Commercial buildings waste up to 30 per cent of the energy they consume. BW Businessworld caught up with Amarjeet Singh, co-founder and CTO of Gurgaon-based energy analytics startup Zenatix on five simple ways to make your office space energy efficient.1. If there are “deferrable” loads, for instance the water motor that can be operated at any point of the day, then ensure that they operate during off-peak hours so you pay less for these loads.2. Ensure that your air conditioning starts in the morning at the right time so as to precool the building to the right temperature by the time office starts. If the air conditioning is started much earlier than office start time it is a waste of energy and precooling later than start time compromises on the comfort factor of the employees.3. Have a flexible seating plan in the office so that during weekends or late evenings when there are a relatively less number of people working in the office they can sit in the same area, using light and air conditioning only around that space and not of the whole building or office floor.4. Switch off your appliances from the plug when not in use. Desktops/printers running in sleep mode during night time, TV/set-top boxes plugged in and not switched off from the plug consume significant energy.5. Quickly shift from diesel generator to grid supply as soon as the electricity supply is restored after a power cut. Running your diesel generator for even a few extra minutes can cost you a lot to your company.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani have discussed wide ranging issues, including the strategically important Chabahar port project in Iran being built by India, besides connectivity, hydrocarbons and threat of terrorism. Modi and Rouhani met in Ufa on the sidelines of the BRICS and SCO summits and discussed issues of bilateral and mutual interest. The two leaders also discussed connectivity, trade and investment, hydrocarbons and threat of terrorism, official sources said. Rouhani invited Modi to visit Iran and the prime minister said he looked forward to the trip. The two leaders specifically discussed progress on the Chabahar port project being built in Iran's Sistan-Balochistan Province which will give India sea-land access route to Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan. This is the first highest-level interaction between the two nations after the NDA government came to power last year. In May, Modi had sent a written message to Rouhani that was handed over to the Iranian president by Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in Tehran. Gadkari had signed an agreement with Iran for the development of the Chabahar port. (PTI)
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Russia's top oil producer Rosneft has taken a significant step towards expanding its global reach by signing a preliminary deal to acquire up to 49 per cent in Essar Oil Ltd, India's second biggest private refiner.Rosneft had initially said it would buy into Essar's Vadinar refinery. But a company spokesman clarified on Thursday (9 July) the deal included Rosneft entering into Essar Oil's charter capital, echoing a statement from the Indian firm.The companies have signed a non-binding term sheet for Rosneft to buy an equity stake of up to 49 percent in Essar Oil, the Indian company said in a statement on Thursday.Rosneft, the world's top listed oil producer, has long sought to increase its exposure to the global markets but its efforts have been hampered by Western sanctions over Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis.The deal with Essar from India, a country Russia has close ties with since the Soviet era, was announced as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Vladimir Putin on the fringes of a summit of emerging nations.Rosneft said on Wednesday that it had also finalised a deal to supply 10 million tonnes of oil a year, or 200,000 barrels per day, to Essar's Vadinar refinery over 10 years."Thanks to this agreement Rosneft grants itself a secure market outlet of crude oil, which will create an additional possibility of production planning and marketing," the company said in a statement.Deal Subject To Corporate ApprovalRosneft has been in talks with Essar to buy a key stake in the unit that owns the Vadinar refinery, but the deal has faced delays due to difference over the price, sources have said. They said Rosneft valued the refinery at less than $6 billion, while Essar wanted a higher price.The latest proposal to purchase a stake in Essar is conditional upon due diligence, determination of the transaction price, execution of definitive transaction documents and receipt of requisite approvals, the Indian refiner said.A source close to the matter said the entire process, including due diligence, will take at least two to three months.Rosneft is interested in only picking a stake in the refinery and there is a possibility that Essar Oil may have to hive off or de-link exploration assets from its portfolio, added the source, who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.An Essar Oil spokesman said the agreement, as signed, was for the entire company, including its refining, exploration and marketing businesses.Mumbai-based Essar, whose business interests include steel, oil and gas, power and