India's exports rose marginally by 1.62 per cent to $33.92 billion, while trade deficit more than doubled to $27.98 billion in August due to increased crude oil imports, commerce ministry data said on Wednesday. The revised data showed that imports rose by 37.28 per cent to $61.9 billion in August this year. The preliminary data released by the ministry on September 3 had shown a 1.15 per cent decline in exports to $33 billion in August.
CAG's report on Hydrocarbon Exploration Efforts of ONGC, which was tabled in Parliament today, expressed concern at the company's lack of adequate efforts and results in new fields and wanted the Oil Ministry to reset annual targets set out in memorandum of understanding that the firm signs with the government.
RIL said it had launched 'an internal probe' into its staff's detention.
Minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Jitin Prasada in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha said the finance ministry is yet to approve the oil bonds. Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum lost Rs 11,853 crore (Rs 118.53 billion) in revenues on not being allowed to raise LPG and kerosene prices in line with the cost during April- September.
If Saudi Arabia, with just two Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina, can create a huge tourism-based ecosystem beyond oil, Ayodhya is sure to become the world's hottest religious tourism site in less than a decade, predicts R Jagannathan.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said the surge in international oil prices is a matter of grave concern and it was for the petroleum ministry to take a call on retail pricing of petroleum products.
OIL, which produces 3.5 million tonnes a year of oil, will offer 2.64 crore equity shares to public in the IPO, while the government will simultaneously sell 10 per cent of its stake in the company to state refiners.
OIL, which produces 3.5 million tonnes a year of oil, will offer 2.64 crore equity shares to public in the IPO, while the government will simultaneously sell 10 per cent of its stake in the company to state refiners.
If 4,000 workers could work round the clock for the construction of the new Parliament building, then there is no reason why all infrastructure projects too cannot follow that model, asserts Dr Sudhir Bisht.
Given that India will get a huge part of its oil supplies from Iran through its government-owned oil PSUs, any unwelcome shocks in global crude rates could be absorbed well enough.
India's oil product consumption, an indicator of the state of economy, rose a massive 10.1 per cent in August to 7.5 million tonnes on back of increased demand for petrol and diesel.
It calculated that the government should have got an additional profit share of $ 115.263 million.
It also expressed confidence that the cleaning operation will be finished in a couple of days.
If approved, gas price will rise to $6.775 per million British thermal unit from $4.2 currently.
Officers of oil PSUs have threatened to go on an indefinite strike from May 31 if their demand for higher wages are not met.
The government on Friday cut the windfall profit tax on locally produced crude oil in line with a fall in international rates, and reduced the levy on export of diesel and jet fuel (ATF). At the fifth fortnightly review, the government reduced tax on domestically-produced crude oil to Rs 10,500 per tonne from Rs 13,300 per tonne. The levy on the export of diesel was reduced to Rs 10 per litre from Rs 13.5. Also, the tax on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) exports was cut to Rs 5 a litre from Rs 9 with effect from September 17, according to a finance ministry notification issued late Friday night.
The government is planning divestments in at least 5 public sector undertakings including Maruti, Balco, Bhel, Oil India and Powergrid in the next few months as part of efforts to raise Rs 5,000-7,000 crore (Rs 50-70 billion) in 2005-06.
The wholesale price-based inflation declined to 4.95 per cent in December 2022, mainly due to fall in prices of food articles and crude petroleum. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was 5.85 per cent in November 2022 and 14.27 per cent in December 2021. Inflation in food articles was (-)1.25 per cent, while in fuel and power it was 18.09 per cent during December 2022.
The Petroleum Ministry has proposed a 33 per cent hike in the price of natural gas produced by ONGC and Oil India and gradually increase it to $4.20 per mmBtu set for gas from Reliance Industries' KG-D6 fields.
Buoyed by higher demand for crude oil and imported coal, Indian ports recorded a growth of 11 per cent in traffic during the April-June quarter of 2022-23. This shows that the economy is opening up, a report by DAM Capital said. The volume increase assumes significance since both prices of crude oil and imported coal have been soaring this year. Indian coal companies were pressed for supply amid a thermal coal crisis earlier in the year.
Indian Oil Corporation may buy the government's 26 per cent stake in oil and gas exploration firm Oil India Ltd for about Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion).
It remains to be seen if the government will concede to the demand of oil companies just before the winter session of Parliament.
Like pharmaceutical companies globally - which used to enjoy a preferential exchange rate in Venezuela - Indian producers have been left badly stung by the collapse of the bolivar currency
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved appointment of Sarraf, who at present is Managing Director of ONGC's overseas arm, ONGC Videsh Ltd.
With international crude oil prices dipping to last year's levels, the government has put the issue of cutting motor and cooking fuel prices back on the agenda to tame inflation, two senior oil ministry officials have said.
While Narendra Modi spent fewer days abroad than his predecessor -- 275 days versus Dr Singh's 306 - he has travelled more widely than any other Indian PM.
Besides PESB selected chairman designate B Ashok (currently Executive Director retail sales in IOC) having no board experience, the case for extending Butola's service is more compelling because all the other six directors on board of the nation's largest oil firm are retiring in next one year.
This Budget, the finance ministry may consider a proposal for a seed fund that would provide financial support to states willing to sell items other than foodgrain, sugar and kerosene through the public distribution system (PDS). The move, experts believe, will help reigning in food inflation that remains in double digits, despite moderation.
Reliance Industries has made drastic changes in gas supply contracts that will jack up its KG-D6 gas price by 10 per cent over and above the new rate of $8.3 coming into effect from next month.
Presently, state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India Ltd have to bear roughly one-third of the losses on sales of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene by way of giving discounts on crude oil they sell to refiners. ONGC and OIL reaped huge profits as crude oil prices rose internationally, prompting the government to consider taking away any earnings over and above $75 per barrel through a WPT.
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.
Putin said the 'policy' pursued by Modi is the main 'guarantor' of relations between the two countries.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presents his maiden budget next month and faces headwinds from a weak economy, a food inflation scare and now the risk that higher oil prices could swell the government's oil subsidy bill.
He may have spent his entire adult life in diplomacy, but doctorate in nuclear physics Subrahmanyam Jaishankar's face betrays both fusion and fission of his moods.
RBML - the joint venture of Reliance Industries Ltd and supermajor BP - has told the government that fuel retailing for the private sector in India has become unsustainable after market-controlling public sector firms frequently froze petrol and diesel prices at rates way below the cost, sources said. Despite a surge in oil prices, state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) first froze petrol and diesel rates for a record 137 days beginning early November 2021 when five states including Uttar Pradesh went to the polls, and last month again went into a hiatus that is now 47 days old. "They (Reliance BP Mobility Ltd) has written to the petroleum ministry over the fuel pricing issue," a highly placed source in the government, who didn't want to be quoted, told reporters.
The government has put off by one month the levy of an additional Rs 2 per litre excise duty on petrol and diesel that is not doped with ethanol and bio-diesel in a bid to give the industry more time to implement the measure.
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