A day after the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group declared it will be interested in buying out the Dabhol project whenever it is up for sale, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora categorically denied the Central government was considering any such proposal.
Unless the per barrel prices comes down to $67 level, the reduction in existing fuel prices, including petrol, diesel and LPG, should not be expected, Deora said while replying a volley of questions on whether the government would take a populist measure or reducing oil prices despite losses to oil marketing companies. Meanwhile, global crude oil prices today fell $10.52 at $96.37 per barrel in New York's main contract for November delivery.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may have used a mix of charm and roguish coercion to let India know that he expected the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline proposal to become a reality in 45 days. But India is in no hurry to take a decision, a top Cabinet minister in the United Progressive Alliance government said. The volatile political environment in Iran and Pakistan has as much weightage now and the UPA government is becoming more reluctant.
Oil Minister Murli Deora has said that petrol and diesel prices would not be cut till crude oil prices fell to $67 a barrel, since the depreciation in the rupee against the US dollar had eroded gains from falling oil prices, which touched a 7-month low.
Crude prices are hovering near $100 a barrel level after hitting a six-month low of $98 on Thursday. Petroleum Secretary R S Pandey said that crude prices are expected to fall even further.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is in talks with Reliance Industries and Indian Oil Corporation for investing in refineries and petrochemical plants in the country.
The allusion is simple: Modi is the BJP in Gujarat. This encapsulates a paradigm shift in the way the BJP's internal politics is now being run.
India hopes to conclude the acquisition of UK-listed Imperial Energy in 4-5 weeks, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Friday. OVL is now awaiting approval of Kremlin to takeover the company, which has assets in Tomsk region of the western Siberia in Russia.
GAIL has already been appointed as the nodal agency for the pipeline in India.
"Will the government come up with a POTA-type law?" asked senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi in the Rajya Sabha while participating in a discussion on serial bomb blasts in Uttar Pradesh.
The government on Monday ruled out any immediate increase in petrol and diesel prices despite a spurt in international crude oil prices.
Three Indian authors are on the 2008 Booker Prize long-list. Will any of them win the feted prize?
Crude oil prices have fallen to below $113 a barrel this week from all-time high of $147 per barrel witnessed last month. The basket of crude oil India buys averaged $109.88 per barrel, down from $119 a barrel price on June 4 when petrol, diesel and domestic cooking gas prices were raised.
Taking Indo-Chinese co-operation in the oil sector a step forward, the country's biggest oil refiner and retailer, Indian Oil Corporation, has signed a memorandum of understanding with integrated Chinese national oil company Sinopec.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah has dissolved all its national cells pending their reconstitution and appointed Vijay Chauthaiwale as the new incharge of its foreign and Overseas Friends of BJP cell with immediate effect.
Indian Oil Corporation has developed an indigenous technology that can double LPG production in refineries, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Thursday.
ONGC Videsh Ltd has much riding on $150 million investment plans in gas and oil exploration that Petroleum Minister Murli Deora says is critical for India's energy security. But apart from this, Myanmar apparently offers rich potential in engineering, fertilisers, tourism and pharmaceuticals for the private sector.
Iraq has invited Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest oil refiner, to set up refineries in the war-torn country, and also participate in other downstream projects, a government statement said.
The Opposition National Democratic Alliance and the Third Front continued to disrupt proceedings in Parliament over the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement leading to adjournment of both Houses till 1600 hours.
Already under fire from all quarters over special economic zones, an important parliamentary committee has firmed up its strong opposition over acquisition of farm land.
GoM meeting regarding petro product price hike has been postponed and a decision on the prices will come only after Jan 28.
Monday's meeting of the empowered group of ministers on pricing of gas from Reliance Industries' D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari basin has proved inconclusive.
"Yesterday's GoM meeting was inconclusive as two ministers were not present. We did discuss some proposals and I hope the GoM and government will find a solution (to the spike in crude oil prices)," Petroleum Minister Murli Deroa told reporters in New Delhi on Friday.
The three government oil marketing companies, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, are losing Rs 320 crore a day as they sell at subsidised rates.
Amid rumblings in the Bharatiya Janata Party over Bihar poll rout and attack on its leadership by party veterans, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday strongly defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party President Amit Shah, saying they cannot be held responsible for the defeat.
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He sought oil bonds from the finance ministry to cover 57.1 per cent of the total Rs 77,000 crore losses suffered by the oil companies in 2007-08.
Also known as 'Serpent' for his skills of deception and evasion, 63-year-old Sobhraj had filed an appeal in the apex court against the life sentence given to him by the Kathmandu District Court, for the murder of American backpacker Connie Bronzich. He is suspected to have killed at least 12 travellers in India, Thailand and Nepal in the 1970s.
With the rising price of crude oil, the gap between the desired selling price and the actual selling price -- referred to as under-recovery -- is up to Rs 190 crore (Rs 1.9 billion) a day. The solution is to raise retail prices, an unpopular move.
India and Libya discussed ways to boost their relationship, particularly in the IT and Oil sector during talks visiting Petroleum Minister Murli Deora had with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli.
The Parliamentary Committee on Special Economic Zones on Friday said no further SEZs should be notified unless the law is amended to include changes pertaining to land acquisition.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora is likely to meet Finance Minister P Chidambaram later this week to seek greater compensation for oil companies, who are currently losing about Rs 450 crore (Rs 4.5 billion) a day on fuel sales. Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are likely to see doubling of revenue loss on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene to Rs 150,000 crore. The three fuel retailers together lost Rs 77,304.50 cr on fuel sale in 2007-08.
Iran on Friday invited India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to Tehran for signing a tri-nation deal on natural gas, supply of which could start from 2011.
On Thursday, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora had also informed Parliament that the government under instruction from United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi is not proposing any fuel price increase despite crude nearing $100 a barrel mark. Crude oil prices have risen by almost 50 per cent since the UPA government assumed office, but only a fifth of that has been passed on to the customers.
Global crude oil prices have nearly doubled in the last one year but government has not raised domestic fuel prices on a direction from United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said.
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investment arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), has signed a joint venture agreement with Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PdVSA) to take 40 per cent stake in the San Cristobal oilfield in Venezuela. Under the agreement, OVL and PdVSA will develop the field from its current production level of 20,000 barrels per day to 40,000 barrels per day, company officials said. OVL will make a total investment of $ 355.738 million comprising signature.
The country is facing no shortage of domestic cooking gas at the moment, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. As on October 1, 2007, OMCs were serving 9.79 crore LPG customers through their 9,355 distributorships. OMCs have released 27.7 lakh new LPG domestic connections in the country during April-September.
The fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections will go to polls on April 29. The voting will be held for 71 seats spread across 9 states.
The notice for the adjournment motion was sent by BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi to the Rajya Sabha secretary general.
