Reliance Industries and global energy major BP Plc on Friday said they have formed an equal joint venture to source, market and transport natural gas in Asia's third-largest economy.The joint venture, India Gas Solutions, will also develop infrastructure for transporting and marketing natural gas in the country, and pursue other opportunities including import of liquefied natural gas (LNG).All existing supply contracts to customers of gas from the KG D6 block, off India's east coast, will also be taken over by the joint venture, the statement said.The two firms had announced plans for the joint venture in February, when BP acquired a 30 per cent stake in 23 oil and gas blocks owned by Reliance, in a $7.2 billion deal."Demand for gas has been growing at an exponential rate and we anticipate natural gas to emerge as the preferred choice of fuel..," Reliance's executive director P.M.S. Prasad said in the statement.Reliance, India's largest listed company, has seen its growth outlook marred by falling gas output from its huge KG D6 gas fields and its market value has plunged by nearly a quarter this year.Earlier this month, India's upstream regulator said Reliance was producing 42 mscmd (million standard cubic metres per day) from its main D6 block, much lower than the 60 mscmd it was producing a year earlier and far off the planned peak capacity of 80 mscmd.On Friday, the two companies said the new joint venture will start operations with 30 employees seconded from both firms, and its board will comprise six members with equal representation for both Reliance and BP.Earlier this year, BP's India head Sashi Mukundan told Reuters the joint venture could build an LNG terminal and pipelines if it did not find capacity at India's existing facilities.Prior to the announcement, Reliance shares had closed 0.2 percent lower in a weak Mumbai market.(Reuters)
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Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith, who had pitched for reversing ruling Labor party's policy on uranium export to India, has ruled out similar treatment to Pakistan, citing its poor proliferation record.Strongly backing Labor Party's decision on Sunday to export uranium to India despite it being a non signatory to the Nuclear Non proliferation Treaty, Smith said he did not support uranium exports to Pakistan.Smith, who is set to leave for India Tuesday, said he was a strong supporter of uranium export to India, calling it an exceptional case."India brought itself under the governance of the international nuclear regulators, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group," Smith said."That has not occurred with Pakistan. There has never been a suggestion of (nuclear) proliferation from India," he said adding, "Regrettably, over preceding years, there have been serious concerns about proliferation from Pakistan."He expressed hope that Pakistan would understand the decision and that it would not affect military ties between the two nations."Pakistan would understand the decision and that it would not affect military ties between the two nations, especially in their cooperation in the war in Afghanistan," he said adding, "I don't see this decision as having an adverse outcome, so far as the Australia-Pakistan relationship is concerned."On his fourth visit to India, Smith said the aim of the trip is to strengthen military ties and discuss defence and security cooperation."This will be my fourth visit to India as a Minister in the Australian Government but my first visit as Minister for Defence," he said.(PTI)
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India aims to award by March oil and gas exploration blocks offered in an auction earlier this year, a senior oil ministry official said on Monday, sorting out concerns including security at some of the blocks that forced a delay of nine months.The country had received bids for 33 out of 34 exploration blocks offered under the ninth round of its licensing policy -- New Exploration and Licensing Policy.In March when the bids were received, then Oil Secretary S. Sundareshan had said the contracts were to be signed within three months."There were security issues with some blocks," Sudhir Bhargava, additional oil secretary told reporters, referring to the delay in award of the contracts. He did not say whether some or all 33 blocks would be allotted.India wants to fully explore its sedimentary basins by 2015, from about 65 percent now as it seeks to cut dependence on imports, Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said in a speech at World Petroleum Conference in Doha on Monday.Reddy said about $16.5 billion had been invested to date in exploration and production activities in India.India, the world's fourth largest oil importer, ships in 80 percent of its oil needs to meet growing local fuel demand and feed its expanding refining capacity. It imports 25 percent of its gas needs.Separately, junior Oil Minister R.P.N. Singh said in New Delhi India was seeking to increase oil imports from Africa and export more refined products to that continent.It imported 706,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, equivalent to 22 percent of its total imports, from Africa in the fiscal year ended March 2011.By March 2017, India's oil refining capacity will rise by about 61 percent to 310.9 million tonnes a year or 6.22 million barrels per day (bpd).India's oil imports may rise as it prepares to add 800,000 bpd refining capacity by 2013, Singh said at a press briefing on the two-day India Africa Hydrocarbons Conference, which starts in New Delhi on December 9.The refining capacity addition would lift India's annual fuel exports to 70 million tonnes by 2014 against 50 million tonnes now, he said.(Reuters)
