As the country battles with the fallout of rising crude, it is time for the policy makers to relook at the faulty pricing policy of petroleum products. More often than not, the blame of high crude prices is laid on the taxes - customs duty, sales tax and excise duties etc. The rationale for cutting taxes is definitely there, but when we talk about crude rising by nearly 50 to 60 per cent from the present levels, a harder look has to be given to the way the oil companies are paid for the production of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene.

Lakhs of vehicle owners in metropolitan cities and major towns will now have to shell out Rs.3 to Rs.4 a litre more for "buying petrol and diesel' as State-run Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have "decided' to sell only expensive "branded premium fuel' at these places.

The Federation of All India Petroleum Dealers has strongly condemned the move by the Indian Oil Corporation to stop supply of normal petrol and diesel products and instead "force' the dealers to only sell premium branded fuels from their retail outlets.

Following the increase in CNG prices, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) marketing companies have also raised the price of 11.8 kg cylinder from Rs 510 to Rs 530, effective from May 7. The Chairman of LPG Distributors Association, Hadi Khan, said here on Tuesday that the retail price of LPG has gone up by Re 1 and now it would be sold at Rs 48 per kg in the city. He said that some LPG marketing companies have raised their prices despite the fact that producers are paying a rebate of Rs 11 to Rs 15 to the marketing companies to enhance their turnover.

Fewer gas outlets, lower mileage are prompting auto drivers to go back to petrol SEVERAL autorickshaws in the city are back to using petrol tanks even after converting to LPG, citing problems with using the more ecofriendly fuel. ''I converted my autorickshaw to gas a few months ago following a government order last year, but I cannot use it. It gives lower mileage than petrol and there are very few gas outlets in the city. I have switched back to petrol,'' said A Sommaya, who is operating at Sowcarpet auto stand.

The ministry of economic affairs is assessing the demand trend of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the country to see whether there is a need to increase the annual quota import from India. "If there's a need to increase the quota, it will be done,' said a trade official. "At the moment, we're still compiling figures to assess demand in all the regions.'

Petroleum Minister Muhammad Asif on Tuesday asked the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to frame new laws to ensure safety in handling and use of liquid petroleum gas (LPG). He was addressing an LPG exhibition organised here by the Ministry of Petroleum and LPG sector stakeholders to identify factors which made LPG production stagnant over the years. He said that the government would like to take every stakeholder of LPG sector on board to make the policies more workable, and utilise maximum potential to increase LPG production to meet the growing energy demand.

The second international LPG conference coupled with an exhibition will start here on Tuesday. Spokesperson of LPG said that the aim of conference would be to highlight the true growth potential of the LPG industry and focus issues related to its pricing regulation and safety standards. He said that the exhibition would arrange comprehensive display of the latest products and services available to the LPG industry including auto-gas and industrial automation equipment. He said that the LPG sector has shown a tremendous growth since it was deregulated eight years ago.

ALL new private power projects, which are at the drawing board stage, may have to kiss goodbye to their plans of developing power plants based on clean fuel like natural gas. The gas utilisation policy, which will soon receive its official stamp of approval, proposes to give the highest priority to fertiliser plants, followed by petrochemical and LPG fractioner units.

The Delhi High Court issued notices to the Union Petroleum Ministry and two public sector oil companies, Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum, on Monday on a petition by a voluntary organisation praying fo