"With RIL commissioning its second refinery last December, the total capacity of the (Jamnagar) complex will go up to 1.24 million barrels a day, exposing it to international vagaries. By surrendering the EOU status of one refinery and maintaining that of the other, the company will be able to hedge its risks," said an industry veteran. EOU status for RIL's second refinery currently ends in March 2010.
It would be complete by 2012 with a total investment of over Rs 11,300 crore, including an estimated Rs 2,300 crore from RIL and Rs 9,000 crore from GAIL. Analysts say refineries -- Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, Chennai Petroleum Corporation, Essar, Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation -- located in the vicinity of these pipelines would benefit as they would be able to substitute costly fuel oil with cheaper gas.
P M S Prasad has been part of Mukesh Ambani's A-team for the last 25 years. The 55-year-old engineer, now president and CEO (petroleum), Reliance Industries, joined the company in 1984, when it was building a captive power plant at Patalganga, 70 kilometres north of Mumbai.
RIL has been using gas from GAIL during the past three months to test-fire the 1,440-km east-west pipeline, India's longest, from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to Bharuch in Gujarat. Only 100 km of the pipeline remains to be test-fired. It will transport gas from the world's largest gas discovery at the Krishna-Godavari basin in the Bay of Bengal to Jamnagar in Gujarat, where it has set up the world's largest petroleum refinery.
Despite a troubled job market that could continue for another year or more, many B-schools are looking at expanding the number of seats by up to 50 per cent and launching new programmes. B-schools maintain the demand for good students will remain even in a troubled job market and the student pool and programme portfolio need to be expanded. "Besides, when these students pass out in the next two years, the market will be better," said a director from one of the institutes.
The options include doing away with Day Zero and reducing placement fees. Day Zero is the name given to the day placements begin at the IIMs. Day Zero and Day One are reserved for top companies and placement fees are higher on these days. In good times, most students are placed on these days, leaving the smaller companies to return empty-handed.
Falling crude prices and the global credit crunch have jeopardised India's efforts to attract more investment in oil exploration and production, with several domestic and international companies opting to sell part of their participating interest in E&P projects. Around half-a-dozen companies are currently in talks with exploration and production majors -- mainly state-owned Oil India and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation -- to farm out part of their stakes.
Eight companies are in the fray for rolling out gas networks in six cities, bids for which were invited by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board. The deadline for submission of the bids expired on Tuesday.
At a time when the economic slowdown is eating into corporate earnings, the country's economy hotels, including Krizm Hotels and Berggruen Hotels, are going ahead with their expansion plans.
High crude oil prices in 2008 have left the government richer by a few thousand crore rupees. In 2008-09, the government earned "windfall profits" from the petroleum sector as crude oil prices spiked, touching a high of $147 in July 2008.
Refining margin is the difference in prices of crude oil and finished products. More exposure to diesel behind less fall in Indian refining margins.
Here is another sign that the economy is slowing. The growth rate of diesel and petrol consumption is down sharply, though it is still in the positive territory.Year-on-year growth in diesel consumption in December 2008 was down to a mere 1.5 per cent as against 10.7 per cent growth in December 2007. Consumption of petrol grew 5.5 per cent in the month compared with 9.5 per cent in December 2007.Preliminary data for January showed that diesel consumption grew only 2 per cent.
Mumbai-based SP Jain Institute of Management and Research has announced that it will provide initial financial assistance to the tune of Rs 20 lakhs (Rs 2 million)to any of its students who wishes to don the entrepreneurial hat. The business school has set up an entrepreneurship cell in association with National Entrepreneurship Network.
After a year of sluggish growth in fuel retail outlets, the three state-run oil-marketing companies--Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation--have chalked out aggressive plans for expansion in the next financial year. They will be commissioning over 2,100 outlets in 2009-10--over three times what they added in the current year--at an investment of about Rs 1,200 crore.
According to sources, the government has provided a list of 20 companies to Reliance Industries for sale of gas as per the gas utilisation policy. Some of these companies include Nagarjuna Fertilizer & Chemicals, Chambal Fertilizers & Chemicals, Tata Fertilizers and Oswal Chemicals & Fertilizers among others.
The fuel price revision on Wednesday is likely to wipe out the Rs 1,100 crore net revenue earned by the three oil marketing companies--Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation -- in the last one month, say officials from these companies.
At present, the annual cost-to-company of an entry-level officer in an oil-marketing company stands at Rs 6,30,000 per annum, including the annual performance bonus and various allowances, perks and retirement benefit that these officers are entitled to.
Falling oil rates have made rigs available for hire at a cheaper rate. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation planned to foray into building rigs in June 2008 owing to its short supply as crude oil prices zoomed northwards.
For instance, Indian Oil Corporation, the nation's biggest marketer and refiner, doubled its R&D spend from Rs 30 crore to Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million) this year. The company is conducting research in areas like biodegradable lubricants and oil refining technology. The company will shortly commission a pilot at its Faridabad centre, where it will install technology for coal gassification and production of ethanol from biomass.
Many domestic and foreign companies in banking and financial services, consulting and consumer goods are believed to have written to the Indian Institutes of Management, requesting them to waive participation and recruitment fees.
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