State-owned oil firms are pushing for at least Rs. 3 per litre hike in petrol price from April 1 to cover part of the spike in cost of raw material.

"We are losing Rs. 6.43 per litre on petrol and after adding 20 per cent sales tax, the desired increase in rates in Delhi is Rs. 7.72 per litre," a senior oil company official said.

New Delhi The Petroleum ministry has sought an additional R40,000 crore in cash subsidies for the current fiscal to compensate fuel retailers for losses incurred on diesel and cooking fuels, even as oil minister S Jaipal Reddy gave no indication of a fuel price revision soon. Oil secretary GC Chaturvedi said state-owned fuel retailers are projected to lose close to R137,524 crore on selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene this fiscal.

The Karnataka government is in talks with Indian and international energy companies to arrange gas for three power plants for which it is planning to seek bids. Currently, it is in talks with GAIL India and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) to procure about 26 mmscmd for a total gas capacity of 2,100 Mw.

According to a person close to the development, after the government ties up the gas, it would approach private power producers to bid for these three power plants. Neither HPCL nor GAIL responded to e-mailed queries.

The government’s plans to reign in petroleum subsidies to plug the fiscal deficit next financial year are in jeopardy, as a whopping Rs 2.13 lakh-crore revenue loss is expected at the current levels of global crude oil prices and domestic retail prices of controlled products.

Non-revision of diesel, LPG and kerosene prices, firm crude oil prices and a weak rupee may combine to foil Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's subsidy-reduction plans.

New Delhi Cairn India has agreed to double the compensation to the farmers and landowners resisting construction of its pipeline project in Rajasthan and Gujarat. The proposed pipeline will connect its Rajasthan oilfield to the crude oil shipping facility at Bhogat in coastal Gujarat.

The company now produces one fifth of India's crude oil output. It has agreed for higher right of user payment — more than double the rate applicable in the Jamnagar district — after discussions with the local authorities and policymakers, said a source privy to the development.

To achieve increased capacity utilization

Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) has written to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry seeking allocation of entire KG-D6 crude oil production for the Cauvery Basin Refinery (CBR) at Nagapattinam in order to sustain CBR operations and achieve increased capacity utilisation.

New Delhi State-owned oil marketing companies IOC, HPCL and BPCL are evaluating a revision in the price of petrol to address a loss of R5 on every litre sold as the code of conduct restrictions related to assembly polls are over now.

Company executives said they cannot give the exact timing and the quantum of the price revision they will be able to effect.

Empowered Committee of Secretaries clears 14 blocks to the first ranked/single bidder

The public sector oil companies in the country are aware of their social responsibilities and are taking all steps to adopt eco-friendly production technologies and keep pollution to the minimum, a

With the Finance Ministry still to come out with a final formula on sharing the fuel subsidy burden, the government has asked upstream oil companies Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Oil Indi