Russia’s Gazprom, Dharmendra Pradhan discuss LNG supplies to GAIL
Russia’s Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller and India’s Energy Minister Dharmendra Pradhan discussed on Thursday liquefied natural gas supplies to India’s GAIL company, Gazprom said in a statement. The supplies were discussed in the context of an existing contract between Gazprom and GAIL, Gazprom said in the statement. Brett Favre Authentic Jersey
Yokogawa Receives SCADA System Order for Gas Distribution Pipeline Project
Yokogawa Electric Corporation has announced that Yokogawa India has received an order from the Gas Transmission Company Limited (GTCL) to supply a monitoring and control system for the gas pipeline system in Bangladesh. This project will involve the revamping, modernisation, and expansion of GTCL’s existing supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. GTCL owns and operates a network of pipelines for the nationwide transmission of gas from gas fields that are primarily concentrated in the eastern part of Bangladesh. GTCL is planning to build an integrated SCADA monitoring and control system that will ensure the stable and efficient supply of gas to three of the country’s eight administrative divisions: Dhaka, Chittagong, and Sylhet. GTCL plans to increase its gas transmission volume to 550 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd), up from 400 MMscfd in 2013. This order is for FAST/TOOLS SCADA software and a STARDOM™ network-based control system for pipeline monitoring, DPharp EJA and DPharp EJX series differential pressure/pressure transmitters, other field instruments, a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system, and a telecommunications system for central monitoring and control. Targeting delivery within 22 months, Yokogawa will be responsible for the engineering, installation, and commissioning of these systems. Yokogawa proposed a bespoke automation solution which was selected because of Yokogawa’s reputation for quality and extensive experience in supplying SCADA systems for oil & gas pipeline projects. Tsutomu Murata, managing director of Yokogawa India, comments, “I am honoured to receive this order, which is Yokogawa India’s largest project to date in Bangladesh. By carrying out this large project, we aim to help ensure a stable energy supply for the people of Bangladesh.” In accordance with its Transformation 2017 mid-term business plan, Yokogawa is strengthening its efforts to drive up sales by providing solutions for pipelines and other oil & gas midstream applications. Encouraged by its success in winning this order, Yokogawa plans to expand its control business in the midstream applications segment. Tramon Williams Womens Jersey
Monsoon to wash away diesel demand surge
The monsoon is expected to dump above-average rainfall on the South Asian nation after two years of drought, cutting its use of diesel for irrigation pumps and generators over the third quarter and potentially rejuvenating exports of the oil product. India is a net exporter of diesel – which accounts for about 40 percent of its oil demand – but a jump in imports by state refiners since April helped erode an Asian surplus of the fuel, lifting its regional profit margins to the highest for the year so far at the end of May. The state refiners ramped up diesel imports in the second quarter after supplies from private oil processors Reliance Industries and Essar Oil became too expensive in the absence of discounts on taxes and shipping. Now, as the rains come and domestic demand drops, diesel imports could halt and exports rebound. “During the monsoon demand for diesel sees a blip (down) because industrial activity slows, transport movement gets affected and demand from agriculture also reduces,” said Tushar Bansal, a Singapore-based senior consultant at energy consultancy FGE. India’s weather office has forecast above-average rains in the four-month season from June. The monsoon rains are crucial for farmerswhich otherwise use diesel-powered pump-sets to draw water to irrigate their land. Officials at state refiners, which dominate the local retail fuel markets, said they also see diesel demand softening during the monsoon season. “Major construction activities including road construction virtually stops during rains, so there is bound to be an impact on diesel demand,” said Y. K. Gawali, head of marketing at Hindustan Petroleum Corp. More rain also boosts hydropower generation alleviating electricity shortages and reducing demand for diesel to power small diesel generators to keep lights burning. “We have seen very high diesel demand in April-May. In June also it is rising. But I expect diesel demand (in the third quarter) to be 50 percent of the April-June quarter,” Gawali said. Morgan Burnett Authentic Jersey
India now looks to set up reverse SEZ in Mozambique