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India plans to invest in liquefied natural gas plants in producing countries to help meet growing demand in its own rapidly expanding economy, oil minister S. Jaipal Reddy said on Monday.It is also expanding its LNG gasification capacity and scouting for long-term sourcing of LNG, Reddy said in a speech at World Petroleum Conference in Doha.India buys 7.5 million tonnes a year of LNG from Qatar in long term deals and has also signed long term supply contracts with Australia's Gorgon venture.India needs gas to help power electricity generation, produce fertilisers, for cooking, to run vehicles and for industry. But its imports are curbed by a lack of pipeline infrastructure and LNG import terminals.India's current gas demand at 166 million cubic metres a day (mmscmd) is projected to rise to 443 mmscmd by 2017, junior oil minister R.P.N. Singh at a conference in DelhiIndia's domestic output is falling because of problems at the D6 block off India's east coast operated by Reliance while state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp is struggling to arrest declining production from its ageing field.Rating agency ICRA has revised down India's gas output estimate by 22 percent to 153 mmscmd by 2014-15 mainly due to falling output from the D6 block and a delay in commissioning satellite fields.India, the world's fourth largest oil importer, ships in 80 percent of its oil needs to meet growing local fuel demand and feed its expanding refining capacity.To cut its oil imports, Reddy said, India aims to raise the extent of areas explored from 65 percent to 100 percent by 2015.India's balance of recoverable reserves from known oil and gas reservoirs are about 2041 million tonnes, Reddy said, adding India's coal reserves, the fourth largest in the world, are likely to hold about 92 trillion cubic feet of coal bed methane.(Reuters)
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The home ministry has cleared British oil firm Cairn Energy's $6 billion deal to sell a stake in its Indian business to Vedanta Resources in the final government approval needed, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday.Cairn Energy has been waiting for more than a year to conclude the deal which will see miner Vedanta buy a majority stake in oil producer Cairn India.Vedanta said in November it expected to complete the deal within this quarter. A spokeswoman for the interior ministry could not comment immediately.(Reuters)
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India's fuel exports are likely to touch about 70 million tonnes by 2014, a government statement said on Monday, compared to 50 million tonnes in the financial year ending March 2011.India's fuel exports will rise as the country has been expanding its refining capacity which is expected to rise 20 per cent to about 4.65 million barrels per day at the end of the current fiscal year in March.India has a surplus refining capacity but it still imports fuel as private firms, controlling over a third of current capacity, prefer to export."With Africa's economic development picking up momentum and its energy demand increasing, India is poised to become a dependable supplier of petroleum products to Africa," the government statement ahead of an India-Africa Hydrocarbon summit this week.(Reuters)
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State-run oil refiners will cut petrol prices by 3.2 per cent from Wednesday, a company source said, the first cut in nearly three years as the government comes under political pressure from its allies ahead of several state elections.Government control over petrol pricing was lifted 18 months ago. But, in reality, state-run oil retailers seek an unofficial nod from the government before changing prices."Basic price has been cut by Rs 1.85/litre (over 3 cents) and add a 20 per cent value added tax in delhi. It should be about Rs 2.22 a litre," the source told Reuters.A litre of petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 66.42.Earlier this month, state oil retailers -- Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp, and Hindustan Petroleum Corp - raised petrol prices by Rs 1.80 a litre including taxes in Delhi.The reduction in Mumbai was Rs 2.34 per liter while in Kolkata it was Rs 2.31 a litre. The price cut in Chennai was Rs 2.35 per litre.(Agencies)
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State-run oil firms will cut petrol prices by 0.78 rupees a litre, or nearly 1.2 per cent from Thursday, Indian Oil Corp said, the second cut this month, reflecting global prices and potentially easing near double-digit inflation.Reduction in international gasoline prices and a declining rupee led to the downward revision in petrol prices by 0.65 rupees a litre, excluding state levies, from Dec 1, said IOC, the country's biggest fuel retailer."(The) current trend is of increasing international gasoline prices and further deterioration of exchange rate," the IOC statement said, indicating if this continues there could be an increase in gasoline prices from Dec 16.On Wednesday spot Singapore gasoline prices on FOB basis rose to about $110 a barrel while rupee declined 0.35 per cent.The companies had cut petrol prices by about 3.2 per cent earlier this month, the first reduction in retail prices in nearly three years and the first since prices were decontrolled in June 2010.Petrol prices have come down significantly from about $116/ barrel in the first half of this month to about $109/barrel and the exchange rate has deteriorated from 49.32 rupees to a dollar to 51.51, the statement added.India's three state fuel retailers - IOC, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp discuss prices every two weeks and tend to move their prices in tandem.Gasoline has a 1.09 per cent weighting in the inflation index. Near double-digit consumer prices have provoked criticism of the government, which subsidises other fuels such as diesel and cooking gas.Despite a cut in prices, gasoline in India will cost more than in the United States or neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh.India's petrol consumption in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012 is set to grow at 5 per cent, its weakest pace in at least six years as diesel prices are significantly lower and the gap has encouraged fuel switching.Gasoline is not as widely used as diesel in India - accounting for around 10 per cent of fuel demand compared with about 40 per cent for diesel - but it is high-profile because it powers many of the cars owned by the growing middle class."In view of the lingering pessimistic economic perceptions and persistent high oil prices moving in a narrow range, the current trend of gasoline consumption is expected to continue for the remaining months of the year," Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell said in a note posted on its website on Wednesday.India's economy grew 6.9 per cent in July-September, its slowest pace in more than two years, and infrastructure output in October grew a marginal 0.1 per cent, the slowest in more than six years.IOC statement said state-fuel retailers' daily revenue losses on subsided fuel sales to rise Rs 452 crores from Thursday compared with Rs 348 crores in the second half of this month.(Reuters)
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