Amidst Finance Ministry raising prospects of forcing Reliance Industries to sell gas at old price of $4.2, Oil Minister M Veerapa Moily on Thursday said there was no rethinking in the government on the decision to double gas rates from April 1, 2014.
There is no payment problem for Russian crude, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday. He said there is no proposal to cut retail fuel prices at the moment. Addressing a press conference, the minister said India enjoys a buyers' position and foreign suppliers are approaching Indian companies with offers to sell oil.
RIL has maintained it had followed the production sharing contract (PSC) in letter and spirit and done no wrong and it has drilled all wells within its boundary.
State-owned Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL), which operates India's strategic crude oil storage, will make awards by December to lease around 1 million tons of crude oil storage space (7.3 million barrels) at two of the country's three existing Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPRs), around a fifth of the total SPR capacity. This will enable the refilling of crude caverns even as escalating hostilities in the Gulf threaten disruptions in crude supplies, two industry sources said.
RIL had drawn 58.67 bcm from the wells up to March 31, 2015.
RIL has more than half a dozen undeveloped discoveries.
About two dozen discoveries of the state-owned ONGC, Reliance Industries and the Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) in KG Basin alone are languishing for want of right price.
Govt notification on $8.4 a unit price likely by month-end
Qatar Petroleum while confirming the withdrawal, tweeted, "Qatar announces it was withdrawing from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries effective 1 January 2019."
The Lucknow-Delhi Green Corridor will traverse Bareilly, Moradabad, Rampur and Ghaziabad. GAIL India Limited will be the implementing agency of the project.
OVL, along with Oil India Ltd, had in June agreed to buy Videocon Group's 10 per cent in the same block for $2.48 billion.
India's crude oil production fell 2.15 per cent in October as state-owned firms produced less but, natural gas output rose by a quarter on the back of output from KG-D6 fields of Reliance-BP, government data released on Tuesday showed. Crude oil production dropped to 2.51 million tonnes in October, as output from fields operated by Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) dipped. While ONGC produced 4 per cent less crude oil at 1.64 million tonnes, OIL output dropped 1.46 per cent to 2,53,000 tonnes.
Alka Mittal has been appointed interim chairman and managing director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) - the first woman to head the country's largest oil and gas producer. Mittal replaces Subhash Kumar, another interim head who retired after reaching superannuation age on December 31. "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for entrustment of additional charge of the post of chairman and managing director (CMD), ONGC to Alka Mittal, director (HR), ONGC for a period of six months with effect from January 1, 2022, or till the appointment of a regular incumbent to the post, or until further order, whichever is the earliest," the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said in an order dated January 3, 2022.
Expecting oil prices to remain under pressure, Fitch Ratings said deregulation of diesel prices in October will help in lowering the under-recoveries (which is nothing but international petroleum prices minus the subsidised retail rates).
Former oil secretary Tarun Kapoor, present and former chairmen of ONGC and a former director of IOC, are among over a dozen people who have applied for the top job at the oil and gas regulator, PNGRB, sources said. Kapoor, who superannuated as Secretary to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas last month, is the most prominent name in the list of 13 persons who have applied to become the chairman of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB). Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) chairman and managing director Subhash Kumar and his predecessor Shashi Shanker are also in the race and so is G K Satish, who superannuated as Director for Planning and Business Development from Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) a couple of months back.
ONGC takes Reliance to court, alleging years of stealing from its offshore block and a sleeping govt, right after it was agreed there would be a probe by experts.
Fitch Ratings on Monday said India's steady GDP growth outlook, improved banking sector's financial health and expected interest-rate cuts in 2025 will support credit access for corporates in FY26.
In October 2024, Jindal Stainless challenged a Goods and Services Tax (GST) notice in the Delhi high court. It was about corporate guarantees issued to related parties by its former group company, Jindal Stainless (Hisar), before their merger in March 2023.
However, WPI inflation remained in double digit for the third consecutive month in July, mainly due to a low base of last year. WPI inflation was (-) 0.25 per cent, in July 2020. "The high rate of inflation in July 2021 is primarily due to low base effect and rise in prices of crude petroleum and natural gas; mineral oils; manufactured products like basic metals; food products; textiles; chemicals and chemical products etc as compared the corresponding month of the previous year," the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.