Government is now also planning to set up a reverse Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in Mozambique mainly for the fertiliser and petrochemical sector, while it is already in talks with Iran for a proposed SEZ there, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar said. “It is our endeavour to establish reverse Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in oil and gas rich countries with dedicated exports back to the country. After Iran, now we are also considering setting up SEZ in Mozambique,” Kumar said at the launch of India Chem 2016 here today. He said the talks on setting up SEZ in Iran are progressing especially after the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the country. Government is in talks with Iran for setting up a natural gas-based petroleum plant-cum-petrochemicals complex there. “Modi’s visit to Iran, and bilateral talks with the topmost leadership of the country have strengthened the move (setting up of SEZ). I think, our Iran engagement will continue on the same lines and we are going to have engagement with Mozambique as well,” Kumar said. The minister said that when India is able to set up the reverse SEZs in oil and gas rich countries, feed stock and intermediaries — considered to be building blocks — are required to be made available at affordable prices so that the petrochemicals industry will become globally competitive. He further said the talks with Mozambique are at preliminary stage and therefore, it will be difficult for quantification of amount of gas required and determine its pricing. “Once the talks are fructified, we will be able to give the details,” Kumar added. “The way Chabahar port SEZ in Iran will be a huge gateway of opportunity for bilateral trade between the two countries, we will develop similar ties with Mozambique,” he said. Rickey Henderson Womens Jersey
ONGC sets Indian rig move record
India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has, with the support of Aqualis Offshore, set a new pre-monsoon rig move record offshore India. ONGC executed a total of 33 mobile offshore drilling unit rig moves—31 on the west coast and two on the east coast—in mid-March, April and May. Aqualis Offshore, working together with the ONGC Rigmove cell, assisted with nearly all of these moves, placing each on its respective monsoon location before the onset of the seasonal adverse weather conditions. Aqualis Offshore carried out this work with the help of mariners from the company’s Dubai office and with engineering support from London. “This is an impressive milestone in Indian offshore operations and is a tribute to the professionalism of all involved,” said Rodger Dickson, group marine director, Aqualis Offshore. Joe Colborne Authentic Jersey
India, Japan, S. Korea Talk Joint LNG Buying
Energy-hungry India has restarted talks on a liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchasing alliance with Japan and South Korea and may also include China as Asian demand for the fuel grows. “For the next two to three decades, gas is going to be a major part of the energy basket for Asian energy consumers,” Dharmendra Pradhan, Indian minister of petroleum and natural gas told reporters in Mumbai on Tuesday. “We want to bring together the countries and form a network which can together source reasonable, rational and affordable LNG,” he said, adding that talks with Japan and South Korea have begun and China may also come onboard as a partner. State-owned GAIL Ltd is spearheading the talks, which follow a similar attempt in 2013, on India’s behalf. Natural gas currently accounts for about eight percent of India’s overall energy mix. In the last decade, while India’s domestic natural gas production has grown by 10 percent, imports of LNG have risen by 335 percent. This is likely to grow further as India gradually shifts to a gas-based economy, the minister told Reuters in a recent interview. India’s gas demand stands at 120 million standard cubic meters per day (mscmd) whereas domestic supply is 80 mscmd, making imports imperative, government data showed. Louis Vasquez Authentic Jersey
Home delivery of LPG cylinders to start for most rural consumers soon
A majority of rural consumers will soon be able to get home delivery of cooking gas cylinders. The government is likely to issue an order soon mandating that all cooking gas distributors serving rural areas and with sales exceeding 1,500 refills a month provide home delivery of cylinders to their customers, an oil ministry official said. So far, all of about 5,500 dealers under Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitran (RGGLV) scheme, a government programme for rural distribution of cooking gas, were exempt from making home deliveries of cylinders. The imminent government order will change that for about 60% of RGGLV dealers, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The order, however, will not impact regular dealers, who were not appointed under the RGGLV scheme, but still serve a section of rural consumers. India has about 18,000 cooking gas distributors in all, most of them concentrated in urban areas. The oil companies plan to add 10,000 distributors, the process of whose appointment will begin in this financial year. The government is now focused on increasing the access to clean fuel among rural households. It aims to add 100 million consumers in three years to the existing national base of about 167 million. New consumers will mostly come from the country’s interiors, where access and affordability have been impediments to subscription and consumption. Jonathan Ericsson Womens Jersey
