-Bengaluru-Mangalore pipeline looks set to be solved with the new Left Democratic Front chief minister in Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, promising land use rights for projects of economic importance, including gas pipelines. Vijayan told Mint in an interview on 21 June that the state has limited land available and when people give it up for infrastructure projects, they have to be sufficiently compensated. Gail only acquires the right to use land and returns it to the owner after laying underground pipelines. The owner gets a percentage of the market value of the land as compensation. A host of small industries along the pipeline’s route in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are expected to get clean fuel once the project is completed. Tamil Nadu still opposes about 300km of the pipeline which passes through the state. Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in an interview to Mint on 15 March that new terminals are being built at Ennore in Tamil Nadu, Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh and Dhamra in Odisha to re-gasify imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) which will boost availability of the clean fuel. The other gas transportation network being built will connect Ranchi to Paradip, Paradip to Surat and Mallavaram to Bhilwada. India produced 32 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas and imported 21 bcm in 2015-16. Jake McGee Jersey
With black-marketing curbs, LPG imports see 30% jump
India’s LPG imports grew by a whopping 29.5% in May 2016 against the same month the previous year. The LPG imports in May this year stood at 35.6 thousand metric ton (tmt) against 27.5 tmt in May 2015. India’s LPG imports grew by a whopping 29.5% in May 2016 against the same month the previous year. The LPG imports in May this year stood at 35.6 thousand metric ton (tmt) against 27.5 tmt in May 2015. The total consumption of LPG has risen by 7.4% in May this year at 1607.5 tmt compared to 1496.6 tmt in the same month previous year. The buyers in the non-domestic or commercial category consumed 130 tmt of cooking fuel in May this year, a rise of 21.5% against 107 tmt in the same month previous year. This indicated that with the diversion of subsidised domestic LPG to them being curbed, commercial category consumers have come clean on their consumption. Similarly, the bulk consumption of LPG went up by 22% at 31.5 tmt in May 2016 against 25.8 tmt in May 2015. The only consumers who saw a 4.8% decline in LPG consumption is automobiles. A non-domestic 19.2-kg LPG refill costs R979 in New Delhi. The siphoning-off of cheaper and subsidised cooking gas meant for households towards commercial usage has stopped after the government launched a scheme — PAHAL — for direct transfer of LPG subsidy to consumers all over the country from January 1, 2015. Under this scheme, LPG is being sold to consumers at the market rate while the subsidy is directly credited to their bank accounts. Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan, while talking about two years of the BJP government in power, had said more than Rs. 210 billion of subsidy has been saved by implementing PAHAL. In addition to stopping black marketing of cheap LPG, 33.4 million duplicate, inactive, ghost accounts were detected and blocked. The consumption saw a rise of modest 5.7% in the biggest consuming category of LPG — domestic. The users in this category consumed 1396.5 tmt of LPG in May 2016 against 1321.7 tmt in May 2015. Currently, a domestic subsidised 14.2-kg LPG refill costs R419.18 in New Delhi and the government offers a cash discount of another R129.32 on each refill. More than 15 million consumers have opted to buy cooking fuel at market rates and do not enjoy any subsidy. A non-subsidied domestic LPG refill costs R548.50 in the Capital. During 2014-16, 36.6 million new LPG connections, including 6.5 million connections to BPL households, were provided – the highest ever in the history of India. Pradhan targets to provide 100 million new LPG connections in the next three years, out of which, 50 million connections are for BPL households under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY). To meet the growing demand of LPG, 10,000 new distributorships will be commissioned, primarily in rural areas, said the petroleum minister, adding that LPG coverage would increase significantly from the current level of 61%. Currently, India produces about 11 million ton or about 60% is produced indigenously, while remaining 40% are imported. Tim Schaller Womens Jersey
Mukesh Ambani’s pvt firms hit slow lane
Net worth of Reliance Gas erodes by Rs 19 billion; port, power companies report lower profits. Mukesh Ambani’s private companies, operating in the gas transport, power and port sectors, moved into the slow lane in financial year 2015-16 (FY16). This was mainly because of a slowdown in gas production in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin, and increased provisions for redemption of preference shares and debentures. According to statistics submitted to stock exchanges, Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure (RGTIL) reported a loss of Rs 5.38 billion in FY16 compared to a loss of Rs 4.36 billion a year ago. The company had received a loan restructuring package from banks under the 5/25 scheme last year for its debt worth Rs 160 billion. Under the scheme, banks are allowed to extend the repayment schedule of loans to 25 years with an option to refinance them at the end of five years. Falling gas production from the KG basin eroded the company’s net worth by Rs 18.91 billion. It earned five per cent less revenue in the FY16 at Rs 12.95 billion. When contacted, an official spokesperson of Reliance Industries (RIL) declined to