Labour unions on Monday threatened to go on a lightning strike the day government invited bids for privatising highly profitable oil public sector units HPCL and BPCL.\n\n\n\n
Bowing to pressure from the opposition, Divestment Minister Arun Shourie on Tuesday assured the Rajya Sabha that he would seek an opinion from Attorney General Soli Sorabjee on the legality of the sell-off of HPCL and BPCL.
Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum raised the aviation turbine fuel price by Rs 585 per kilolitre in Delhi to Rs 32,199 with effect from midnight tonight, an IOC official said. The increase comes on the back of a marginally one per cent reduction effected on May 1, which had brought the rates in Delhi down to Rs 31,614.51 per kl.
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.
Faulty laws helped oil majors IOC, HPCL and BPCL -- to avoid excise payment of Rs 713 crore (Rs 7.13 billion) to the government during April-December 2002, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has said.
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.
This is the second hike in diesel price this month.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and British oil giant British Petroleum will decide on signing a binding agreement for a new refining and marketing joint venture vehicle to build a nine million tonne refinery at Bhatinda in Punjab by November 12.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation is all set to sell half its stake in the Vishakapatnam refinery to French firm Total SA, which will bring in Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion).
The government is understood to have deferred 'indefinitely' the financial bidding for Shipping Corporation of India and Hindustan Copper Ltd in the wake of a spate of petitions challenging the divestment process in various courts.\n\n\n\n
Global oil major British Petroleum and French oil giant Total are eyeing equity in Hindustan Petroleum Corp's Rs 8,336 crore
The divestment ministry would concentrate on "legal option" to resolve the divestment impasse arising out of the Supreme Court verdict on HPCL and BPCL, but would continue with residual stake sale plans in companies like CMC Ltd and VSNL.
The state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd has proposed to lay a Rs 1,300 crore (Rs 13 billion) pipeline from Mundra in Gujarat to Delhi for transporting petroleum products to northern India.
India's only private sector oil refiner, Reliance Industries, has sought a two-year extension of its agreement with Indian Oil Corp to sell Jamnagar refinery products through the state-run firm's retail network.
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.
In 13 hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 7.11 per litre and diesel by Rs 7.67 a litre.
State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation is eyeing oil blocks in African countries, its Chairman and Managing Director, Subir Roy Choudhari said on Friday.
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.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Monday said last week's Supreme Court ruling halting the privatisation of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd was a "setback", but hoped that a solution will emerge soon.
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.
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 Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre on a Public Interest Litigation challenging the legality of the government's decision to privatise public sector oil firms Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation.
Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation have backed out of Gail's Vizag-Secunderabad LPG pipeline.
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.
India's oil ministry has decided to divert 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) of indigenous crude oil from refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp, which is being privatised, to feed small state-run refineries in remote areas, officials said.
Balmer Lawrie & Company, whose 61.97 per cent stake is slated to be divested by the Centre, is unlikely to be sold off during the current fiscal.
The divestment ministry said on Thursday that the inter-ministerial group on the divestment of Bharat Petroleum Corporation would meet next week to discuss the quantum of shares to be offered in the domestic and global markets.
The divestment ministry is now all set to flag off the process of divestment in Bharat Petroleum Corporation with the Inter-Ministerial Group scheduled to meet on February 13.
The post fell vacant after incumbent Prasad Dasgupta took early retirement. Dasgupta's five-year term was to come to an end on August 31 and he was eligible for a two-year extension till he attained superannuation at the age of 65 in 2012.
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 said on Tuesday that his ministry had furnished all the facts to Attorney General for getting his opinion on the legal aspects of privatising public sector oil company, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation.
Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee's response on the privatisation of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is likely to be known later this week.
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