ports, has been forced to consider selling some of its assets to reduce its debt pile, after expanding in India and overseas in the last few years.Essar's founders own 90.5 percent of Essar Oil, of which 65.6 percent is in the form of overseas depository shares.Supplying Oil To VadinarEssar depends heavily on Iran to feed its 400,000 bpd Vadinar refinery in Gujarat.The intent for an oil supply agreement between Rosneft and Essar was first signed in December during Putin's visit to India. However, processing 200,000 bpd of Russian oil will hurt the profitability of Vadinar because of the higher transport costs and yield.Rosneft's chief executive officer, Igor Sechin, did not rule out the possibility of supplying oil via swaps, but declined to elaborate. A source said last month that Rosneft may supply Venezuelan oil to the Vadinar or it may sell Iranian oil to Essar, once international sanctions against Tehran are lifted.Rosneft on Thursday withdrew its statement about its intention to more than double Vadinar's capacity to 900,000 barrels per day by 2020.(Reuters)
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France is determined to invest in India’s renewable sector, reports Arshad KhanAmbassador of France to India, François Richier, has affirmed that France will help India to develop renewable energy for sustainable development. Richier said that French companies will produce 10 per cent of the 100 GW of solar energy under the Make-in-India Initiative.“India has huge potential to generate electricity from renewable sources like solar and nuclear. France is very determined to invest in India’s renewable sector,” said the ambassador on Wednesday (July 8). He further said that there is a huge business opportunity for both French and Indian companies to tap the renewable sector.The ambassador further said that France is ready to invest in research and technology to increase the efficiency of domestic solar and nuke plants. He said, “currently India’s nuke energy accounts for 3 per cent of its total electricity produced compared to France’s 75 per cent in the same. There is a huge potential for growth in the sector and the government of France will lend its full support to develop technological innovations.”He added, “our main motive is to control the global temperature by 2 degree by the year 2020. This can only be achieved when nations all over the world agree to move from conventional source of energy to renewable source. India is this regard has a very important role to play as it the fastest emerging nation of the world.” Finance will be provided from the $10 billion green fund to encourage entrepreneur to invest in renewable energy.Indian entrepreneurs present at the event welcomed the gestures made by the French authorities. Gaurav Sood, MD of Solairedirect said to BW| Businessworld, “the move may lower the current rate which is Rs 6.50 per unit and will boost the supply chain. The major problem we face is the availability of land to set up solar plants and the cost of finance which is relatively higher.”Investors around the world are rushing to invest in India’s solar energy sector. A multi-billion dollar deal has been signed between three global giants, SoftBank, Bharti Enterprises and Foxconn. Collectively named SBG Cleantech, the three-way venture plans to invest $20 billion over 10 years. Earlier in March US-based First Solar Inc., Sun Edison and China’s Trina Solar Ltd planned to set up manufacturing facilities in India. Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan have emerged as the top destination for Investment.
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Oilfield services firms are scrambling for contracts from India, which has emerged as a rare bright spot for the sector hardest hit by a slump in global crude oil prices that has driven most countries to slash spending on exploration and production. This fiscal year, state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) plans to boost its capital spending by more than a fifth to 362.49 billion rupees ($5.7 billion), in stark contrast to analysts' forecasts for energy firms globally to cut spending by a fifth in 2015. These prospects have attracted scores of bidders for Indian contracts as an increase in supply from U.S. shale oil producers and slower demand growth have halved crude prices since June 2014. India's government has made boosting domestic energy a priority to end chronic current account deficits. Winners of ONGC's recent oil services tenders include Transocean Ltd, one of the world's top offshore drilling companies, Southeast Asia's largest oilfield service firm SapuraKencana Petroleum, Indian conglomerate Larsen & Toubro and mid-sized Singapore-based offshore construction services company Swiber Holdings. "We are getting better participation in our tenders both from Indian and overseas players due to current market conditions where exploration activity is low because of lower oil prices," said an ONGC official. "We are getting offers for better vessels and rigs at lower rates," the official added, declining to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media. The Indian contracts are especially attractive given the dearth of business from the majority of European and North American energy firms. With prospects for a