Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has paid just over $1.25 billion for a 15 per cent stake in Russian oil major Rosneft's Vankor oil field, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said on Friday. ONGC expects to get more than 3 million tonnes of oil a year (between 66,000 and 70,000 barrels per day) from its holding in the huge Siberian oil field, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Rosneft earlier announced the deal to sell the interest in Vankor, a key source of supply to markets in the Asia-Pacific. Chief executive Igor Sechin said that talks with China's CNPC on a Vankor stake were continuing.
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Integrated power company Hindustan Powerprojects (HPP) on Wednesday (2 September) said it has commenced supply of 361 megawatt power to Uttar Pradesh from its flagship 2,520 MW Anuppur Thermal Power Project more than a year ahead of schedule.The power is being supplied through the recently-commissioned WR-NR Inter-Regional link (765 kV Gwalior-Jaipur Transmission Line). With this supply, HPP becomes the first Inter-Regional Independent Power Producer (IPP) to supply power to UP on long-term basis, among the Case-1 PPAs (power purchase agreements) signed by the State for an aggregate capacity of 2,175 MW.Ratul Puri, Chairman - Hindustan Powerprojects, said: "The UP Government has followed a well thought-out strategy to solve the State's challenging energy situation. Recognizing the limited availability of coal and, thereby, the inability to ramp up thermal production, the Government first moved earlier to buy conventional power by inviting bids and then promoted solar energy. We are delighted about being part of UP's Vision 2016 and our contribution to it."The total capacity of the flagship thermal plant is 2,520 MW - to be developed in two phases of 1,200 MW (2x600 MW) and 1,320 MW (2x660 MW). The Unit-1 of the first phase has been commissioned at a very competitive Cost.Ravi Arya, President (Commercial & Business Development) - Hindustan Powerprojects, revealed: "Commissioning of the Anuppur Power Plant and the 765 kV Gwalior-Jaipur Transmission Line proved to be most critical in our supplying power to UP. This was based upon the Case 1 Bid invited by the UP Government where we had participated."(BW Online Bureau)
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India will auction 69 small and marginal oil and gas fields surrendered by state explorers, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Wednesday, expecting private companies to boost output from the areas that hold resources of more than $10 billion. India, the world's No.4 oil consumer, meets only a fraction of its demand through local sources and wants to boost private and foreign participation in its industry, dominated by state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp and Oil India, and privately held Reliance Industries Ltd. Pradhan expects bidding to start in three months for the fields that were given up by ONGC and Oil India as they were uneconomical due to size, geography and state-set low sale prices. The fields have reserves of about 89 million tonnes worth 700 billion rupees ($10.57 billion), Pradhan said at a press conference.
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The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday (1 September) announced a 4,000 MW thermal power project in Ramanthapuram at a cost of Rs 24,000 crore besides plans to augment the power transmission infrastructure in the state."I am happy to announce that a 4,000 MW mega thermal power project will come up in Ramanathapuram district at an estimated cost of Rs 24,000 crore and land has been identified for the project in Nallampatti village," Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said in the state assembly, adding that the project work would start after getting requisite approvals.She also detailed the progress of power generation projects in the past four years of her government. On transmission infrastructure, she said a 3x1500 MVA pooling sub-station would be set up in North Chennai at a cost of Rs 2,335 crore.Also, a 2x1500 MVA sub-station would be set up in Ariyalur at a cost of Rs 2,121.45 crore.These sub-stations would evacuate electricity from new thermal power plants that are being set up in North Chennai and Ennore.Also, a 2x1500 MVA sub-station would come up in Coimbatore district at a cost of Rs 2,335 crore, which would buttress electricity distribution network in the Western region.On the capacity addition since 2011 when she assumed office, she said so far 5,954.5 MW has been added to the grid through own projects of TANGEDCO, Joint Ventures, share from central projects and through power purchase.On the progress of projects, she said work is on for thermal projects (660 x 2 MW) in Ennore Special Economic Zone and 660 MW Ennore Thermal Power Expansion Project.Detailed Project Report is being prepared for the 2,000 MW Sillahalla Hydel Power Project.Preliminary works are on for the 800 MW North Chennai Thermal Power Project Stage-III, 800x2 MW Uppur Thermal Power Project, 660x2 MW Udangudi Thermal Power Project, and another 660 MW thermal project at Ennore, she added.(PTI)
