India must be prepared for a big, fat fuel import bill in FY23 - barring any further avatars of the Covid virus - as refiners crank up runs, or crude processing rates, to meet the growing demand for fuels, and crude prices soar. Capacity additions by an Indian state-run refiner will reinforce the need for foreign crude. Demand for all fuels is expected to increase by 3-8 per cent next fiscal from 2021-22, reaching pre-pandemic levels, according to analysts and industry experts.
A large part of this investment, about Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion), would go to the Paradip refinery
The chief minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje has asked the ONGC chairman to hold talks with the state government over the oil refinery to be set up in Barmer in Rajasthan.
Iraq is willing to double the credit period on crude sales to 60 days if Indian refiners buy more in 2014, the head of refineries at Hindustan Petroleum said. Iran has also sweetened the deal to expand its dwindling market share by offering free shipment and a nominal discount to Indian refiners, sources said last week.
A looming global shortage of diesel in Europe presents India with more than one opportunity to profit from strong margins. A shortage of the fuel, a key contributor to inflation, has been exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine, and western sanctions on Russian fuel supplies. The slowdown in natural gas supply means the West needs diesel to heat their homes this winter.
HPCL's Vizag refinery in Andhra Pradesh was to receive the consignment of 65,000-70,000 tonne on November 17, but the ship carrying the oil could not offload it due to bad weather. The MA-1 oilfield started production in September. The company sold the first consignment to HPCL at a $5.34 a barrel discount to Nigerian crude grade Bonny Light.
LN Mittal is getting a senior bureaucrat from the ministry of petroleum and natural gas to run his first-ever venture in the refining business, the Rs 18,919 crore (Rs 189.19 billion) Bhatinda refinery.
India expects to remain unscathed this time, mainly because it is in a sweet spot as the world's third largest oil consumer, after the US and China, says Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
Officials from State-run refiners contend that savings from purchase of Russian oil are used to offset a part of the losses in revenues from selling transport fuels and LPG at State-set rates.
Fuel supplies in many parts of the country were affected on the second day of the indefinite strike by oil PSU executives that also resulted in refineries running below capacity and impacted oil and gas production.
Essar Oil has received another setback after the Supreme Court rejected the company's 125 per cent sales tax deferment benefit claim on its investment in the Vadinar refinery project in Gujarat.
The Vedanta group on Wednesday confirmed putting in a preliminary expression of interest (EoI) for buying the government's stake in Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL).
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and two other public sector oil firms will install 22,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations over the next 3-5 years to support the nation's target to reduce its carbon intensity and reach net zero emissions by 2070. IOC, the country's largest state-controlled refiner by capacity, will set up EV charging facilities at 10,000 fuel outlets over the next three years, chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya said. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) said it will set up 7,000 stations over the next five years while Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has plans for 5,000 stations.
India attracted foreign direct investment inflows of $332 million during October, 2002 with electrical equipment sector attracting the highest share at close to $80 million.
Last June, the group had delisted Essar Energy from the London Stock Exchange as well.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries is reported to have held talks with Saudi Aramco on a cash and share deal for sale of a 20 per cent stake in its oil refining and petrochemical arm. Ambani had in August 2019 announced talks for the sale of a 20 per cent stake in the oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business, which comprises its twin oil refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat and petrochemical assets, to the world's largest oil exporter. The deal was to conclude by March 2020 but has been delayed for reasons not disclosed by either company.
Iraq has urged the international community to help prevent ISIS from gleaning profits from oil smuggling
Teheran bargains on OilMin plan for more rupee payment via increased import; wants investment deal on gas block.
The company is in advanced talks with Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Chennai Refinery and Kochi Refineries for sale of 34,000 barrels per day of oil it will start producing from the gas-rich KG-D6 block on Krishna Godavari basin from September. The company is investing $2.234 billion in developing the MA-1 and MA-2 oil fields in the predominantly gas-rich block.
The production growth of eight infrastructure sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity -- was 19.3 per cent in May 2022, the data showed. In June, the output of coal, refinery products, fertiliser, cement and electricity rose by 31.1 per cent, 15.1 per cent, 8.2 per cent, 19.4 per cent, and 15.5 per cent, respectively.
Iraq on Wednesday asked the United States to carry out air strikes on militants who attacked the country's oil refinery and seized territory in the north.
With the O2C business outlook on the mend, the Street is also looking forward to news on RIL's proposal to sell up to 20 per cent of the O2C business to a strategic investor like Saudi Aramco.
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.
India, the world's fourth-biggest oil consumer, recently offered Saudi Aramco a stake in refineries and petrochemical projects.
Crude oil futures again flirted with the $60 a barrel mark Friday as prices rose on speculative buying and fears of supply disruptions due to refinery glitches.
'The impact of COVID-19 on the economy has been so overwhelming that even a significant drop in global oil prices, which in normal times would have brought cheer, has posed new challenges for the government,' observes A K Bhattacharya.
The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to 4.3 per cent in May 2023 due to a decline in the production of crude oil, natural gas and electricity, according to the data released by the government on Friday. The core sector growth was 19.3 per cent in May 2022, while in April 2023, the key infra sectors recorded a growth rate of 4.3 per cent. During April-May this fiscal, the output growth of these eight sectors slowed down to 4.3 per cent against 14.3 per cent in the year-ago period, the data showed.
State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Adani-Total Gas Ltd and Shell were among the 29 companies that bid and bought natural gas to be produced from the deepest field in the KG-D6 block of Reliance Industries Ltd and bp, sources said. IOC walked away with almost half of the 6 million standard cubic meters per day of gas sold in an e-auction on Wednesday while state-owned gas utility GAIL bought 0.7 mmscmd, Adani-Total Gas Ltd 0.4 mmscmd, Shell 0.5 mmscmd, GSPC 0.25 mmscmd and IGS another 0.5 mmscmd, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Reliance-bp on Wednesday held an e-auction for sale of gas from the MJ field in their eastern offshore KG-D6 block after incorporating the government's new marketing rules to give CNG-selling city gas companies first priority over supplies.
India's infrastructure sector grew 4.2 per cent year-on-year in December, after expanding by just 3.3 per cent the previous month, boosted by robust expansion by the cement and steel sectors, data showed on Wednesday.
India's dependence on imported crude oil to meet domestic demand has been a matter of concern for years. Delivering the inaugural address at the global energy summit - Urja Sangam - in 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for enhancing domestic oil and gas production to cut the import burden. He aimed at lowering it by at least 10 per cent by 2022 - to coincide with the platinum jubilee of India's independence. But this target is far from being achieved and the country's import reliance has only risen.
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.
More than one oil company bidding for same overseas assets.
At $12-bn valuation, this will be India's largest FDI; deal to be announced on Saturday, says Dev Chatterjee.
Contrary to popular perception of public sector oil firms making huge profits on selling petrol and diesel by gold plating the cost, Indian firms have second lowest refinery and marketing margins - profits - in the world.
On Tuesday, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met Russian oil giant Rosneft's chief executive officer Igor Sechin and discussed raising crude imports from that country, in addition to talks about going for more acquisitions.
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