The proposal for the doubling of natural gas price made by the Rangarajan committee has the oil and power ministries at loggerheads.

The company finds hoards of buyers willing to pay a rate equivalent to what India pays to Qatar for importing LNG

After Reliance Industries Ltd, GSPC, the firm floated by Narendra Modi government, plans to sell natural gas from its KG basin fields at imported LNG rate of $14.2 per mmBtu. In a nearly month-long, elaborate market price discovery exercise, Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) found hoards of buyers willing to pay a rate equivalent to what India pays to Qatar for importing gas in its liquid form (LNG).

State govt assures the court it will compensate the loss to the oil companies

The Kerala high court on Thursday directed public sector oil companies -- Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) -- to supply diesel to the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) at subsidised rate. In a petition filed by the corporation, a single bench opined that the stand of the oil companies was discriminatory. The state government has assured the court it would compensate the loss to the oil companies.

The petroleum ministry will approach a ministerial panel for a road map on a gas price pooling mechanism to help the power sector absorb the high costs of imported liquified natural gas (LNG) and prevent investments of over R1 lakh crore from becoming non-performing assets.

Petroleum minister M Veerappa Moily said on Wednesday that he will move a note for the consideration of a high-powered ministerial group to change priority of allocation of the fuel as well as pooled pricing of imported and domestic gas. Moily was talking to reporters after meeting with a delegation of power producers including Anil Ambani (Reliance Power), GM Rao (GMR) and Madhusudan Rao (Lanco).

Fertiliser min to oppose planned move to give priority to power sector

The oil ministry’s intent to give priority to the power sector for allocation of gas has raised an alarm in the fertiliser ministry. Sources have indicated that the fertiliser ministry will strongly oppose the move when oil ministry circulates the a note on gas allocation for approval of the empowered group of ministers’ (EGoM). It is also likely to seek higher priority for the fertliser sector so that benefits of cheaper fuel reach the country’s farming community.

Consortium partners will sign memorandum of understanding on March 18

A consortium led by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) will do a feasibility study on setting up a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Regasification Terminal at the New Mangalore Port. The proposed terminal will have an initial capacity of 2-3 million metric tons per annum (MMTPA), which can be expanded to 5 MMTPA.

India is set to join a select group of countries having a specialised agency mapping its shale gas potential. A proposal to this effect has already been worked out by the oil ministry. The proposed agency will fall under the central government. It will have the mandate to map the presence of shale gas across various states in the Gangetic plain, Assam, Rajasthan and many coastal areas.

The agency will conduct studies on the basis of geological, geophysical and geochemical aspects of shale gas exploration, micro-seismic imaging, drilling, completion and production technologies and environmental hazards in shale gas exploitation.

The company will on March 13 sign a MoU with the Rajasthan government for setting up the refinery-cum-petrochemical complex

State-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) plans to invest Rs 37,000 crore in setting up a nine million tonne oil refinery and a petrochemical complex at Barmer in Rajasthan. The company will on March 13 sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Rajasthan government for setting up the refinery-cum-petrochemical complex, a source privy to the development said.

Policy on CBM in a week, shale in a fortnight

After unleashing a frontal attack on subsidies and increasing the pricing freedom of oil companies, the government is set to unwrap key policy initiatives this month with a view to augmenting the country’s energy security. These include a new policy to attract investors to shale gas — a relatively new energy source successfully tapped by the US and Canada — and a potentially more remunerative regime for investors in coal bed methane (CBM) blocks.

JAIPUR: In what will be the biggest ever investment in the state, the board members of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) approved the Rajasthan government's proposal to set up the 19th oil refinery of the country in Barmer.

"The memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up the refinery at Barmer will be signed in Jaipur on March 14 in the presence of Union minister of petroleum and natural gas Veerappa Moily," said a delighted state chief minister Ashok Gehlot. Talking to TOI, Gehlot said that the proposed refinery is a landmark achievement for the entire state and it will translate into revolutionary growth. "I immediately called Mr Moily and welcomed the decision," he added.