Days after the Cabinet approved doubling of natural gas price from April next year, the Finance Ministry has written to Oil Ministry suggesting setting of a ceiling or an upper limit for the rates.
A Committee of Secretaries will meet on July 6 to discuss pricing of natural gas to be produced from Reliance Industries' block off the east coast and whether the Centre should take its share in cash or kind.
Govt notification on $8.4 a unit price likely by month-end
Alka Mittal has been appointed interim chairman and managing director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) - the first woman to head the country's largest oil and gas producer. Mittal replaces Subhash Kumar, another interim head who retired after reaching superannuation age on December 31. "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for entrustment of additional charge of the post of chairman and managing director (CMD), ONGC to Alka Mittal, director (HR), ONGC for a period of six months with effect from January 1, 2022, or till the appointment of a regular incumbent to the post, or until further order, whichever is the earliest," the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said in an order dated January 3, 2022.
Wholesale inflation fell to a 3-month low of 2.04 per cent in July on decline in prices of food items especially vegetables, government data released on Wednesday showed. The decline in wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation in July came after it rose for four months in a row till June, when it was 3.36 per cent. It was (-) 1.23 per cent in July last year. In April wholesale inflation stood at 1.19 per cent.
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.
Trying to give the best support to Indian contingent but still being criticised: IOA chief PT Usha
Cabinet may tweak Rangarajan formula; new price may be further delayed.
Amidst Finance Ministry raising prospects of forcing Reliance Industries to sell gas at old price of $4.2, Oil Minister M Veerapa Moily on Thursday said there was no rethinking in the government on the decision to double gas rates from April 1, 2014.
A Texas company will submit a report by June on whether a company controlled by RIL 'stole' natural gas from the wells where ONGC is contracted to operate in the KG basin, as alleged by ONGC.
The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs has approved a hike in gas prices from April 2014.
The government will require poll panel's nod if it decides not to effect a price increase.
RIL has more than half a dozen undeveloped discoveries.
Three years after India declared its goal to become a net-zero economy by 2070, the policy design for achieving the target has begun, with the NITI Aayog forming dedicated multi-sectoral committees to prepare a transition plan. In 2021, India joined a select group of nations that set a target year for becoming net-zero carbon economy. At COP26 in Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined a five-pronged 'Panchamitra' climate action target for India and committed to a net-zero target by 2070, joining nations like the US, the UK, and China.
Gas price hike seems to be a distant dream for Reliance Industries and its partners--Niko Resources and BP.
Stoutly defending the hike in gas prices, Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily said the move would benefit the government in terms of revenue as many gas discoveries have been made by public sector companies rather than private sector.
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries (RIL) might be denied a higher gas price from its D1 and D3 fields until the arbitration process with the government is over and a third-party expert report on the fall in output at the KG-D6 block is out.
A four-member panel of secretaries is likely to submit its report on a new gas pricing mechanism to the government by Wednesday.
Concerns on lower natural gas transmission, LPG rate cut & APM gas price hike might be priced in but no positive triggers
Among the new entrants to the Union cabinet, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been given the agriculture and rural development portfolios, Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda the health portfolio and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar the power portfolio.
Reaching a consensus might also get tougher, as already seen with issues like inclusion of natural gas in GST and imposition of a sugar cess, both central proposals being resisted.
The Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas in its report tabled in Parliament today asked the ministry to strictly monitor implementation of directions issued to RIL for reversing the trend of falling gas output from the Bay of Bengal field.
Not only does there appear to be no meeting ground on the issue of a pricing formula proposed by the committee, the petroleum ministry wants another committee headed by Vijay Kelkar to look into the other major recommendation of moving to the revenue sharing model in exploration and production.
A Parliamentary Panel has "deplored" the government for capping the supply of subsidized LPG to 6 cylinders per households, saying that such restrictions should not be placed on people having income below a threshold.
The move is likely to force the government to take a faster decision.
The 'failure' to drill the committed 50 wells on the KG-D6 fields led to natural gas output dramatically falling over the past three years.
A day after deciding to nearly double natural gas prices to $8, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday hinted that power and fertiliser units may get gas at subsidised rates to keep electricity and urea costs down.
'He is positive and likes to get work done,' is how a retired bureaucrat described him. 'I assume he will push the reform agenda with strength.'
A parliamentary panel has asked the government to restrict imports of all petroleum products especially transportation fuels (petrol and diesel) by private firms in view of the excess refining capacity in the country.
The gvernment said on Tuesday that contingency plans have been drawn to maintain continuous supply of petroleum products if the employees of privatisation bound Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd go on strike.\n\n\n\n
Major General S C N Jatar, who passed into the ages on Monday night, thwarted anti-national forces at the peak of the Assam agitation. Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) salutes this officer and gentleman.
Oil and gas players' wish list includes incentivising E&P investments and reintroduction of income tax holiday for exploration and production activities, among others.
In the 38-page report, across 10 chapters, RIL explained how it entered the exploration and production business; the history of the New Exploration and Licensing Policy and the introduction of production-sharing contracts.
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, S Jaipal Reddy is likely to be the Leader of Lok Sabha and the decision to this effect is likely to be taken on Friday in the core committee meeting. Informal consultations between the prime minister and Sonia Gandhi has already taken place, say highly placed AICC sources.
Ministry returns guarantee saying new price has not been notified and RIL would have to submit surety as and when it is announced.
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