The output of eight core infrastructure sectors grew 3.3 per cent in August -- the lowest in nine months -- as against 12.2 per cent in the year-ago period, according to official data released on Friday. The previous low was in November 2021 at 3.2 per cent.
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) plans to invest USD 2.894 billion (about Rs 15,340 crore) in developing its ultra-deepsea UD-1 gas discovery in the Krishna Godavari basin by 2016-17.
China has pipped India to sign a 30-year agreement to import natural gas from fields lying in Myanmar offshore where India's state-owned companies have 25 per cent stake.
India faces a new energy crisis - unavailability of gas in the international market - that could worsen power supplies and impact a wide range of industries.
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.
'Bangladesh has enough gas to export to India'
The Indian Oil Corporation and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's overseas arm ONGC Videsh Ltd will mount a joint bid for acquiring the South Ghawar gas field, one of the largest onshore fields in Saudi Arabia.
India is likely to sign a $145 billion deal by June to import natural gas from Iran through the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline after Tehran lowered the sale price by 30 per cent.
Reliance Industries Ltd's legal battle over the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to impose 21 per cent value-added tax on gas is holding up supply to NTPC's two power plants and Indian Oil Corporation's Mathura refinery, despite a group of ministers making allocation to them.
In the past as well, questions have come up about the manner in which different benches of the apex court were constituted to resolve disputes involving the Reliance group.
India may soon see a new set of oil barons with lesser-known companies venturing into crude oil and natural gas production. These new kids on the block have come up through a mix of entrepreneurial grit and backing from oil industry veterans. Nippon Power, South Asia Consultancy, PFH (Poddar Family Holdings) Resources and Chennai-based Adbhoot Estates could be the first ones to start production from blocks awarded during the first round of Discovered Small Field (DSF-1) auctions. Adbhoot is in a 50:50 joint venture with the Bombay Stock Exchange-listed Hindustan Oil Exploration Company that has some five oil producing assets and over 10 blocks across the country.
In a surprise move, oil regulator DGH has asked Reliance Industries to include the marketing margin the company charges on sale of natural gas from its field to the approved gas price for calculating the government's share from the project.
Of the 10 coal bed methane blocks on offer, bids were received only for 8. RIL bid for one block. Of the 24 deep water blocks on offer, bids were received only for eight.
GAIL on Wednesday said it is in talks with Reliance for laying a Rs 6,725 crore pipeline from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to Uran to pipe natural gas from RIL's gas fields in Bay of Bengal to consumption centres in West and North.
The Indian government, said a senior official, wishes to take talks forward on the $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project.
A week after doubling of natural gas prices was approved, the Oil Ministry on Friday rebutted charges of the move resulting in windfall gains to Reliance Industries, saying new gas production from the company's fields will not start before 2017-18.
RIL, which began gas production from KG-D6 fields in April last year, is currently producing 63-64 million standard cubic meters per day or 40 per cent of the nation's output.
State power utility NTPC Ltd will not lose any money even if it was to get natural gas at prices higher than those committed by Reliance Industries five years ago, the Power Ministry has told the committee on public undertakings.
The output of eight core infrastructure sectors contracted to six-month low of 4.5 per cent in July against 9.9 per cent in the year-ago period, according to official data released on Wednesday. The output of these infrastructure sectors expanded by 13.2 per cent in June, 19.3 per cent in May, 9.5 per cent in April, 4.8 per cent in March, 5.9 per cent in February and 4 per cent in January. The production growth of eight infrastructure sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity -- was 11.5 per cent in April-July this fiscal against 21.4 per cent a year ago.
Both the countries have increased prices of gas recently.
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp has shut some wells on two onland gas fields in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh following the fire in a pipeline that carried the gas to consumers.
Reliance Industries Ltd has sought a minimum supply of 3.6 million standard cubic meters per day of gas for its petrochemical plants from the Panna/Mukta and Tapti fields, from which gas has been diverted by the government to state-run GAIL India. Reliance along with state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and BG Group of UK are the operators of the PMT fields lying in Mumbai offshore and till last month marketed gas from the fields in proportion to their shareholding.
The withdrawal of the arbitration will now entitle the two companies to marketing and pricing freedom on the natural gas they produce from newer fields in the deep sea at an investment of Rs 40,000 crore by 2022.
Steel manufacturers on Wednesday hit out at 'unilateral' decision of the Oil Ministry to curb natural gas supplies from Reliance Industries' KG-D6 fields to non-core users, saying only a ministerial panel was empowered to take such decision.
In addition to undertaking to validate prospects identified by the joint venture, GCA employed a play-based exploration methodology on the D3 block to address both the current prospect inventory and the 'yet to find' resource potential. In D3, GCA estimated 9.5 Tcf of inplace reseves. D-3 and D-9 blocks in the same KG basin may hold 9.5 Tcf and 10.8 Tcf of gas reserves respectively, UK-based Hary Oil and Gas Plc said.
Asian Development Bank and ExxonMobil-promoted RasGas of Qatar have taken 10 per cent equity each in Petronet LNG Ltd, the public sector joint venture firm which will begin importing liquefied natural gas from January next year.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries will sell natural gas from its eastern offshore KG-D6 fields to Anil Ambani Group firm's power plant in Andhra Pradesh at government approved rates.
Launching a major global initiative for attracting foreign investment in the hydrocarbon sector, India on Monday held a roadshow in London for auctioning 55 oil and gas exploration blocks.
The move apparently has been triggered by the drastic fall in international crude oil prices which have dived from $147 a barrel in August 2008 to below $40 now. In the old formula, taking crude price at $60 per barrel, the cost of gas at Iran-Pakistan border translated into $4.93 per mBtu. But according to the new formula, gas price will shoot up to $5.9 per mBtu although crude prices have crashed below $40 a barrel.
Natural Gas production from KG-D6 block has dropped to 25.35 million standard cubic meters a day this month, from over 63 mmscmd peak output achieved in August 2010.
The government has formed a four-member panel of secretaries to suggest a new gas pricing mechanism.
It will be Reliance Industries' gigantic gas find on the east coast versus the imported LNG offered by ONGC and Indian Oil Corporation in the tender for supply of gas to the 1400 MW power plant in Karnataka.
These 7 blocks are adding exploration acreage of 18,510 square kilometres spread over three sedimentary basins of India and have a resource potential of approximately 33 billion barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas.
The Petroleum Ministry has allocated additional natural gas from Reliance Industries' eastern offshore gas fields to three power plants to meet electricity deficit in northern states reeling under drought.
The Government has deferred its plan to raise natural gas prices from January after strong protests from the power and fertiliser ministries, a government official said on Tuesday.
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