This is significantly higher than the government revenues of Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) that ADAG has been claiming in an advertising campaign that it launched on August 17. The exercise marks the first time the directorate general of hydrocarbon, the upstream oil regulator, has worked out such an estimate. The exercise is not carried out in the normal course for oil or gas fields.
Banking and energy sector companies are the highest advance tax paying corporates in the country, owing to a surge in business and personal lending coupled with rising energy consumption, according to finance ministry sources.
The Petroleum Federation of India, the apex body of public and private oil firms, has submitted to the oil ministry a 100-day agenda for the new government. On top of its list is decontrol of petrol and diesel prices. Currently, public sector retailers sell auto fuel at government-dictated rates, which the private sector competition is unable to match in times of high input cost (crude oil prices).
The finance ministry has asked state-run oil companies to shell out an interim dividend of Rs 2,600 crore (Rs 26 billion) for the year to March 2003, a government official
Industrialist Anil Ambani on Tuesday dared the petroleum ministry to take back the ownership of gas fields from Reliance Industries Ltd if it seriously believed that terms of the contract were violated by Mukesh Ambani-led firm, which he alleged was wanting to make a super-profit of Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion).
LN Mittal is getting a senior bureaucrat from the ministry of petroleum and natural gas to run his first-ever venture in the refining business, the Rs 18,919 crore (Rs 189.19 billion) Bhatinda refinery.
The irony, of course, is that even the suggestion that the petroleum and natural gas ministry thought was practical and workable has few takers in the government. Among the many suggestions on petroleum product prices, the Chaturvedi Committee had recommended dual pricing of diesel.
Wholesale price-based inflation rate fell to a 3-year low of (-) 3.48 per cent in May on easing prices of food, fuel and manufactured items, strengthening the case for continuing with the pause in rate hike in the coming months of the current fiscal. This is the second straight month when WPI has been in the negative zone mainly on account of a higher base and falling prices of fuel and manufactured goods. Food prices also eased during May. In May, 2022 WPI inflation was at 16.63 per cent. Last month, it was (-) 0.92 per cent.
Shipments from Russia rose nearly 33 per cent to $1.1 billion in March from $831.17 million in the previous month, which was when the country mounted aggression on Ukraine and faced sanctions from Western nations, the data accessed by Business Standard shows. Growth in imports was largely on account of oil, people aware of the matter said. The Department of Commerce is learnt to have written to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), seeking details of imports, including the payment mechanism, which India has not made public.
Home minister P Chidambaram, who briefed reporters on the Cabinet decisions, said in his opinion there was no bar on the government from announcing a price cut even after polls are announced. State-owned fuel retailers Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are selling petrol at almost break-even point while they make Rs 3.26 a litre profit on diesel sales.
India's crude oil production rose by 3.2 per cent in May on back of better performance by state- owned oil major Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), while refinery output remained unchanged.
Cairn India has received a government approval that will enable it to proceed with the development of a pipeline to transport oil from its flagship fields in Rajasthan.
A proposal in the Union Budget 2022-23 to raise excise duty on dirtier, unblended retail petrol and diesel has met with some resistance from the petroleum ministry. However, finance ministry officials say no such communication arguing against the levy of extra duty on diesel has been received from the oil ministry. Until there are discussions between the two departments, the proposal will not be tweaked in the Finance Bill. The Rs 2 per litre additional excise duty proposed on unblended fuels in the Finance Bill will result in a uniform hike of diesel prices across the country from October 1.
The medium-term scenario for oil marketing companies (OMCs) is high risk due to the surging crude and gas prices. Apart from OPEC-plus cutting production, the Hamas-Israel conflict has caused fears of supply disruption. The July-September quarter of 2023-24 (Q2FY24) saw positive surprises for OMCs. Strong gross refining margins (GRMs) more than offset weak marketing margins.
With this the only minister without a portfolio is Oscar Fernandes
A looming global shortage of diesel in Europe presents India with more than one opportunity to profit from strong margins. A shortage of the fuel, a key contributor to inflation, has been exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine, and western sanctions on Russian fuel supplies. The slowdown in natural gas supply means the West needs diesel to heat their homes this winter.
India will kickstart on Tuesday a two-day multi-agency military exercise covering the country's 7,516 km-long coastline and exclusive economic zone with the twin aim of checking the preparedness of various agencies to deal with any eventualities and bolster overall maritime security, officials said.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a three-month extension in Sudan's service, beyond the date of her superannuation, i.e. April 30, a personnel ministry order said. She will continue to function as the secretary of the Department of Health and Family Welfare during the period, it said.
Oil India and other PSUs had filed clarificatory /modificatory petition before the Supreme Court. These companies own and operate telecom networks though they do not provide telecom services.
Subir Raha, chairman and managing director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, has not been given an extension by the government and he will have to hang his boots by this evening.
Annapurna Devi, Subhas Sarkar and Rajkumar Ranjan Singh will be the new ministers of state for education.
As per the current market price, the government is expected to fetch Rs 5,300 crore (Rs 53 billion) by selling 10 per cent equity or 24.27 crore (242.7 million) shares at discounted price to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India Ltd.
The Cabinet has approved a framework of understanding on cooperation in hydrocarbons with Bangladesh recently.
After Nigeria, Libya has invited Indian oil firms to operate its old refineries after investing in their revamp and has offered New Delhi rights to explore oil in the country.
The government has approved the merger of fuel retailer IBP Co Ltd with IOC in an amalgamation that would provide the state-run refiner improve profits and allow the new entity to compete against private firms and multinationals.
The government will look into the issue of revising the petrol and diesel prices in view of the steep increase in international crude oil prices, the new Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Monday.
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, will acquire US energy firm ExxonMobil's 30 per cent stake
'The days when less government, more governance were spoken of are well and truly behind us.' 'More government, it is now believed, means more governance,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Dharmendra Pradhan lays bare the next course of action for his ministry and says RIL will have to pay the same price at which it produced the volumes.
India's flagship overseas firm ONGC Videsh Ltd is likely to get a 20 per cent stake in the Khusk and Hosseineieh oil fields in Iran on nomination basis.
India's crude oil imports jumped by over 29 per cent to 8.3 million tonnes in January this year despite import of petroleum products rising by 22.6 per cent to 660,900 tonnes.
A deal with the Assam government, which holds majority stake in the company through Assam Industrial Development Corporation Ltd, is likely by October.
Petronet LNG Limited is expected to deliver liquefied natural gas from its Dahej terminal at Rs 6,567 per million standard cubic metres (mscm), provided the international price of crude remains at $16 a barrel.\n\n\n\n
Punjab has sent an email saying that four deaths suspected to be due to lack of oxygen have been reported in a private hospital in Amritsar district, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in a written reply.
