The Arctic needs to be better protected from a rush for natural resources as melting ice makes mineral and energy exploration easier, the United Nations' Environment Programme (UNEP) said.

New Delhi has requested Turkmenistan to give equity in the exploration and production blocks to Gail

India wants a share in gas fields in Turkmenistan from where the proposed $9-billion transnational gas pipeline will cross terrorist-infested regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan to deliver gas across the Punjab border. “India is keen on stakes in Turkmenistan’s upstream assets. If it can offer stakes to China, it can also make exception for us,” said a senior government officials involved in implementation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project. Chinese firm CNPC is developing natural gas resources at Turkmenistan’s South Yolotan gas fields and has an agreement with state-run Turkmengaz to import natural gas.

U.S.

New York State's decision to lift a four-year ban on natural gas drilling faced further delay on Tuesday after officials conducting a key health impact study asked for more time to form their concl

It seeks Petroleum Ministry’s intervention to ensure audit of KG-D6 block is not carried out under CAG (DPC) Act

The Mukesh-Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has written to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry seeking its intervention and an assurance that the audit of the KG-D6 block by the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) would not be carried out under the CAG Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service (DPC) Act and that the CAG should clearly distinguish between its audit of the Petroleum Ministry and that of RIL.

The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons will soon offer seven coal bed methane blocks under the fifth round of bidding with the Central Mine and Planning & Design Institute (CMPDI) finalising the data dossier. The DGH had engaged CMPDI in 2011 to identify CBM blocks and prepare a list for the fifth round.

A DGH official told FE that the blocks would be offered in Singrauli, Sohagpur and Cambay basin areas, which mainly have lignite and bituminous coal. Although the official didn’t disclose the CBM reserves the mines were bearing, he said the CMPDI-prepared data indicated that it would be easier to extract methane from the blocks that would be offered under the fifth round.

The proposed policy will ensure parity in the price of imported and locally-produced gas

The Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas will soon bring in a Uniform Gas Price Policy to ensure parity in the price of imported and locally-produced gas. "I have worked out the policy, but don't know whether it has to go to the Cabinet or not. The proposed policy will ensure one price for gas that is imported and that is produced here," Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas M Veerappa Moily said here this evening.

New Delhi: Petroleum ministry knocks on investment body’s door for clearances

Move would benefit RIL, Cairn, BP, BHP Billiton and ONGC. The petroleum ministry is set to approach the Prime Minister-led Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) for fast-tracking the approvals for 20 offshore exploration blocks, held up for want of defence ministry clearances, despite the firms having signed production-sharing contracts. The move would benefit Reliance Industries, Cairn, BP and BHP Billiton, apart from public-sector ONGC.

Petroleum minister Veerapa Moily has prepared a Cabinet note, recommending a new formula suggested by the Rangarajan panel to split profits between the exchequer and fuel producers from oil and gas

Sharp decline in production from flagship Krishna-Godavari basin has changed the business mix for the company

An unimpressive performance on its exploration and production front has brought the refining and marketing and petrochemicals business back in the reckoning for Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), India’s highest valued company. Over the quarters, a sharp decline in production from its flagship Krishna-Godavari basin, off the Andhra coast, has changed the business mix for the Mukesh Ambani-led company, with refining and marketing now contributing 78.2 per cent of the revenue base and 58 per cent of Ebit (earnings before interest, tax) margins.