rebound in oil prices and overall spending by the industry slim for the next few years at least, competition for Indian business is fierce, hurting service firms' margins, but alternatives are few and far between. Swire Pacific Offshore, part of Hong Kong-based conglomerate Swire Pacific Ltd, says the low rates in India are a challenge, but it is still bidding for projects there. "Even though there might be relatively more activity in the Indian market, I think you'll find that that's no boom town," said Duncan Telfer, commercial director of Swire Pacific Offshore. Discounts And DemandState-owned ONGC's spending spree is part of efforts by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to reduce India's reliance on imports, which account for nearly 80 percent of its energy requirements. Crude oil prices are critical to India's current account deficit, which just two years ago widened to a record high 4.8 percent of GDP as oil prices soared, triggering the worst currency crisis since 1991. The low global crude prices have helped narrow the current account deficit to just 0.2 percent of GDP in the previous January-March quarter, but the government has said its reliance on imports is unsustainable in the long-term. ONGC accounts for about 70 percent of India's overall oil production. A recent tender by the state-owned firm for 20 offshore service vessels attracted a record 26 bidders who offered 168 vessels, the ONGC official said, largely at favourable rates. ONGC is now able to contract offshore support vessels for about $14,000 a day, a 20 percent discount from last year's $20,000 a day, the official said. It is also hiring vessels for five years now compared to three years earlier to benefit from the lower rates, he added. Even with these discounts, the oil services firms are flooding in. Singapore's Swiber, which bagged three contracts from ONGC worth a total of nearly $800 million this year, says profit is its main driver. "In the short term, I strongly believe that India will be one of our anchor regions for us to focus on," said Darren Yeo, deputy group chief executive officer of Swiber. (Reuters)
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India will sign a contract with Kazakhstan to procure 5,000 metric tonnes of uranium as Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the Central Asian nation. Sources said the two countries will renew their old contract under which Kazakhstan supplied uranium to India. India and Kazakhstan already have civil nuclear cooperation since January 2009 when NPCIL and Kazakh nuclear company KazAtomProm signed an MoU under which KazAtomProm supplies uranium for Indian reactors. Following this, KazAtomProm supplied 600 MT of uranium ore concentrate in 2010-11, 350 MT in 2011-12, 402.5 MT in 2012-13 and 460 MT in 2013-14. However, the contract to supply uranium ended in December 2014. "India will be renewing its contract with Kazakhstan," said a senior government official. Kazakhstan is one of the major uranium suppliers to India. It has 15 per cent of the world's uranium resources and became the leading uranium-producing country in 2009. Apart from Kazakhstan, India also has an agreement with Uzbekistan, another Central Asian country, to procure uranium. Incidentally, during his visit to Australia last year and Canada early this year, Modi pressed in for buying uranium for the Indian power reactors, which for all these years had been running beyond their capacity due to lack of fuel.
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French oil industry engineering and construction group Technip will cut 6,000 jobs and book a 650 million euro ($719 million) restructuring charge as it steps up a cost-cutting drive in the face of an industry slump. With clients cutting projects due to low oil and gas prices, the company said it targeted cost cuts of 830 million euros with 700 million to be delivered in 2016 and the rest in 2017. "The slowdown in the oil and gas industry is prolonged and harsh," Chief Executive Thierry Pilenko said in a statement. "Therefore we have decided to accelerate our cost reduction and efficiency measures – which I know will have tough consequences for employees across the Group," he added. (Reuters)
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Videocon Industries plans to invest $2.5 billion in oil and gas ventures in Brazil over the next two to three years, the consumer electronics-to-energy group's chief said, as part of its strategy to boost the business. "Brazil oil finding is four times higher than the largest oil field in India ... It's just (the) beginning," billionaire Venugopal Dhoot told Reuters at the sidelines of an industry event. A consortium that includes Videocon and Brazilian state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) earlier this year discovered new light crude oil in the Sergipe basin off Brazil's northeast coast. Videocon, which gets most of its revenue from its consumer durables business, has expanded its oil and gas business in recent years with investments in countries including Australia and Indonesia. In the next three years, Videocon, which also has interests in telecoms and power, will be known as an oil and gas firm, Dhoot told Mint newspaper last month.
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