CNG retail licences: PNGRB drops 7 out of 11 cities
Citing stakeholders’ feedback, oil regulator PNGRB has dropped seven out of the 11 cities it had identified for the bidding of licences to retail CNG. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) cited “comments/views from various stakeholders” as the reason for dropping Chennai, Bhuaneshwar in Odisha, Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Coimbatore and Chennai in Tamil Nadu and Guwahati in Assam from the bidding round. After this, only Jaipur and Udaipur in Rajasthan, Solapur in Maharashtra, Davanagari in Karnataka and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh remain in bid round, PNGRB said in a public notice. PNGRB had in April identified the 11 cities for giving out city gas distribution licenses from among the 20 cities named for the $7.5 billion smart city makeover. Soon after government picked 20 cities to provide with uninterrupted power and water supplies, proper sanitation and public transport to turn them into smart cities with living standards comparable to Europe, the regulator decided to give out licence to retail CNG and piped cooking gas in 11 of cities that did not have them as yet. But the problem was most of them were not connected with any of the gas pipelines and so the fuel could not be taken to them for sale to automobiles and households. PNGRB had on March 31 issued a notice saying bidding process for licence for the 11 cities will start on April 22 with beginning of sale of bid documents and last date for bidding was June 20. It on April 22 modified the notice to say sale of bid documents would commence on May 16 and last date of bidding will be July 14. Davon Godchaux Authentic Jersey
Oxigen ties up with HPCL for faster checkouts at fuel stations
Mobile wallet Oxigen has entered into a partnership with public sector oil marketing company Hindustan Petroleum Corporation in order to allow Oxigen wallet users to make payments at HPCL outlets through the wallet. Following the launch of Virtual Visa, Oxigen wallet is trying to ensure smooth payment experience for its users and the company feels this is going to smoothen payment minimising card exposure at fuel station. At present, 61 HPCL outlets spanned across India, including New Delhi, Noida and Greater Noida, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai are capable of accepting payments directly from the Oxigen Wallet mobile app. In the coming two months, Oxigen Wallet is set to strengthen its partnership further, by on boarding more than 2000 HPCL outlets to accept payments for fuel using the Oxigen Wallet app. “We at Oxigen Services work passionately towards the digital revolution and it is our endeavor to provide premium services for digital payments to our users. We are excited to be partnering with HPCL and introducing mobile payments for getting the fuel. “Making the payments secure and convenient, we are affirmative that our users would actively avail the service, paying for the fuel directly from their favorite Oxigen Wallet mobile app,” said Ankur Saxena, director of Oxigen Wallet. Ryan Glasgow Womens Jersey
Mahanagar Gas plans to add 670 km of grid in 5 years
City gas distribution player, Mahanagar Gas Limited on Wednesday informed that the company plans to set up additional 670 kilometers of distribution pipelines to its existing CGD network of 4,646 kilometers over a period of next five years. The company, jointly promoted by GAIL (India) Limited and BG Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd also looks to open additional 83 CNG stations to the existing 88 CNG stations for its automobile consumers. This will mean coverage of most of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). “We are in the process of expanding our network by around 670 kilometers and open 83 more CNG stations including some on highways to facilitate customers travelling out of the cities. As a business strategy, we are also entering into new geographical areas,” said Rajeev Mathur, managing director, Mahanagar Gas Limited informed here during a roadshow for the company’s upcoming Initial Public Offer (IPO). Speaking to BusinessLine, Mathur expressed confidence over the government’s policy on CGD sector and infrastructure development by the Centre. “The initiative of Smart Cities will boost the prospects for the City Gas Distribution sector. One such smart city project is being developed in Raigad district and therefore since its a greenfield project, it will have well-planned gas grid network,” said Mathur adding that due to congestion in the existing cities, setting up of new gas infrastructure becomes time consuming. The company expects to commence operations in Raigad district in fiscal 2017. The company will also look to bid for newer geographies in the upcoming bidding process for cities like Chennai, Coimbatore, Vishakhapattanam, Bhopal, Jaipur, Udaipur, Kolhapur among others. MGL currently sells about 2.43 million metric standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) of gas to its CNG and PNG customers, which forms about 470,478 and 865,000 respectively. From the current 2.43 mmscmd of gas sale, MGL’s market has potential of about 5 mmscmd of natural gas. Kris Russell Authentic Jersey