Replacing over a third of India's oil imports at competitive rates is going to be a challenge, said traders from State refiners, even though some progress was made in the last two months.
I am inclined to believe that the Venezuela adventure is not an indication of American strength, alas, but rather of American weakness, points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
Indian private sector and State-run refiners continued to receive crude oil from Russian suppliers even after November 21 -- the winding-down date for US sanctions on supplies from leading Russian oil producers imposed in October -- as new intermediaries sprung up in West Asia to sell the oil, according to senior refining sources and ship tracking data.
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 government has no say in where the country's refiners source oil from because these are commercial transactions.
India's purchase of US crude oil has picked up in 2025 and could easily double their previous levels, government officials said on Wednesday. The surge comes in the wake of the then-incoming Donald Trump administration's announcement that it would consider hiking tariffs on a reciprocal basis, and pushed some countries, especially those with large trade surpluses with the US, to buy more of its energy.
A resurgence in Saudi Arabian supplies of crude oil to India coupled with an attack on an Iraqi tanker in August carrying crude to Europe may result in improved bargaining power for India with West Asian and Russian suppliers for winter supplies. Shipments of Saudi oil rebounded in September from August, surging to the highest since March while Russian oil shipments rose marginally as Saudi Arabia tried to claw back market share in Asia, according to industry sources and ship tracking data.
When Vineet Mittal first got into solar power, sometime around 2009, and was planting solar panels in Gujarat, renewable energy looked like a sector ripe for startups. Renewables were clearly the future of energy, and the big boys - Mukesh Ambani's Reliance, Adani Group, and the Tatas - were focusing much more on coal and petroleum. Little did Mittal know that things were going to change drastically.
What is more surprising is that a surge in Russian oil supplies has come after the G7 imposed stringent sanctions on Moscow.
India's climate change goals are turning combustible. On the one hand, a protracted dispute between the government and manufacturers over subsidies threatens to slow the pace of electric vehicle (EV) sales. On the other hand, repeated assertions by different arms of the government over banning sales of new fossil fuel-fired vehicles have queered the pitch for energy investments. Before we address the issue of the recommended diesel vehicle ban in the recent report on energy transition, issued months before the next round of global climate talks begin in Dubai in November, let's look at what's at stake.
What could be more uncertain than Virat Kohli's agonising wait for a century for over two years? Perhaps it's what you will pay tomorrow morning to fill your vehicle's tank. Pump prices have joined cricket scores as the country's favourite discussion topic. Steep increases invite widespread protests, while moderate additions make the government anti-reformist. The ongoing fuel price conundrum is no different.
In 2017, a consortium led by Russian state oil company Rosneft agreed to buy Essar Oil for $12.9 billion in India's biggest foreign acquisition of a homegrown company. Rosneft's buyout of Essar's assets was meant to herald a wave of energy investments in India - over six decades after Esso, Caltex and Shell invested in India's refining sector in the 1950s. But the government has tripped up in its efforts to sell Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), formerly Burmah Shell, a blue chip public sector company. Bidders include a couple of global funds and resources firm Vedanta.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman cut fuel subsidies while slapping additional fuel taxes on unblended transport fuels in the latest Union Budget. The former will hit the rural poor, households that secured a subsidised LPG connection under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), a programme that was partly instrumental in helping the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win the 2019 general elections. The latter will pretty much hurt the entire population after it kicks in from October. That's what it looks like. Or, perhaps, it's not as it appears to be, at least on the subsidy front.
Why does the world's fastest-growing major consumer of energy fail to attract investments in oil and gas? This is a question worth pondering after private sector conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) failed to close a $15-billion downstream asset deal with Saudi Arabia's national oil company, Aramco. It's understandable if multi-billion dollar investments in oil and gas projects or deals involving state companies that need to traverse a complex bureaucracy at state and federal levels and the corridors of ministries unravel. However, Mukesh Ambani-run RIL, India's most successful energy company, is not typically known to fumble on closing deals (Ambani closed deals worth around Rs 2 trillion early last year in telecom and retail with blue chip investors).
Britain's Cairn Energy has secured a French court order to seize 20 Indian govt properties to recover arbitration award, it is learnt.
After Air India, Britain's Cairn Energy PLC plans to target assets of state-owned firms and banks in countries from the US to Singapore as it looks to ramp up efforts to recover the amount due from the Indian government after winning an arbitration against levy of retrospective taxes. A lawyer representing the company said Cairn will bring lawsuits in several countries to make state-owned firms liable to pay the $1.2 billion plus interest and penalties that are due from the Indian government. Last month, Cairn brought a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York pleading that Air India is controlled by the Indian government so much that they are 'alter egos' and the airline should be held liable for the arbitration award.
The Venezuela-based company is also in talks with ONGC for exploration of Ayacucho and Boyaca fields.
Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado will race for Williams again next season with Finland's Valtteri Bottas handed the role of reserve, the Formula One team said on Thursday.
ONGC Videsh Ltd, overseas arm of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, is likely to bid over $300 million to buy Caspian Energy Group LLP's interest in an Azerbaijan oil field.
India must address issues that are plaguing its aviation sector.
The government will continue the policy of equitable burden sharing between the state, oil companies and consumers for absorbing the impact of the upward spiral in global oil prices.
State oil companies have raised aviation turbine fuel (or jet fuel) prices by 2.86 per cent in line with rising international oil prices.
ONGC Videsh, the foreign arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, is in talks with Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A for a stake in the Tomoporo oilfield containing about one billion barrels of recoverable light crude reserves.
Sri Lanka on Monday put off indefinitely a decision to sell off part of the state-run oil company to Bharat Petroleum as trade unions threatened to stop work, triggering panic buying at petrol stations across the country.
India is likely to intensify diplomatic efforts with Angola to secure clearance for ONGC Videsh Ltd's acquisition of 50 per cent interest in an oil field in the oil-rich African country.
SpiceJet grounded all its aircraft due to payment woes
Oil firms will supply fuel to SpiceJet on 'cash and carry basis'.
Vice President Michel Temer was sworn in as new President.
President Maithripala Sirisena's new Cabinet was also sworn in and Rajapaksa was named the new minister of finance and economic affairs.
Tillerson, 64, who was confirmed by the Senate in a 56-43 vote, was administered the oath of office by Vice President Mike Pence.
Promoters of SpiceJet do not have funds to bail out the airlines of dire consequences.
Trump also announced the appointment of Gina Haspel to head the Central Intelligence Agency -- the first woman selected for the agency's top post.
Formula One's 2016 tyre rules, giving more choice on the selection of compounds and strategy, have left even some drivers confused.
The acquisition of stake in Progress Energy Resources Corp's shale gas assets and Pacific NorthWest LNG for 1 billion Canadian dollars ($900 million) marks IOC's maiden entry into North America.
The timing of the news immediately triggered speculation that Frenchman Eric Boullier could be heading to McLaren, who were due to launch their 2014 car later in the day in an online presentation.
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.
Formula One teams say they will race in Russia, despite the crisis in Ukraine and downing of a Malaysian airliner, unless the country's debut Grand Prix in October is called off or they are ordered not to go.
The United States Olympic Committee told US sports federations that athletes and staff concerned for their health over the Zika virus should consider not going to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in August.
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