The government will press ahead with its stalled privatisation programme and sell stakes in two refiners, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, Divestment Minister Arun Shourie said.
"Air India is unable to pay even after a 90-day credit period. They owe us about Rs 300 crore without interest. There is also no bank guarantee from Air India to any of the oil marketing companies. We do not know when will the company honour its dues," said a BPCL official on condition of anonymity.
GAIL (India) Ltd and its partners on Wednesday signed the Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement with government of Oman for Block 56 in Muscat.
The Oil and Natural Gas Corp has asked the government to review the scheme of sharing of liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene subsidy with upstream firms and said the scheme should not be extended beyond March 2004.
Contrary to popular perception of public sector oil firms making huge profits on selling petrol and diesel by gold plating the cost, Indian firms have second lowest refinery and marketing margins - profits - in the world.
Public sector oil firms plan to set up over 4600 petrol stations and 907 LPG sale agencies in the current fiscal, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Thursday.
Attorney General Soli Sorabjee has said the sale of stakes in two state-run oil refiners does not need parliamentary approval.
Divestment Minister Arun Shourie will soon make a statement on stake sales in two state-run oil firms following a consensus reached on the issue by a group of top ministers.
Indian state-run oil giants HPCL and BPCL reported on Wednesday no supply disruptions as result of a two-day-old strike by workers opposing privatisation of the refiners.
With the government giving limited freedom to state-run oil companies to fix auto fuel prices within a narrow price band, petrol prices are set to go up by Rs 0.57 per litre and diesel by Rs 0.92 per litre from August 1.
A parliamentary panel has rapped the government for bypassing Parliament in deciding to privatise oil refiners Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corp
The cut reflects changes in global prices of the two fuels since the last revision.
India plans to release about 5 million barrels of crude oil from its emergency stockpile in tandem with the US, Japan and other major economies to cool prices, a top government official said on Tuesday. India stores about 38 million barrels of crude oil in underground caverns at three locations on the east and west coast. Of this, about 5 million barrels will be released, starting as early as 7-10 days, the official, who wished not to be named said.
Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 77.28 per litre from Rs 76.73, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 75.79 a litre from Rs 75.19, according to a price notification from State oil marketing companies. Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.
In nine hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 5 per litre and diesel by Rs 4.87 a litre.
With an eye on bigger imports, the oil marketing firm may get its French partner Total to set it up.
The official, who did not wish to be identified, said the government will wrap up the stake sale in HPCL by November.\n\n
In 13 hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 7.11 per litre and diesel by Rs 7.67 a litre.
Indian Oil Corporation, the nation's largest fuel retailer, is likely to hike petrol prices by Rs 0.33 per litre from Tuesday. IOC Chairman B M Bansal said international crude oil prices have risen since the last price revision, necessitating an increase in domestic retail prices.
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.
HPCL is Kingfisher Airline's largest aviation turbine fuel supplier.
In 12 hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 6.55 per litre and diesel by Rs 7.04 a litre.
In all, petrol price has gone up by Rs 1.74 per litre and diesel by Rs 1.78 a litre in three days.
India-born billionaire Lakshmi N Mittal may take 49 per cent stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd's under-construction $3 billion refinery at Bhatinda in Punjab.
Private sector low cost airline SpiceJet has entered into a strategic tie-up with Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd to sell air-tickets through the latter's petrol stations.
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Wednesday met Oil Secretary S Sundareshan to discuss defaults by his group firm Kingfisher Airlines on payment of jet fuel bills, but did not say when he will clear the outstanding of Rs 176 crore (Rs 1.76 bilion).
NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi N Mittal may partner with Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd in the state-run firm's under-construction $3 billion refinery at Bhatinda in Punjab.
An HPCL-led consortium had put the project on hold in 2009.
The three oil PSUs have told Air India that if it did not make the monthly lump sum payment, they will stop fuel supply from October 11 at six major domestic airports.
British oil major BP Plc on Thursday signed an agreement with state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd to negotiate a stake in HPCL's Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) Bhatinda refinery in Punjab.
India-born billionaire Lakshmi N Mittal's proposed Rs 3,365 crore investment in Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd's Bhatinda refinery in Punjab will have to wait for government approval as the Cabinet did not take up the issue on May 24.
ChevronTexaco has bid for a stake in state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd, India's second-largest oil refiner and retailer.
State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd plans to invest over Rs 13,000 crore to raise the capacity of its Vizag refinery and set up an aromatic plant there.
India plans to complete by 2006 a 180,000-bpd refinery, which has been under a cloud because of the proposed privatisation of the company that is building it, Oil Minister Ram Naik
Oil marketing companies on Friday cut petrol price by 32 paise, and diesel by 85 paise a litre with effect from midnight tonight.
Petrol and diesel price soared to an all-time high across the country on Friday after rates were hiked again by 25 paise and 30 paise a litre, respectively. The price of petrol in Delhi rose it its highest ever level of Rs 101.89 a litre and to Rs 107.95 in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. Diesel rates too touched a record high of Rs 90.17 in Delhi and Rs 97.84 in Mumbai.
Diesel price on Friday was hiked by 20 paise per litre - the first increase in rates in over two months - as international oil prices neared their highest since 2018. Price of diesel was hiked to Rs 88.82 per litre in Delhi and to Rs 96.41 in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. Petrol price was not changed. It costs Rs 101.19 a litre in Delhi and Rs 107.26 in Mumbai.
Diesel rates had gone up by Rs 12.55 a litre between June 7, when oil firms resumed revising prices in line with cost, and July 25.
SpiceJet grounded all its aircraft due to payment woes
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