Qatar, India's largest supplier of imported natural gas, has declared force majeure on deliveries following a halt in production in the wake of an Iranian drone strike -- a disruption that has led to a cut in supplies to Indian industry by up to 40 per cent, sources said.
The government has slashed by up to a fifth the supplies of cheaper gas to city gas entities that retail CNG to automobiles, increasing their dependence in costly imported fuel. Buying costly imported gas to make up for the shortfall should result in a hike in CNG price but given the ensuing assembly elections in Maharashtra, that may be put off for now. Indraprastha Gas Ltd and Mahanagar Gas Ltd in regulatory filings stated that supplies of domestically produced gas, which was available at a capped rate which is half of the imported price, has been cut.
The government has slashed by up to 20 per cent the supplies of cheaper domestically produced natural gas to city retailers -- a move that may result in Rs 4-6 per kg hike in the price of CNG sold to automobiles, unless excise duty on the fuel is cut, sources said. Natural gas pumped from below the ground and from under the seabed from sites ranging from the Arabian Sea to Bay of Bengal within India is the raw material that is turned into CNG for sale to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households.
State-owned oil firms such as ONGC and IOC will invest over Rs 1.11 lakh crore in the next fiscal year starting April as they supplement the government's massive spending programme to spur economic growth. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), GAIL (India) Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) will together make a 7.4 per cent higher capital expenditure in the 2022-23 fiscal (FY23). The capex spending of Rs 1.11 lakh crore in 2022-23 compares with a revised estimate of Rs 1.04 lakh crore for the current fiscal year that ends in March, according to Union budget documents.
Former oil secretary Tarun Kapoor, present and former chairmen of ONGC and a former director of IOC, are among over a dozen people who have applied for the top job at the oil and gas regulator, PNGRB, sources said. Kapoor, who superannuated as Secretary to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas last month, is the most prominent name in the list of 13 persons who have applied to become the chairman of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB). Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) chairman and managing director Subhash Kumar and his predecessor Shashi Shanker are also in the race and so is G K Satish, who superannuated as Director for Planning and Business Development from Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) a couple of months back.
State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and a joint venture of billionaire Gautam Adani's gas arm and Total of France -- Adani Total Gas Ltd -- have bid for maximum number of licenses to retail CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in the latest city gas bidding round.
India's crude oil import bill is set to exceed $100 billion in the current fiscal year ending March 31, almost double its spending last year, as international oil prices trade at seven-year highs. India spent $94.3 billion in the first 10 months (April-January) of the ongoing financial year that started April 1, 2021, according to data from the oil ministry's Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC). It spent $11.6 billion in January alone when oil prices had started to surge.
GAIL (India) Ltd has pre-poned the supply of gas from the US and is looking to contract more LNG next year as it doubles down efforts to secure affordable energy supplies to meet the needs of Asia's third-largest economy, chairman Manoj Jain said. India's No.1 gas transporting and marketing firm has long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply contracts from the US to Australia and with Russia, supplementing domestic gas supplies. "In 3Q (October-December 2021) we preponed a couple of cargoes (LNG shiploads) from supplies that we were to receive next year and we did it again in the current quarter," Jain told PTI. This is because US LNG costs one-third of the price of gas available in the spot or current market.
Plans to build a pipeline from the Chayanda gas field in East Siberia to the proposed Vladivostok LNG facility
RIL in a letter to the ministry said if such an "untenable" policy was allowed it would encourage KG-D6 allottees to sell the cheap gas at higher rates during times like plant shutdowns when they don't need the fuel.
The Petroleum Ministry has asked the oil regulator to look into the marketing margin charged by not just Reliance Industries, but also state-owned GAIL India Ltd on the sale of domestic gas and imported LNG.
Net profit for the quarter was Rs 984 crore (Rs 9.84 billion), 10 per cent lower than Rs 1,094 crore (Rs 10.94 billion) in the same period last fiscal, GAIL chairman and managing director B C Tripathi told reporters in New Delhi.
Sources said ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state explorer, and GAIL have made a non-biding offer showing interest in acquiring Exxon's stake.
"The increase in net profit during the third quarter of the current financial year was mainly due to the increase in natural gas transmission, LPG transmission and natural gas trading business," GAIL Chairman and Managing Director B C Tripathi said.
The two firms are discussing bidding jointly for CGD projects in cities that would be put on offer by the sector regulator, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board in the future.
GAIL executives, 2,200 in number, are part of the Oil Sector Officers Association, which has given an indefinite strike call from Wednesday to protest against a pay increase smaller than what was demanded by the organisation. A strike in the oil sector can cripple the already fragile economy and companies like GAIL had been approaching courts for restraint orders to keep fuel supply lines operating.
Turnover rose to Rs 6,187 crore (Rs 61.87 billion) for the third quarter ended December 31, against Rs 5,812 crore (Rs 58.12 billion) in the same period previous fiscal, Gail (India) Ltd said.
Eight companies including Reliance Gas Ltd, GAIL Gas and the joint venture of Indian Oil and Adani Energy have bid for the rights to retail CNG in seven cities.
State-run gas utility GAIL India Ltd buys 0.9 million standard cubic meters per day of output from Ravva Satellite fields at $4.30 per mmBtu. The new price sought by the Ravva consortium is 60 per cent more than the maximum price of $4.20 per mmBtu approved for RIL's KG-D6 fields for five years to March 2014.
Reliance gets $4.215 per mmBtu for the gas it produces from KG-D6 fields off the Andhra coast. The price is fixed for the first five years of production. KG-D6 gas production began on April 2 and is slated to rise to 80 mmscmd by year-end, nearly doubling the nation's gas output.
GAIL (India) Ltd and its partners on Wednesday signed the Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement with government of Oman for Block 56 in Muscat.
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.
GAIL (India) Ltd has agreed to infuse an additional Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) into Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd to enable the owner of the beleaguered Dabhol plant to clear pending dues of contractors.
Gail India Ltd said on Thursday its Chairman and Managing Director has been selected as fellow of the World Academy of Productivity Science.
NTPC Ltd and GAIL India Ltd may have to pump in more money into the Dabhol power plant after an official panel monitoring the progress of the beleaguered project decided to limit lenders' commitment to Rs 455 crore (Rs 4.55 billion).
GAIL India Ltd on Wednesday said it plans to acquire a small or medium sized exploration and production company.
P Dasgupta was on Thursday appointed the managing director and CEO of Petronet LNG Ltd, India's largest liquified natural gas importer.
US energy major Enron Corp's original contractors for the $2.96-billion Dabhol power project will complete the unfinished LNG terminal to restart the stalled 2,184 MW plant by next year.
State-run GAIL India Ltd has mooted a multi-billion-dollar CNG corridor in the country to save up to Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion) in oil bill and cut carbon emissions from automobiles.
The Maharashtra government is heavily banking upon Dabhol power plant to start functioning at its full capacity of 2,150 Mw to help the state tackle the 5,000 Mw shortage during peak summer season.
GAIL (India) Ltd proposed to acquire the new NLDO licence for entering the national long-distance telephony segment of the Rs 80,000 crore (Rs 800 bilion) telecom market, estimated to be growing at 30 per cent.
The $3-billion Dabhol power project in Maharashtra is facing delays in completion of the LNG receipt terminal, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dinsha Patel said on Thursday.
GAIL (India) Ltd is in talks with US energy major Exxon for importing 5 million tons of liquefied natural gas at Dabhol, company chairman U D Choubey said on Wednesday.
Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Energy has approached state-owned gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd for transportation of gas to its proposed 4,000 MW power plant at Dadri.
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