Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Monday hinted at a hike in fuel prices, asserting that a final call on it would be taken by the Group of Ministers in the meeting to be held in New Delhi on June 7.
Congress stalwart Murli Deora passed away on Monday morning after battling a prolonged illness. He was a politician who shared rapport across the political and corporate spectrum.
Though the government had earlier this year explicitly decided to compensate Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum for the losses they incur on selling domestic liquid petroleum gas and kerosene through public distribution system by way of oil bonds, the finance ministry has not issued any bonds for the three quarters.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Wednesday dismissed reports of diminishing oil stocks in Mumbai due to non-operation of ports after the oil spill off the coast of the metropolis.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora is seeking to give a big push to domestic oil and gas hunt through a slew of fiscal incentives including infrastructure status to exploration and production business and exemption from service tax.
Official sources indicated on Monday that the government may allocate natural gas to Anil Ambani Group's proposed power plants like the Dadri project in Uttar Pradesh only six months prior to commissioning, as reservation of gas is not allowed under the present policy.
Jet Airways, Kingfisher and NACIL, which operates Air India, owe over Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) to the oil PSUs in unpaid fuel bills, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said.
Crude oil prices in July last year rose to a historic high of $147 and then plumetted to four-year low of $37 per barrel, all in just four months time. The minister said the global financial crisis which was the primary reason for the slump in international oil prices, has forced India to revise growth targets.
The government is likely to decide within the next two days whether to hike petrol and diesel prices to provide some relief to state-run oil marketing companies, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora indicated on Monday.
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.
With the rise of global crude oil prices - currently nudging $100 per barrel - the "losses" of the three government-owned oil marketing companies have gone up to a whopping Rs 240 crore (Rs 2.4 billion) per day.
Oil Minister Murli Deora on Friday indicated there would be no rollback in fuel price hike and hit out at Opposition for "misleading" people on the impact of the rise.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora will meet Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and chiefs of airlines and oil companies to discuss a solution for dues of over Rs 2,000 crore that the domestic carriers owe the state-owned oil marketers on fuel sales.
ONGC Videsh Limited, overseas investment arm of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, wants to buy BP's 35 per cent stake in the $1.3 billion Nam Con Son gas project in Vietnam.
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.
"I would say there was a good response from the people (we met today), and something substantial can come out of it. But I cannot give you the names or details of our meeting," Deora, when asked to give a sense of the meeting by rediff.com, said.
India's oil minister Murli Deora said on Saturday that the\ngovernment would consider a downward revision of fuel prices if international crude\nprices came down.
Nirupam had been at loggerheads with senior party leaders in the state and the move has come as a bid to quell the intense infighting within the Mumbai Congress.
A day after agreeing to sell majority stake in its India subsidiary for $8.48 billion, UK's Cairn Energy Plc top management on Tuesday met Oil Minister Murli Deora and other key officials to clear any regulatory roadblocks to the deal with Vedanta Resources.
Within days of India approaching International Atomic Energy Agency for country-specific safeguards for nuclear power plants, the ministry issued advertisements in newspapers explaining what the uranium extracted energy can do to the nation's energy security. Energy-hungry India has a huge unmet power demand and the heavily subsidised diesel is being used as fuel to generate electricity.
Replying to a calling-attention motion in Rajya Sabha, oil minister Murli Deora said the $4.2 per million British thermal unit price fixed for gas produced from KG-D6 fields of RIL was lower than the average of $5.51 per mmBtu charged by UK's BG-led consortium for Panna/Mukta and Tapti gas. It was also lower than the $4.3 per mmBtu price of gas produced from Cairn's Ravva Satellite fields and $4.75 per mmBtu for the UK firm's Lakshmi fields.
Petroleum Secretary R S Pandey separately pointed out that the airline had defaulted on payment of fuel bills to oil companies and owed them Rs 259 crore (Rs 2.59 billion). The airline, which is battling to survive the downturn in the industry, has handed out the pink slip to 1,900 employees, mostly cabin crew - which it expected to result in savings of $1 million a month.
A Group of Ministers will take the decision in June.
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.
India has asked oil cartel Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise crude oil production to stem the relentless rise in international oil prices that have threatened to derail import dependent economies such as India.
Oil Minister Murli Deora on Wednesday said his ministry is not in favour of raising diesel and domestic LPG prices as response to spurt in global crude oil prices, as the move will add to already high inflation rate.
The Oil Sector Officers Association, which claims to represent executives at 14 state-run firms, is protesting against a pay increase smaller than it had demanded.
"Oil companies are still losing money. . .Please pray that prices come down further so that we can consider reducing fuel prices," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told reporters.
Sudan, which had in 2007 defaulted on payment of installments towards the cost of building 741-km pipeline from Khatroum to Port au Sudan, agreed to form a working group to resolve the issue within a month, sources said.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a Re 1 per litre excise duty cut on crude oil to enable a reduction in auto fuel prices, necessary to contain the growing inflation.
"You will have to wait for that," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told reporters. International crude oil prices are ruling at $74 per barrel on Tuesday.
Deora, who met Mukherjee on Monday afternoon to present his ministry's Budget wishlist, also discussed the deregulation of fuel prices.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Tuesday sought a Re 1 per litre cut in excise duty on diesel to contain runaway inflation.
After eight rounds of auction, India is moving towards Open Acreage Licensing Policy, where oil firms can choose the blocks they want to explore without waiting for the government to put them on offer.
Contrary to reports, oil PSUs will not make a counter bid to Vedanta Resources' $9.6 billion offer to buy Cairn India, as the oil ministry is disinclined to a rival bid.
The government on Monday ruled out any immediate increase in petrol and diesel prices despite a spurt in international crude oil prices.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Monday ruled out any rollback in the increased prices of petroleum products, saying the hike has been reasonable and minimum. "The hike is reasonable and minimum ...," Deora told reporters here.
Deora is believed to have explained the oil ministry's position on gas pricing and utilisation.
The government on Tuesday ruled out any immediate cut in petrol and diesel prices in line with fall in global oil prices, but said a reduction may be considered once crude prices fall below $50 a barrel.
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