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Oil prices fell nearly 3 per cent in Asian trade on Tuesday (1 September), with investors covering short positions and taking profits after Brent and US crude soared more than 8 percent in the previous session.Both Brent and US crude prices dropped nearly $2 a barrel shortly after trading in Brent started on Tuesday, before partly recovering later in the session."A lot of the fall was due to short-covering," said Ben Le Brun, market analyst at Sydney's OptionsXpress."There could be a bit of profit-taking for people who have gone long."U.S. crude, also known as West Texas Intermediate, had climbed 27.5 percent by the end of three days of gains in the previous session, the largest three-day increase in dollar terms since February 2011 and the biggest percentage increase over three days since August 1990.The surge was fuelled by an OPEC commentary saying the cartel was willing to talk to other producers to achieve reasonable oil prices, as well as by the downward revision of U.S. output data by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA)."(The OPEC comments) could be just a bit of politicking ... but it does suggest that many producers are likely to be hurting at these levels," ANZ said in a market report on Tuesday.OPEC's indications about possible cuts could be the cartel's way of dealing with increased Iranian crude exports once sanctions are lifted, Phillip Futures said in a note on Tuesday.Revised EIA data published on Monday showed US domestic oil production peaked at just above 9.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in April before falling by more than 300,000 bpd over the following two months.US commercial crude stocks fell by 1.5 million barrels to 449.3 million barrels last week, according to a Reuters poll of analysts on Monday taken ahead of US industry and government data.Despite the fall in US production the global oil market is still oversupplied with oil and a decline in US production is increasingly likely in 2016, Morgan Stanley said in a report on Tuesday.Brent crude for October delivery had dropped $1.47 to $52.68 a barrel, or 2.7 per cent, as of 0536 GMT after climbing $4.10, or 8.2 per cent, in the previous session. It dropped by $1.99 a barrel earlier in the session.US crude for October delivery dropped $1.43, or 2.9 per cent, to $47.77 a barrel, after it settled up $3.98, or 8.8 per cent in the previous session. It earlier dropped by $1.97 a barrel.Investors will be watching key US data, including oil stocks, manufacturing and vehicle sales figures, later on Tuesday to give further direction to prices.That comes after official data from China on Tuesday showed its manufacturing sector contracted at its fastest pace in three years in August, reinforcing concern over the health of the world's second-largest economy.(Reuters)
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India has closed bids for a third of its target of tendering 15,000 megawatts (MW) of solar projects this fiscal year, a government official said, and is expecting interest from investors such as SoftBank to lift the industry.The tenders are part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious plans to raise solar capacity five fold to 100,000 MW by 2022 to meet India's growing power needs, create jobs and fight climate change without committing to an emission target."We are creating the base for big companies like SoftBank and Foxconn to participate," Upendra Tripathy, new and renewable energy secretary, told Reuters on Monday. "We want big players to come in, costs to come down and targets to be met."Japan's SoftBank this month announced plans to set up a company to invest $20 billion in India's renewable energy industry, with Taiwanese iPhone maker Foxconn and India's Bharti Enterprise as minority partners. SoftBank's executives have met both Modi and Tripathy.Indian resources conglomerate Adani Group has all but ended a deal with US company SunEdison for a solar equipment plant, only to start talks with Softbank and Foxconn for investments, sources said.So far this fiscal year India has closed tenders for about 5,000 MW of solar power and is seeking bids for 5,000 MW more, Tripathy said.Government-controlled companies Solar Energy Corp of India and NTPC Ltd have issued most of the tenders, along with states such as Madhya Pradesh in central India. SkyPower, Acme Solar, Suzlon Energy and SunEdison have been among the winners.Tripathy said though companies were keen to invest and solar power was already competing with fossil-fuel derived electricity, central and state governments would have to make it easier for businesses to buy land.(Reuters)
