India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp and GAIL (India) Ltd's equity in two gas rich offshore blocks in Myanmar have been cut following Myanmar's national oil company exercising its 'step-in' rights in the fields, gas from where will be sold to China.
Reliance Industries will buy 7.5 mn tons of crude oil from Venezuela for its upcoming export-oriented refinery at Jamnagar. The company has been sourcing crude oil from Venezuela, the only OPEC member country from Latin America, for its existing 660000 barrels per day (33 mn tons) refinery at Jamnagar. Venezuela has agreed to supply 150000 barrels per day of oil from June under a long-term supply contract. Reliance is on a sphere to tie-up crude supplies for its new refinery.
Venezuelan Prez Hugo Chavez promised to give India more oilfields in its heavy-oil belt, as he seeks to tap the world's second fastest growing economy to diversify energy trade beyond US. He intends to supply 1 mn barrels per day of oil to India in the near future. The Junin area is believed to hold some 500 bn barrels of in place oil reserves, of which Junin Norte may have about 7-8 bn barrels. OVL is expected to be given preference in the development and production phase.
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investment arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), has signed a joint venture agreement with Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PdVSA) to take 40 per cent stake in the San Cristobal oilfield in Venezuela. Under the agreement, OVL and PdVSA will develop the field from its current production level of 20,000 barrels per day to 40,000 barrels per day, company officials said. OVL will make a total investment of $ 355.738 million comprising signature.
The Third OPEC Summit on its closing day on Sunday is likely to announce a fund, which will have contributions from energy consuming countries and oil producers, to provide technological support for reduction of the environmental impact of fuel use, OPEC officials said.
Nigeria's new government is reviewing award of oil blocks in last couple of years after it received complaints of irregularities in their allotments, with some quarters expressing apprehensions that the licences won by India's ONGC-Mittal combine may also be under scanner.Although the identities of the blocks as well as the awardees are not immediately known, industry sources said some domestic and foreign entities that obtained licences through 'backdoor' may lose it.
Iran said it will not set any deadline for India to join the gas pipeline that also includes Pakistan and hoped New Delhi will not buckle under US pressure to dump the multi-billion dollar project for a rival pipeline from Turkmenistan. "We have not set any deadline (for India to join the IPI pipeline project)," Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said on Thursday.
Iraq threatened on Thursday to blacklist Reliance Industries Limited from future oil contracts after the company struck a deal with the Kurdish Regional government for two blocks without Baghdad's approval. Reliance Industries Limited had last week signed the contract for the blocks Rovi and Sarta in northern Iraq with the autonomous Kurdish Regional Government. The blocks, measuring 517 and 607 sq km respectively, have almost 80 per cent oil bearing structure.
With crude oil flirting with the $100 a barrel mark, world's largest oil producer Saudi Arabia is emulating marketing savvy West to showcase oil cartel Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries in a new light when it organises the third OPEC Summit in Riyadh this week.
LN Mittal is getting a senior bureaucrat from the ministry of petroleum and natural gas to run his first-ever venture in the refining business, the Rs 18,919 crore (Rs 189.19 billion) Bhatinda refinery.
India-born billionaire Lakshmi N Mittal may take 49 per cent stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd's under-construction $3 billion refinery at Bhatinda in Punjab.