Seven companies including Royal Dutch/Shell, BP Amoco, Reliance Industries and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation were left in the fray for acquiring government stake in oil PSU Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd after bidders were shortlisted.
India's largest refiner, Reliance Industries Ltd, is in talks with public sector oil marketer Hindustan Petroleum Corporation for a tie-up to run the former's fuel retail outlets, closed a year earlier.HPCL has issued a limited tender to five merchant bankers to advise it on the deal.Last year, RIL closed 1,400 petrol pumps -- 900 owned by the company and the rest managed by dealers.
If cleared, the ONGC arm will become the first subsidiary company of an existing Maharatna to get into this superior league among government-owned entities.
HPCL's Vizag refinery in Andhra Pradesh was to receive the consignment of 65,000-70,000 tonne on November 17, but the ship carrying the oil could not offload it due to bad weather. The MA-1 oilfield started production in September. The company sold the first consignment to HPCL at a $5.34 a barrel discount to Nigerian crude grade Bonny Light.
The government will complete the sale of cash-rich oil refiners Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation in six to eight months, Divestment Minister Arun Shourie said on Wednesday.
At least half a dozen national and international oil giants, including Reliance and Royal Dutch Shell, joined the race, on Friday, for acquiring government's 34 per cent stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.
Notwithstanding its divestment setback, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd is planning to enter the exploration segment and foray into the markets of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
ONGC will submit a proposal to the Union government for acquiring Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd's entire 16.97% stake in Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd at Rs 37.75 per share even though HPCL is not keen to divest its holding.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd plans to invest over Rs 2,787 crore (Rs 27.87 billion) in raising its Mumbai and Vizag refinery capacities through de-bottlenecking and process upgradation for higher volumes and better fuel quality.
India's crude oil imports from Russia fell for a second straight month in January to its lowest in 12 months but the nation's insatiable appetite for Russian crude remains for the long term, according to data from energy cargo tracker and industry officials. Russia supplied 1.2 million barrels per day of crude oil to India in January, down from 1.32 million barrels in December and 1.62 million barrels in November 2023, according to data from energy cargo tracker Vortexa. Russia however continues to remain India's top oil supplier, accounting for a little less than a quarter of 4.91 million barrels a day of oil that the world's third largest energy consumer imported in January.
Global oil prices have slumped and India has access to larger amounts of discounted Russian crude oil, yet refiners are not passing on their savings to consumers
State-owned Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are collectively losing Rs 2.65 billion (Rs 265 crore) per day on selling fuel below cost and may end the fiscal with a Rs 874.4 billion (Rs 87,440 crore) revenue loss.
An HPCL-led consortium had put the project on hold in 2009.
The government is keen on getting global oil majors like Saudi Aramco and National Iranian Oil Corp on board Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum through the market route even though privatisation of the state-run oil refining and marketing compa
The official, who did not wish to be identified, said the government will wrap up the stake sale in HPCL by November.\n\n
The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report, submitted by ecologist Madhav Gadgil last year, was further delaying the Rs 30,000-crore (Rs 300-billion) refinery project of Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) in Maharashtra, a senior official of the state-run oil marketing firm said. The project has already been delayed due to bureaucratic red tape.
While prices sustaining lower levels is crucial, Govt actions are also a key monitorable given the forthcoming elections in 2024.
A day ahead of a crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Divestment, Defence Minister George Fernandes said he favoured public sector units like Oil and Natural Gas Corporation to be allowed to bid for HPCL.
Notwithstanding the robust turnaround in the financial performance for the June quarter (Q1FY24), stocks of state-run oil marketing companies have been in a downtrend in the last month. The fall comes on a rise in crude oil prices that have surged to a 7-month high of $88 a barrel. A busy political calendar in the months ahead that may see the government keep a lid on auto fuel prices is also a dampener, analysts said. Shares of Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) and Indian Oil (IOC) have shed 9-11 per cent since their respective earnings announcement between July 26 to August 4.
The process of divestment of HPCL and BPCL, the two public-sector oil companies, would not be set in motion till the Lok Sabha has discussed the issue, Union Petroleum Minister Ram Naik said on Saturday.
Jet fuel or ATF price on Wednesday was cut by almost 6 per cent after four rounds of monthly increases since July, while commercial cooking gas (LPG) rates were raised by a steep Rs 101.5 per 19-kg cylinder in line with international benchmarks. However, the price of domestic LPG - used in household kitchens for cooking purposes - remained unchanged at Rs 903 per 14.2-kg cylinder. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price was cut by Rs 6,854.25, or 5.79 per cent, in the national capital to Rs 111,344.92 per kl from Rs 118,199.17, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.
Capital expenditure by 54 large central public sector enterprises and five departmental arms, having a capex minimum target of Rs 100 crore, rose 93 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in the April-May period to Rs 1.39 trillion. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Railways have started this financial year's capex cycle on a stronger note. In the first two months of FY24, the 54 CPSEs, along with the departmental arms, achieved 19 per cent of their combined budget target of Rs 7.33 trillion, Business Standard has learnt.
Public sector Hindustan Petroleum Corporation is planning to invest $1.5 billion in its petrochemical complex project, featuring refinery, naphtha cracker and aromatic plant.
The government has asked Supreme Court not to stay the privatisation of public sector oil majors -- Hindustan Petroleun Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation
With general elections on the horizon, the government's privatisation bandwagon has almost but stalled as a government wary of being accused of selling family silver opts for minority stake sales on stock exchanges over outright privatisation. The result -- the divestment target for current fiscal year is again likely to be missed. Big ticket privatisation plans such as that of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and CONCOR are already on the backburner and analysts feel meaningful privatisation can happen only after April/May general elections.
Government will retain veto powers in crucial decisions even after the privatisation of oil refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd through special clauses in the sale agreement.
Arun Shourie, Union Minister for Divestment, said that the next meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Divestment would discuss the sell-off modalities of HPCL and BPCL.
Attorney General Soli Sorabjee has said the sale of stakes in two state-run oil refiners does not need parliamentary approval.
Petroleum Minister Ram Naik said on Wednesday that he would forward to the Cabinet Committee on Divestment the proposals from public sector units under his ministry to bid for Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd after examining individual proposals.
Petroleum Minister Ram Naik said the terms and conditions of the strategic sale of HPCL and and public offer in BPCL would be worked out by a core group of secretaries on divestment.
Low bids caused state oil refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corporation to cancel a rare tender to export the high sulphur fuel oil it usually sells at home, a company source said on Monday.\n\n\n\n
Investors are showing some interest in the downstream energy cycle. Refiners and marketers, especially the public sector (PSU) oil marketing companies (OMCs) could see a revival of marketing margins. Lower crude oil and gas prices may also improve margins in industries like paints, logistics, synthetic fabrics, plastics, and fertilisers. In the medium-term, however, there could be a supply overhang affecting OMCs as new refining capacities are scheduled to be commissioned, especially in China, and this may lead to a drop in the refining margins as capacity would be surplus to demand until and unless there's a pick-up in global growth.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd will invest over Rs 900 crore (Rs 9 billion) on expansion and modernisation of its retail network in 2006-07, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Tuesday.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd has paid Rs 103.84 crore (Rs 1.04 billion) to the government as 60 per cent interim dividend for 2003-04.
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