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Oil fell below $49 a barrel on Monday (31 August) after its biggest two-day rally in six years last week, pressured by a supply glut and renewed concern about a hard landing for China's economy.International benchmark Brent crude climbed 10 per cent last week but was still heading for its fourth straight monthly decline and has risen in only two of the past 14 months.At 1052 GMT, Brent was down $1.14 at $48.91 a barrel and US crude, which had rallied 12 percent last week, dropped 81 cents to $44.41."Volatility was high last week, so now we're seeing some retracement - $50 is proving to be a resistance level," said Olivier Jakob, analyst at Petromatrix, referring to Brent. "It is still a market which is very well supplied."Volume is expected to be lower than normal on Monday because of a British public holiday.Chinese equities fell sharply on Monday before recovering much of their losses ahead of a survey expected to point to further economic weakness.China will release its official reading on August factory conditions on Tuesday, and economists polled by Reuters believe activity likely shrank at its fastest pace in three years.Excess supply is weighing on oil. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which used to adjust its own supply to keep crude above $100, decided in 2014 to let prices fall in order to retain market share.OPEC's forecasts point to an oversupply of more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd) on the market because of higher output from members including Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and resilient supply from countries outside the group.Output from OPEC could rise even higher in 2016 if and when sanctions on Iran are lifted.A possible increase in US interest rates is expected to support the dollar, making dollar-priced commodities including oil more expensive for users of other currencies.Investors are looking ahead to US business surveys, factory orders, trade data and Friday's nonfarm payrolls this week after comments by a top Federal Reserve official suggested a September rate rise was more likely than some investors expected."We believe that bearishness is still in play," Phillip Futures said in a report.(Reuters)
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The government has permitted Reliance Industries to sell up to 1.2 lakh tonnes of LPG produced at its plants to private cooking gas marketers.The LPG Control Order mandates that all cooking gas (LPG) produced locally must be supplied to state-run fuel retailing companies as India is deficient in LPG and has to import a part of the requirement.However, under the Parallel Marketing Scheme (PMS), private companies are allowed to import and market LPG to bulk consumers.RIL has been permitted to sell up to 10,000 tonnes per month to parallel LPG marketers, according to an oil ministry order.The approval, valid from April 1 to March 31, 2016, is, however, subject to RIL importing an equivalent quality and delivering to state-owned firm."... RIL shall have to import the equivalent quantity and deliver it to public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) at a price which makes this transaction cost-neutral or cheaper to OMCs vis-a-vis procurement of same quantity from domestic production by RIL," the order said.This arrangement would be valid till liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) import facility at Kandla Port in Gujarat is re-commissioned or March 31, 2016 or till further orders, whichever is earlier.There are a total of 183 parallel LPG marketers in the country.The government had in February last year asked RIL to stop retailing LPG produced in its Jamnagar, Hazira and Patalganga plants. The company has a vast network that supplies cooking gas to 1 million customers, mostly in rural areas, and 134 auto LPG outlets.RIL, the largest single location LPG producer in the country, had contested the ministry view saying rules do not mandate that all domestic LPG must be sold only to state firms.Also, it was selling domestic LPG in parallel market because state oil marketing firms were not willing to pay market rates.RIL's subsidiary LPG Infrastructure India Ltd (LIIL) is undertaking parallel marketing of LPG and has substantial customers. It told the ministry that the move to prohibit the company from marketing gas would deprive its rural customers of the fuel. Its customers are mostly in rural areas of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.Following this, the Ministry on August 5, 2014 permitted RIL to sell up to 10,000 tonnes per month of LPG to parallel marketers till March 31, 2015. This has now been further extended till March next year."Since the earlier notification... dated August 6, 2014 was expired on March 31, 2015, this notification is being issued with effect from April 1, 2015 to give continuity to the notification dated the August 6, 2014. No one is adversely affected by giving retrospective effect to this notification," the ministry order said.(PTI)
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