'The universe of PSU stocks is huge and diverse.' 'Investors should bet on specific sectors and stocks from the basket as most of them may continue to consolidate after years of outperformance.'
The companies are in talks with Shell, Petronet LNG to book capacity
The production of eight infrastructure sectors rose by 7.5 per cent in October on healthy performance by the segments of coal, natural gas, refinery products and cement, official data released on Tuesday showed. The output of eight core sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity had contracted by 0.5 per cent in October 2020, according to the data released by the commerce and industry ministry. Core sectors' growth stood at 4.5 per cent in September this year.
Snapping the two-month easing trend, WPI inflation rose in August and remained in double-digit for the fifth consecutive month. In July 2021, WPI inflation stood at 11.16 per cent. In August 2020, WPI inflation was at 0.41 per cent. "The high rate of inflation in August 2021 is primarily due to rise in prices of non-food articles, mineral oils; crude petroleum and natural gas; manufactured products like basic metals; food products; textiles; chemicals and chemical products etc as compared the corresponding month of the previous year," the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.
With foreign investment almost drying up in India's oil and gas sector, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has promised an overhaul to make policies predictable, transparent and fair to investors.
State-run gas utility GAIL India and state refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd have floated a joint venture company to supply piped natural gas for domestic and commercial use
The Supreme Court decision upholding the government right to decide on sale of natural gas has prompted the latter to exercise control over gas sales from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's C-series field, off the Daman coast.
An empowered group of ministers headed by Defence Minister A K Antony is to consider an Oil Ministry proposal of abolishing the priority ranking later in the day, according to which natural gas is first given to urea manufacturing fertiliser plants, then to LPG units, followed by power plants, city gas, steel and refineries.
The government on Thursday permitted 100 per cent foreign investment under the automatic route in oil and gas PSUs which have received in-principle approval for strategic divestment. The move would facilitate privatisation of India's second biggest oil refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL). The government is privatising BPCL and selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake in the company.
Oil marketing companies IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum together blocked nearly 2.9 million LPG connections belonging to customers having more than one connection across states.
Wholesale inflation fell to a 4-month low of 1.31 per cent in August due to a decline in prices of vegetables and fuel, even though onion and potato prices spiked, according to official data released on Tuesday. Wholesale price index-based inflation fell for the second straight month in August after it hit a high of 3.43 per cent in May. Inflation in July was 2.04 per cent. In August last year, WPI inflation was (-) 0.46 per cent.
Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said India is the only country where rates of petrol and diesel have come down between November 2021 and April 2024. Replying to various queries during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, the minister also informed that the government is encouraging dialogue between Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and dealers regarding margins for the latter. Puri noted that petrol and diesel were deregulated during the UPA government.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is demanding an increase in excise duty on diesel cars with a view to discouraging consumption of subsidised fuel by personal vehicle owners.
The Government may be keen on having a greater say in affairs of Petronet LNG as it is looking at appointing a bureaucrat as director on board of the nation's biggest liquefied natural gas importer.
The stage for negotiations to settle the Krishna-Godavari basin dispute is long over, says a government official
Petronet LNG Ltd will sell India's first liquefied natural gas from January next at around $3.6 per million BTU (British Thermal Unit), almost the same price as that of the private domestic natural gas producers.
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries (RIL) might be denied a higher gas price from its D1 and D3 fields until the arbitration process with the government is over and a third-party expert report on the fall in output at the KG-D6 block is out.
Russian energy giant Rosneft has appointed a former Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) director to its board in signs it may be looking at boosting trade links with India. G K Satish, who retired as director for business development at IOC in 2021, is one of the three new faces appointed to the 11-strong board of directors of Rosneft, according to a statement issued by the Russian firm. Satish, 62, is the first Indian to be appointed to the board of Rosneft.
The Delhi government has announced that vehicles older than 15 years will be denied fuel at petrol pumps starting April 1.
Stoutly defending the hike in gas prices, Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily said the move would benefit the government in terms of revenue as many gas discoveries have been made by public sector companies rather than private sector.
