New Delhi The petroleum ministry will soon come out with a policy on setting up LNG infrastructure in the country to expedite the development of the domestic gas market, hobbled by the wide gap between demand and indigenous production of the green fuel.

While the petroleum and natural gas regulatory board (PNGRB) has the power to authorise development of LNG terminals, there is no policy that could provide clarity to investors looking at putting their money in the sector.

The Rajasthan State Petroleum Corporation Limited (RSPCL) signed a joint venture agreement with GAIL Gas Limited here on Monday for laying a natural gas supply pipeline in the State and formulation of a long-term action plan for domestic, commercial and industrial consumption of gas.

RSPCL Managing Director Ajitabh Sharma and GAIL Gas Limited Chief Executive Officer J. Vasan signed the agreement in the presence of State Chief Secretary C. K. Mathew.

The slow pace of laying of the inter-state pipeline, and the delays in signing up for marketing tie-ups for the sale of natural gas is likely to delay the commissioning of the Petronet LNG Terminal at Puthuvype near here.

The project was earlier scheduled to be completed by the year-end and later re-scheduled to next January. But the inordinate delay in marketing arrangements and in the pipeline work on Kochi-Mangalore and Kochi-Bangalore stretches now face serious concerns not only on the commissioning, but even the viability of the Rs 4,300 crore project. The terminal is ready to receive LNG by January, 2013. Phase II of the 900 km GAIL pipeline to Mangalore and Bangalore which involves an investment of Rs 3,400 crore is badly held up, said top officials of the Cochin Port Trust (CPT), GAIL and Petronet LNG

London The world's top oil and gas firms are struggling to deliver the output growth they need to outpace the burgeoning cost of exploration and development.

Third-quarter results from Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and other top international players released over the past few days mostly beat expectations thanks to a shortage of the fuels and other crude-oil based products they make. That widened the gap between fuel prices and crude oil, lifting margins in the downstream part of the business. Companies with refineries in North America are also processing less costly domestic crude oil from shale formations.

New Delhi In his last days at the Union petroleum ministry, S Jaipal Reddy had reiterated his opposition to a hike in the price of natural gas from the current $4.2 per unit at Reliance Industries’ KG-D6 block. If the company’s demand for price revision is accepted now, the exchequer could lose around $6 billion, Reddy said in a note prepared for the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) and a copy of which was sent to the attorney general (AG).

After India Against Corruption’s Arvind Kejriwal revealed this and posted purported copies of Reddy’s note dated October 10 on its website on Wednesday, RIL came out with a statement denying the allegations.

Natural gas consumption in China, the world's top energy user, is expected to be 230 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2015, while supply of gas, including imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) and unco

Petronet LNG, at present, has long-term agreements with foreign companies for supply of LNG for the existing Dahej and Kochi LNG terminals.

Petronet LNG Limited is looking for a strategic foreign partner for implementing its Rs 4,500-crore Gangavaram LNG project in Andhra Pradesh. “We are looking for more supplies to meet the country’s demand. Hence, we are planning to give some equity stake in the upcoming Gangavaram LNG project to a foreign partner who can bring more LNG supplies for Petronet,” A K Balyan, managing director and chief executive officer, told reporters here on Tuesday. The company, at present, has long-term agreements with foreign companies for supply of LNG for the existing Dahej and Kochi LNG terminals.

GSPC in deal to buy BG’s controlling stake in city-gas distribution venture

Reliance Industries has refused to follow the oil ministry order to swap its Krishna Godavari (KG)-D6 block gas with an Andhra city gas company, saying “trading” in scarce natural resource was not permissible under the gas utilisation policy.

The ministry had ordered that a part of the 2.6 million standard cubic metres per day of KG-D6 gas allocated to state-owned Gail India be diverted to Hyderabad-based Bhagaynagar Gas Ltd (BGL) under a so-called gas swapping guidelines.

Total gas sales volume to exceed IGL's and MGL's after acquisition

Having announced a controlling stake acquisition in Gujarat Gas Company Ltd (GGCL), Gujarat government-owned Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) is set to become the largest city gas distribution company in terms of customers in India. The GSPC Group, through its subsidiary GSPC Distribution Networks Ltd, has signed a definitive agreement with the British Gas Group to acquire 65.12 per cent stake in GGCL. The deal, however, was not warmly received by the market. GGCL stock dived nine per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange.