The consumption of petroleum products in India is growing at a rate much lower than the conservative projection of 4.58 per cent made for this year by the Petroleum Products Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), a wing of the petroleum ministry.
Videocon Petroleum has earned a temporary reprieve from termination of its contract for Ravva oil and gas field, by agreeing to pay $15 million as part payment for the profit petroleum due to the government.\n\n\n\n
India has called for a ceasefire, release of all hostages, and peaceful resolution of the Israel-Hamas conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. The Centre informed Parliament that India welcomed the agreement on the first phase of the Gaza Peace Plan. The article also covers India's energy sourcing strategy and the release of Indian fishermen by Pakistan.
Sumitra Mahajan on Tuesday took over as the minister of state for petroleum and natural gas.
India said it is broad-basing and diversifying sourcing of petroleum product to meet market conditions.
State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) is willing to dilute a 30-40 per cent stake in its upcoming greenfield refinery in Andhra Pradesh, with Gulf energy major Saudi Aramco and upstream player Oil India Ltd (OIL) likely to join as partners, a senior BPCL executive said.
President A P J Abdul Kalam has given his assent to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act that envisages having a regulator for India's oil and gas sector, a petroleum ministry official said on Tuesday.
Wholesale price inflation (WPI) came in at (-) 0.32 per cent in November, driven by an uptick in prices of food articles like pulses and vegetables on a month-on-month basis, government data showed on Monday.
A 500 per cent tariff would effectively shut out India's goods and services exports to the US.
The Mumbai Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday gave its approval to Vedanta Limited's demerger proposal, clearing the way for the group to reorganise its operations into five distinct, sector-specific entities.
Saudi Arabia's steep cut in LPG benchmark prices has pushed India's household LPG underrecoveries to their lowest level in over two years, slashing oil companies' losses from Rs 200-250 per cylinder last year to about Rs 20-40 now.
Problems at refineries, higher home demand for automobile fuels among main reasons.
India is growing fast, but to keep growing strong, the government must make more things at home, create jobs, and spend money wisely, suggests Rajiv Memani, regional managing partner, Africa-India Region, EY.
India's exports jumped by 19.37 per cent to $38.13 billion in November, while imports dipped by 1.88 per cent to $62.66 billion, according to government data released on Monday.
ONGC's overseas arm applied for a sanctions waiver to access $500 million dividend from two Venezuelan projects.
India's exports rose 6.7 per cent to $35.1 billion in August annually, while imports declined 10.12 per cent to $61.59 billion, according to government data released on Monday. Gold imports were down nearly 56 per cent in August, helping to trim merchandise trade deficit to $26.49 billion in August, as against $35.64 billion in the year-ago month.
Next week's three-nation foreign tour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will see India and Oman sign a free trade deal. The visit will also pave the way for agreements with Ethiopia and Jordan to increase India's bilateral trade and investments.
Wholesale price inflation (WPI) fell to (-) 1 .21 per cent in October, driven by a decline in prices of food articles like pulses and vegetables, as well as lower fuel and manufactured items' prices, government data showed on Friday.
'The US is strongly placed to expand its crude supplies to India.'
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Wednesday deferred the hearing on Vedanta Ltd's proposed demerger to September 17, as market regulator Sebi is yet to complete the scrutiny of the proposal, while the central government has raised certain objections. The matter, which was part-heard earlier, had been adjourned to August 20.
NTPC has taken RIL to court seeking performance of a bid by the Mukesh Ambani firm to supply 12 million standard cubic meters per day of gas to its Kawas and Gandhar expansion projects at $2.34 per mmBtu. However, the oil ministry has opposed the same price in case of supplies to be made to Anil Ambani Group firm RNRL on the basis of a private family agreement.
Petroleum Secretary R S Pandey said a revision in fuel prices was under consideration and a decision will be taken in due course. "Revision does not necessarily mean a cut in prices. We will have to wait and see on which products a reduction will be effected, by how much and when. The government will have to take a comprehensive view... What government will decide we cannot anticipate today."
India's brittle energy security is inextricably linked to two opposing paradigms - fossil fuels, and the transition to green energy. The first powers the present; the second paves the way for Viksit Bharat in 2047.
The finance ministry, in the explanatory memorandum to the Finance Bill 2008-09, proposes to withdraw the tax holiday which has been a window the petroleum ministry has been using to market the oil and gas exploration blocks under the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (Nelp) since 1999. The commitment to give a 7-year tax holiday to companies producing gas from Nelp blocks was finalised by the Union Cabinet after consultation with the finance ministry.
The Supreme Court rejected a PIL challenging the nationwide rollout of 20% ethanol-blended petrol (EBP-20), citing benefits to sugarcane farmers. The plea alleged incompatibility issues with older vehicles.
The ministry stated that for vehicles designed for E10 and calibrated for E20, mileage may drop by just 1-2 per cent, while in other vehicles, it could be around 3-6 per cent.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Kartavya Bhavan, the first of ten Common Central Secretariat buildings, aiming to consolidate ministries for improved efficiency. The building will house several key ministries, relocating them from older, outdated structures.
India, the biggest contributor to world demand for oil, will bring into effect in an overhaul of its drilling policy. This comes after more than a year of preparation and will boost the exploration and development of India's oil and gas sector along with increased participation by foreign drillers
India's goods exports rebounded in July after two months of contraction, with outbound shipments rising 7.3 per cent to $37.24 billion, led by a surge in exports to the United States before the country's reciprocal tariff kicked in and bolstered by a recovery in exports to other key markets.
Wholesale price inflation (WPI) stayed in negative territory for the second consecutive month at (-) 0.58 per cent in July, as prices of food articles and fuel saw deflation, even though prices of manufactured items increased, government data showed on Thursday.
US shale oil would act as an alternative to India's heavy dependency on Russian crude, which is currently facing sanctions.
India's new climate pledge to the UN could be weakened by its growing use of coal, even as the country plans a 2035 roadmap to cut emissions and boost clean energy.
A casual worker employed at the Defence Ministry was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly providing forged identity card to a key accused in petroleum ministry leaks case while police maintained that no sensitive documents were leaked or stolen from the defence ministry.
After registering a positive growth for two months, India's exports slipped into negative territory again, contracting 2.17 per cent year-on-year to $38.73 billion in May due to a fall in global petroleum prices, while trade deficit narrowed at $21.88 billion during the month.
The government is likely to give a subsidy of Rs 30,000-35,000 crore to state-run oil companies - Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) - to compensate for losses incurred from selling LPG at below cost over the past 15 months, according to a senior official.
After HPCL, the government headhunter struggled to find a suitable candidate for the top job at Bharat Petroleum, as most applicants were narrow specialists lacking multidisciplinary experience needed to run a large organisation. The Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) last month interviewed a dozen candidates including BPCL director (finance) Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta and its director (refineries) S Khanna but found none suitable for the job of chairman and managing director of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), according to a PESB order.
