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.
Adversity often brings out the best in companies, even state-owned ones. Faced with a bloated fuel bill, companies are busy devising new ways to control costs. These range from cut in travel to shift to cheaper fuels and even reduced recruitment. Power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has a brand new strategy in place -- it will set up onsite fabrication units rather than transport equipment over long distances.
Founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena in its more than five decades long journey has allied with the Congress, formally and informally.
In what could be a Diwali gift for the common man, government on Thursday said in the Lok Sabha that an announcement on reduction of fuel prices will be made within a week, keeping in view the falling global crude prices.
Take a look at the famous faces who exercised their democratic right.
As crude oil prices hover around four-year lows, the government may look at slashing diesel prices further that will help cool inflation by lowering goods transportation charges.
A decision on raising retail fuel prices and partly compensating revenue losses of oil firms will be taken by Saturday (May 31), even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday assessed the problems caused by the spike in crude prices.
Dabhol is part of Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd.
The Energy Co-ordination Committee, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, would meet on Tuesday with gas pricing, gas sourcing and gas allocation as the main topics on the agenda, an official source said.
India's Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and his Pakistani counterpart Khwaja Asif said they had made "significant progress" in bilateral talks on the India-Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline and were determined to go ahead with it despite reported reservations of the US on the project. They said the two sides had reached a broad agreement on principles for deciding the transportation tariff and transit fee, two key issues that had held up the finalisation of the 2,600-km pipeline.
The fall in international oil prices has resulted in handsome margins for state-owned firms on petrol and diesel sales, but not all of it would be reflected in the cut in the retail selling price, as Finance Ministry wants to take away some of the gain by raising excise duty.
India on Monday said it will meet Pakistan next week to resolve issues, such as transit fee, impeding progress on the over $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, even as it gets formally inducted in a rival line from Turkmenistan.
On December 5, the government had announced a Rs 5 per litre and Rs 2 a litre reduction in petrol and diesel prices, respectively, as global crude prices hovered around four year lows.
India, which imports 73 per cent of its oil needs, has been hit by the surge in international crude oil prices that touched $96 a barrel last week. State-run fuel retailers Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are currently losing Rs 240 crore (Rs 2.4 billion) per day on selling petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene as the government has not allowed them to raise retail prices in line with the surge in cost.
Milind Deora and Nilotpal Basu debate whether middle-class activism has made politicians irrelevent
The government has cut petrol price by Rs 5 and diesel by 2 a litre with effect from midnight tonight.
Kerosene and domestic LPG prices in India are the lowest in South Asia, while the rates for petrol and diesel are comparable with its neighbours, petroleum minister Murli Deora said on Thursday. Kerosene in Pakistan costs Rs 34.89 a litre, Rs 30.53 in Bangladesh, Rs 21.26 in Sri Lanka and Rs 34.35 per litre in Nepal.
The government will cut petrol and diesel prices after Assembly elections are over on December 24, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Tuesday.
Iran on Tuesday indicated that it may be willing to change the delivery point of gas it wants to sell to India through a pipeline passing through Pakistan, but wanted New Delhi and Islamabad to decide quickly on the $7.4 billion project.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has announced that the cabinet will soon take a decision on fuel price hike.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi discussed the Rs 225,040 crore (Rs 2250.40 billion) revenue loss oil PSUs face without raising price of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene and duty cuts this fiscal on three occasions but failed to give a clear verdict.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may have used a mix of charm and roguish coercion to let India know that he expected the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline proposal to become a reality in 45 days. But India is in no hurry to take a decision, a top Cabinet minister in the United Progressive Alliance government said. The volatile political environment in Iran and Pakistan has as much weightage now and the UPA government is becoming more reluctant.
'What the interview with Modi told me was that now he is open to granting interviews.' 'And in this connection let me offer our credentials for being considered in this election season,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is in talks with Reliance Industries and Indian Oil Corporation for investing in refineries and petrochemical plants in the country.
GAIL has already been appointed as the nodal agency for the pipeline in India.
Taking Indo-Chinese co-operation in the oil sector a step forward, the country's biggest oil refiner and retailer, Indian Oil Corporation, has signed a memorandum of understanding with integrated Chinese national oil company Sinopec.
Crude oil prices have fallen to below $113 a barrel this week from all-time high of $147 per barrel witnessed last month. The basket of crude oil India buys averaged $109.88 per barrel, down from $119 a barrel price on June 4 when petrol, diesel and domestic cooking gas prices were raised.
Besides late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and former prime minister Indira Gandhi, NCP president Sharad Pawar also figured in the posters.
Indian Oil Corporation has developed an indigenous technology that can double LPG production in refineries, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Thursday.
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.
ONGC Videsh Ltd has much riding on $150 million investment plans in gas and oil exploration that Petroleum Minister Murli Deora says is critical for India's energy security. But apart from this, Myanmar apparently offers rich potential in engineering, fertilisers, tourism and pharmaceuticals for the private sector.
Monday's meeting of the empowered group of ministers on pricing of gas from Reliance Industries' D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari basin has proved inconclusive.
GoM meeting regarding petro product price hike has been postponed and a decision on the prices will come only after Jan 28.
He sought oil bonds from the finance ministry to cover 57.1 per cent of the total Rs 77,000 crore losses suffered by the oil companies in 2007-08.
With the rising price of crude oil, the gap between the desired selling price and the actual selling price -- referred to as under-recovery -- is up to Rs 190 crore (Rs 1.9 billion) a day. The solution is to raise retail prices, an unpopular move.
Iran on Friday invited India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to Tehran for signing a tri-nation deal on natural gas, supply of which could start from 2011.
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investment arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), has signed a joint venture agreement with Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PdVSA) to take 40 per cent stake in the San Cristobal oilfield in Venezuela. Under the agreement, OVL and PdVSA will develop the field from its current production level of 20,000 barrels per day to 40,000 barrels per day, company officials said. OVL will make a total investment of $ 355.738 million comprising signature.
Iran may put the $22 billion deal to sell liquefied natural gas to India on the backburner as New Delhi refuses to re-open the contract sealed two years ago, according to an assessment by the petroleum ministry.
The government on Thursday decided not to increase petrol and diesel prices, and issue oil bonds worth Rs 23,457 crore (Rs 234.57 billion) to partly compensate public sector oil companies for the losses incurred on fuel sales."We have kept our promise of not raising prices of sensitive petroleum products," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told PTI after a meeting of the Cabinet.
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