Gas production from the country's biggest gas block is less than a year away, but Reliance Industries (RIL), operator of the block in the Krishna-Godavari basin, and Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL), the biggest buyer of gas from the block, have not made headway on renegotiating the sales agreement.
Videocon Industries, the oil-to-consumer durables company, has joined the race for the acquisition of the London-based Burren Energy, which recently rejected several approaches including one worth $3.5 billion (Rs 14,000 crore) from the Italian major ENI.
The newly set up Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board has received over 100 applications from domestic and foreign companies interested in supplying gas to domestic households and vehicles in cities.
The country's second-largest government-owned oil and gas exploration company Oil India has qualified as a non-operator in the latest round of oil blocks auction in Libya.
Well, LIC, the government-owned insurer, is bailing out the financially-strapped oil marketing companies by buying up the oil bonds issued to them by the government, though at a discount.
With the rise of global crude oil prices - currently nudging $100 per barrel - the "losses" of the three government-owned oil marketing companies have gone up to a whopping Rs 240 crore (Rs 2.4 billion) per day.
The sharp rise in oil prices is threatening to derail not only the long-term expansion plans of government oil marketing companies, which control over 95 per cent of the market, but also their day-to-day operations.
RIL accounted for over a quarter of the country's LPG production of around 8.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) last year. Around 2.5 mtpa LPG - the only petroleum product in which India is not self-sufficient - was imported last year to meet the domestic demand of 11 mtpa. RIL is planning to cut LPG production at Jamnagar from 2.3 mtpa to around 1.6 mtpa from mid-2008 following the grant of export-oriented-unit (EoU) status to the refinery.
To extend its global footprint, GAIL India is likely to partner with China Gas in developing coal bed methane (CBM) in Mongolia. Moreover, Oman Oil is also expected to join them as an ally in the project.
RP Singh, managing director of Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd, the special purpose vehicle implementing BPCL Bina refinery, had told Business Standard in August that the company was in talks with strategic investors to sell 15 to 20 per cent stake.
The Rs 16,047-cr company has appointed public sector consultancy, Engineers India Ltd, to conduct feasibility studies for the plant with a capacity of 3 million tonnes a year that is likely to be set up near the gigantic South Pars gas field in Iran.
While the pipeline deal was seen as "done" two months ago, when the tri-lateral meeting took place in New Delhi, India is perceived to be dragging its feet on the project since then.
"Deora's ability to be a good listener, and his understanding of business, as he is an industrialist himself, helped the empowered group of ministers reach a decision that more or less has satisfied all parties," a senior official says.
The nuclear-deal-in-the-making with the US has forced the government into a firefighting mode not only domestically, but also internationally, where it is working overtime to avoid straining relations with the key long-time ally -- Russia.
"From our assessment, RIL has invested only a very small amount in buying Gapco. It will not affect the company's balance sheet at all," one Mumbai-based analyst said.
The 2,140-Mw Dabhol power plant, operated by Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd, continues to remain idle even though the Supreme Court has vacated the stay by the Gujarat high court on pooling of gas prices.
The proposed 7.5 million tonne per annum refinery was to process crude oil from Cairn India's field in Barmer, which is expected to start producing in the first half of 2009.
The Essar group has also closed down 275 outlets across the country. The two companies could not withstand 'unfair competition' from government-backed companies which are compensated for selling fuel at subsidised rates.
The proposed India-Iran Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, which the two countries included in their joint New Delhi declaration in 2003, has run into a hurdle.
The hike in prices of petrol and diesel seems to have been put on the backburner with the price of the basket of crude oil that Indian refiners
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