Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Ram Naik said on Wednesday that an agreement with Qatar had been finalised for supply of liquified natural gas from next year.
It is rare for Cabinet ministers to tick off state-owned companies publicly, yet that was what then petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan did for ONGC. Speaking at an event on June 29, Pradhan said he has asked India's premier exploration company to find fresh oil acreages fast. "Do it yourself through some joint venture (or) through a new business model. But the government cannot permit you to hold resources for an indefinite time." The reason for this stricture is India's rising dependence on imported oil and gas. Or, to put it another way, falling domestic production (see chart: "Crude truth"), especially from ONGC, which faces a simple problem.
The growth in key sectors will have implications for the Index of Industrial Production as these eight segments account for about 41 per cent of the total factory output.
Large quantities of liquefied natural gas will start flowing into the country from the Dahej Terminal in Gujarat when it becomes operational from January next year, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Ram Naik said on Thursday.
The wholesale price-based inflation declined for the fourth consecutive month to 10.7 per cent in September on softening in prices of food, fuel and manufactured items. The Wholesale Price Index-based inflation was 12.41 per cent in August and 11.80 per cent in September last year. This year, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) touched a record high of 15.88 per cent in May. September is the 18th consecutive month of double-digit WPI inflation.
In the 38-page report, across 10 chapters, RIL explained how it entered the exploration and production business; the history of the New Exploration and Licensing Policy and the introduction of production-sharing contracts.
The ministry in a letter dated May 15 overruled Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board's de-recognisation of Indraprastha Gas Ltd, saying IGL was government's authorised entity for city gas projects in Delhi, NOIDA, Gurgaon and Faridabad. PNGRB had asked IGL, the company owned by state-run GAIL and BPCL and Delhi Government that retail CNG to automobiles and piped natural gas to households in national capital region, to stop all incremental activities.
With India poised to receive its first import of liquefied natural gas, the government has drawn up plans to expand in a big way the CNG supplies to several urban areas in the country.
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The rated oil and gas companies, Fitch said, have a significant proportion of foreign currency-denominated debt.
With this, the total penalty on RIL for missing the target in four fiscal years beginning April 1, 2010 now stands at a cumulative $2.376 billion, the Minister informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The government has cut the windfall profit tax on crude oil produced in the country while the levy on exports of diesel and ATF has been hiked, an official notification said. The tax, levied in the form of special additional excise duty or SAED, on domestically produced crude oil was reduced to Rs 6,700 per tonne from Rs 7,100 a tonne. SAED on the export of diesel was increased to Rs 6 per litre from Rs 5.50 a litre and on jet fuel or ATF to Rs 4 per litre from Rs 2, the notification said.
ONGC Videsh Ltd has sold one million barrels of crude oil out of its share from a Sudan oil project to China for over $25 million, Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas Sumitra Mahajan told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board in its July 2 order imposed a cost of Rs 100,000 on the three private fuel retailers who filed a complaint against Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum for indulging in 'restrictive and unfair trade practices and cartelisation'.
Satish Sharma was a Gandhi family loyalist and was among those who mentored Rahul Gandhi in his early days in politics. He died in Goa at 73.
The output of eight core industries increased 4.2 per cent in April, boosted by higher electricity, fertiliser and cement production.
'He is positive and likes to get work done,' is how a retired bureaucrat described him. 'I assume he will push the reform agenda with strength.'
The Oil and Natural Gas Corp has asked the government to review the scheme of sharing of liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene subsidy with upstream firms and said the scheme should not be extended beyond March 2004.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday made a strong case for "phased" hike in prices of petroleum products, coal and power as they are "underpriced" warning that failure to control subsidies would lead to cut in plan expenditure.
Pradhan met Energy Secretary Rick Perry during an unscheduled trip to the US Capitol and discussed energy cooperation between India and the US, Indian investment in Liquefied natural gas and shale sectors, and the possibility of the US exporting LNG to India from early next year.
The wholesale price-based inflation rose to a four-month high of 14.55 per cent in March, mainly due to hardening of crude oil and commodity prices, even though vegetables witnessed easing of price pressures. As per the government data released on Monday, WPI inflation has remained in double digits for the 12th consecutive month beginning April 2021. The last time such a level of WPI was recorded was in November 2021, when inflation was 14.87 per cent.
Forwarding a letter written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, wherein the younger Ambani had sought a direction to the ministry of petroleum and natural gas 'to cease from overtly and covertly attempting to intervene in our commercial dispute with RIL," the PMO asked the ministry to examine the matter and submit their comments urgently.
The private companies want a level playing field so that they can compete with the government companies in fuel retailing.
The version is GM India's first clean-burning liquefied natural gas car in India, built at company's plant at Talegaon in Maharashtra.
Experts say local demand, government policies in retail and refining sector are attracting foreign players.
Food inflation, at almost 17 per cent, along with the rise in fuel prices will be a bitter pill for consumers.
The growth in eight infrastructure industries slowed to 2.3 per cent in May mainly due to contraction in crude oil, natural gas, coal and fertilizer output.
'It is very difficult to be an honest politician in a country where the system is absolutely corrupt. Jaipal Reddy is one up even on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is considered clean and honest. Reddy has gone a step ahead by playing an active role in stopping corruption. He has put things on record; he has walked the extra mile to ensure that public money is valued highly. One must recognise Reddy's efforts, and make it an example for India's younger generation.'
'Reliance on crude oil is still very high. Globally, natural gas is 25 per cent of the energy basket. In India, it has fallen to 6.5 per cent, from 11 per cent in 2014.'
In a bid to enter India's booming petroleum sector, the Hinduja group has entered into a joint venture agreement with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
The wholesale price-based inflation in February rose to 13.11 per cent on hardening of prices of crude oil and non-food items, even though food articles softened. After two months of mild easing, WPI inflation accelerated in February and remained in double digits for the 11th consecutive month, beginning April 2021. WPI inflation last month was 12.96 per cent, while in February last year, it was 4.83 per cent. The rise in crude oil and natural gas prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, beginning February 24, has put pressure on the wholesale price index, even though food articles saw softening across categories of vegetables to pulses to protein-rich items.
The FIR by the ACB was registered a day after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the agency has been told to probe their alleged collusion over hike in prices of natural gas from KG basin.
A Parliamentary Panel has "deplored" the government for capping the supply of subsidized LPG to 6 cylinders per households, saying that such restrictions should not be placed on people having income below a threshold.
Capital expenditure by 54 large central public sector enterprises and five departmental arms, having a capex minimum target of Rs 100 crore, rose 93 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in the April-May period to Rs 1.39 trillion. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Railways have started this financial year's capex cycle on a stronger note. In the first two months of FY24, the 54 CPSEs, along with the departmental arms, achieved 19 per cent of their combined budget target of Rs 7.33 trillion, Business Standard has learnt.
The release also points out that the prevailing domestic gas prices command a significantly higher price than the proposal of RIL.
The wholesale price-based inflation declined to over two-year low of 3.85 per cent in January on easing prices of manufactured items, fuel and power, even though food articles remained expensive. This is the ninth straight month of decline in the rate of wholesale price-index (WPI) based inflation. The WPI inflation was 4.73 per cent in January and 13.43 per cent in February, last year.
As the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer, India is running out of options as the relentless surge in international oil prices make it imperative to pass them on to consumers, officials said on Monday. India imports 85 per cent of its crude oil needs and about half of its natural gas requirement. While the imported crude oil is turned into fuels such as petrol and diesel, gas is used as CNG in automobiles and fuel in factories.
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