comment. RGTIL expects better performance in the long run because of the commissioning of liquefied natural gas terminals and an increase in gas production, it informed bondholders. The Ambanis have promised to invest more equity in the company, which constructed a 1,386-km gas pipeline from the east coast of India to Gujarat to supply industries based in west coast. However, sales and profit fell in line with RIL’s gas production. The company’s finance costs fell to Rs 5.71 billion from Rs 6.57 billion as on March 2015, thanks to the 5/25 scheme. At present, RGTIL charges its customers according to the tariff fixed by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) and has made provisions for Rs 25.15 billion of revenues for the period April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2015, which is the difference between the provisional tariff and final tariff that is yet to be cleared by PNGRB. This will be recovered from future bills of gas transport from its customers after PNGRB clears the tariff, the company said. However, as they had to make provisions for redemption of preference shares and debentures, both companies reported lower profits. Reliance Ports and Terminals made a profit of Rs 550 million as compared to a profit of Rs 4.72 billion in FY15. The company reported revenues of Rs 37.92 billion in FY16 as compared to Rs 36.53 billion in FY15. Reliance Power and Utilities made a profit of Rs 310 million, down 16 per cent compared to the previous year. Its revenues were Rs 17.41 billion, up 7.5 per cent as compared to Rs 16.20 billion in FY15. Both Reliance port and power companies cater to the demand of RIL’s Jamnagar refinery. Rod Gilbert Jersey
Congress opposes Centre’s decision to auction Assam’s 12 small oil fields
The Centre has identified 67 small oil and gas fields across the country, including 12 from Assam, to put on auction from next month onwards through competitive global bidding Assam’s main opposition party, the Congress party, has opposed the Centre’s decision to auction 12 of the state’s small oil fields; starting July 15. The party has cast doubt on the intention of the Centre and said such move might be aimed at benefiting “some private industrialists” having good relation with the central government. In a letter addressed to the state’s chief minister, leader of the opposition of Assam assembly and also Congress party member, Debabrata Saikia, said though a draft policy was prepared under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and Veerappa Moily as the then petroleum minister to transfer small and marginal oil fields under New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) bids, the UPA government however kept the decision in abeyance keeping in view the “sensitivity on the Assamese people and energy security”. The Centre has identified 67 small oil and gas fields across the country, including 12 from Assam, to put on auction from next month onwards through competitive global bidding. All these 67 fields were discovered some 20-30 years back and had been lying undeveloped with either the Oil India Limited (OIL) or Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC). The move to auction these fields is aimed at monetising the vast resources lying untapped in these fields and partly meet the country’s energy demand. These fields altogether hold in-place oil and oil equivalent gas volumes of 86 MMT, which amounts to around Rs. 700 billion of reserves. Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan said exploiting these small fields required micro-level management and specific technologies, making it unattractive for the two public sector oil giants to invest in. Hence, these fields had been lying unexploited over the years. The estimated capital expenditure required to fully exploit these fields would be around Rs 40 billion. “In case the government thinks that OIL and ONGC cannot operate these small fields profitably, some other public sector companies like GAIL India Limited, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and Hindustan Petrleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), who are new entrants in the exploration business may form joint venture companies with stake of state level public sector companies (PSUs) already formed by the Assam government like Assam Gas Company, Assam Hydrocarbon Limited etc.,” said Saikia. The Congress party said the Assam government must ask the Centre to reconsider its decision of the Centre to hand-over small oil fields to “private operators through NELP”.
CNG filling stations in 3 cities
Five Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) filling stations each will be set up in the cities of Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode within the next one year to bring out a fuel change from diesel to the less polluting CNG. A decision to this effect was reached in the talks State Transport Commissioner Tomin J. Thachankary had with representatives of the oil majors IOCL, HP, BPCL, and Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) here on Monday. The meeting was in the wake of a directive of the circuit bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the State government’s policy to bring down the pollution caused by vehicles. CNG has already started flowing from the Puthuvypeen terminal to the outlet of IOC at Pathadipalam. The IOC is making available CNG at the five filling stations through pipes. As the pipes have not been laid to other cities, CNG will be transported in cryogenic tankers to the filling stations to be set up in the existing petrol pumps in government and private sector. The CNG at present costs Rs.39 a kg compared to the Rs.59 a litre for High Speed Diesel (HSD) and Rs.69 for a litre of petrol. Kelvin Beachum Womens Jersey