OMCs use new software to track fake connections

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has launched “Project Lakshya” to reduce waiting time for delivery of LPG cylinders and track duplicate connections, by enrolling the assistance of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and the Pune-based Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) through a new software.

IOC, the largest fuel retailer, will receive a government subsidy of about 161 billion rupees

India will pay 300 billion rupees to state-owned fuel retailers forced to sell at cheaper government-set rates in the first half of the year, said three sources who saw the finance ministry's confirmation letter. The government fixes retail prices of liquefied petroleum gas, kerosene and diesel to protect the poor, leading to revenue losses at state-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) , Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) .

Mumbai Soaring crude prices and pressure back home to keep rates lower is forcing government-run hydrocarbon firms to diversify into non-oil and gas sectors.

Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), which supplies crude to oil refiners at a lower price as part of a government subsidy plan, said its board has approved a plan to enter nuclear power and will soon start discussions with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) for partnering their projects.

HC to pass orders today

Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) going solo in acquisition of British energy major BG Group's stake in Gujarat Gas Co Ltd (GGCL) was a result of Oil Ministry blocking its PSUs from joining the Gujarat government firm.

Originally, a consortia of GSPC, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) was to buy 65.12 per cent stake in the nation's biggest private gas distributor. BG Group too had shortlisted GSPC-ONGC-BPCL as a consortia for the stake sale.

The 3 govt-owned OMCs-IndianOil, BPCL and HPCL-together meet the country's entire LPG cylinder demand

After consumers exhaust the year’s quota of six subsidised liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders announced by the Union government, oil marketing companies (OMCs) would charge them at the market rate for additional cylinders. This is despite several Congress-ruled states saying they would provide three additional subsidised cylinders. For these states, OMCs want the price differential for the cylinders to be transferred directly to consumers.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and GAIL (India) are keen on picking up stake in the Rs.5,000-crore Kochi petrochemical project being executed by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) in joint venture with LG Chemicals of South Korea.

“We have got written proposal from several companies to join the project. ONGC and GAIL have also shown interest in taking equity stake in the Kochi venture,” BPCL Chairman and Managing Director R. K. Singh told journalists on the sidelines of the Petrotech Conference here on Tuesday. The petrochemical complex is being built with LG Chemicals as the lead partner.

State oil firms have slashed petrol rates marginally by 56 paise per litre, lower than expectations of a . 1 cut, as the currency has appreciated, making imported oil cheaper in rupee terms.

IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have incurred a loss of Rs 2,600 cr on sale of petrol during Apr-Sep period

IndianOil, the biggest oil marketing company, has cut petrol prices by Rs 0.56 a litre, with effect from midnight on Monday The other oil marketing majors — Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum — are expected to announce cuts shortly. In the capital, petrol will now cost around Rs 67.90 a litre.

New Delhi Petrol price may be cut by about Rs 1.60 per litre later this month as appreciation of rupee against the US dollar has helped state firms make profit on the fuel.

Indian rupee appreciated to five-month high since the government announced allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retailing. This has eased the cost of imports for oil firms, helping them make profit on sale of petrol. "Yes, there is about Rs 1.60 per litre profit on petrol since October 1. But we want this trend to stabilise before we think of cutting retail prices," a senior executive at one of the three state-owned fuel retailers said.