The current retail selling price of Rs 65.64 per litre in Delhi is short of actual cost by Rs 8.60 a litre.
Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Natural Resources has filed an affidavit in the Bombay High Court in the case involving Reliance Industries, refuting the petroleum ministry's stand that the government-approved price of $4.2/million metric British thermal unit (mmBtu) is the selling price of gas.
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.
Eight companies including Reliance Gas Ltd, GAIL Gas and the joint venture of Indian Oil and Adani Energy have bid for the rights to retail CNG in seven cities.
Experts say local demand, government policies in retail and refining sector are attracting foreign players.
India Gas Solutions Pvt Ltd -- the equal joint venture between the Mukesh Ambani-led firm and Europe's second largest oil firm - is among the three companies shortlisted by Gujarat government for giving out 25 per cent stake in the Mundra terminal.
The government has sought to increase crude oil inflow from Saudi Arabia by five million tonnes from 27.33 million tonnes, as supplies from Iran is set to decline following US sanctions.
Russia's Gazprom or Rosneft may also join ONGC Videsh, the overseas arm of the state-run explorer, in Iraq's second post-war bid round on December 11-12, industry sources said.
Nearly 45 per cent of the current retail price of petrol in Delhi is made up of taxes.
The company had initially objected to audit by CAG for time barred years as per Production Sharing Contract and had not accepted the 'exceptional circumstances' advanced by the ministry
State-run gas utility GAIL India may take a stake in the $1.95-billion gas pipeline that China is building for ferrying natural gas found off the Myanmar coast.
The gvernment said on Tuesday that contingency plans have been drawn to maintain continuous supply of petroleum products if the employees of privatisation bound Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd go on strike.\n\n\n\n
"There is no immediate plan to decontrol diesel or LPG as they have cascading effect (on general prices)," Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas R P N Singh told reporters in New Delhi.
The combined debt of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum has risen to Rs 115,000 crore (Rs 1,150 billion) as they borrowed to make up for revenue losses on fuel sales during the first half of the current fiscal.
According to an Andhra government statement, Naidu 'reposed confidence' in the PM's leadership.
Move likely to be rolled back atleast for state transport undertakings
Eight Union ministers, two former chief ministers and one ex-governor are among those who are set to test their electoral fate in the first phase of elections on April 19 when 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories will go to polls.
ONGC Videsh Ltd, overseas investment arm of the state-run explorer, teamed up with Oil India Ltd and Turkish Petroleum Corporation to bid for the Halfaya oilfield in Iraq's second post-war bid round on Friday.
Iran on Tuesday denied existence of any contract for export of liquefied natural gas to India while stating that it cannot wait endlessly for New Delhi to join the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project.
Minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Jitin Prasada in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha said that IOC and MRPL have been allocated 0.20 million tonnes each in 2009-10, while HPCL would offtake 0.30 million tonnes of Rajasthan crude. In 2010-11, IOC would buy 1.5 million tonnes of the crude oil from the nation's most prolific oil discovery in more than two decades, while MRPL would double its offtake to 0.40 million tonnes.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and Minister of State for Petroleum Jitin Prasada took charge on Friday.
Unlike private carriers such as Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, Air India has not given any security as insurance against default, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.
ONGC Videsh Ltd and Oil India Ltd will buy Videocon Industries' 10 per cent stake in a giant Mozambique gas field for $2.475 billion.
The government is keen on getting global oil majors like Saudi Aramco and National Iranian Oil Corp on board Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum through the market route even though privatisation of the state-run oil refining and marketing compa
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.
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.
Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada, who led the roadshows in the US and Canada, said the roadshows for 70 blocks offered in NELP-VIII and 10 coal bed methane blocks received overwhelming response from investors.
However, supermajors Chevron, ExxonMobil and Conoco Philips of US, who were expected to partner Reliance Industries, did not participate.
The Ruias-managed Essar Oil is fast catching up with Reliance Industries in the number of petrol pumps set up by private sector retailers.
As much as 8 billion rubles (about Rs 1,000 crore) of dividend income belonging to Indian oil firms is stuck in Russia after the Putin administration clamped down on dollar repatriation, officials said on Friday. Indian state oil firms have invested $5.46 billion in buying stakes in four different assets in Russia. These include a 49.9 per cent stake in Vankorneft oil and gas field and another 29.9 per cent in TAAS-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha fields.
The $3-billion Dabhol power project in Maharashtra is facing delays in completion of the LNG receipt terminal, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dinsha Patel said on Thursday.
The India story got stronger on the global arena with the country expanding its presence on the elite list of Fortune Global 500 companies, as the PSU banking major State Bank of India has become the sixth domestic firm to feature in the league.
The Turkmenistan event underscores the lengths to which China's oil-and-gas companies will go to curry favour in resource-rich locales.
There are about 23 oil refineries in India with a combined capacity of 230 million tonnes per annum.
