World’s fifth largest wind turbine manufacturer, Suzlon, said it has been awarded a 100.8 MW order by ReNew Wind Power. The project is scheduled for execution at the Bhesada wind site in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Suzlon will provide 48 units of its S97-120 metre WTGs and will also oversee operations, maintenance and service of the wind site over the contracted period.The S97-120 meter tower design is a combination of Lattice & Tubular structure, making it the tallest wind tower in India. The towers are designed to harness the optimal available wind resources and deliver higher energy productivity, which ensures higher rate on investment, according to the company.Sumant Sinha, Chairman & CEO of ReNew Wind Power said “This deal reinforces our commitment to developing sustainable energy solutions for India. Our partnership with Suzlon has added momentum to this mission”.ReNew Power has over 450 MWs of installed and operational clean energy capacity across the states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat. Tulsi Tanti, Chairman of Suzlon Energy Limited said “Leveraging on our leadership position within the country, we continue to have a strong focus on the Indian market as it offers a favourable renewable energy environment especially now with the new Government in place. We continue to create innovative and reliable products as with the S97-120m which is specifically made for low wind sites. Our mission is to make profitable and efficient wind energy accessible within the country”. Suzlon energy reported an increase in revenue for the quarter ended from Rs 4,336.44 crore to Rs 6,645.05 crore, the highest in the last eight quarters.The net loss for the quarter ended 31 March narrowed to Rs 603.45 crore from Rs 1,912.72 crore in the year-ago period.The company is planning to mop up about Rs 1,000 crore from the sale of non-core assets in this financial year. The wind energy major has already raised more than Rs 700 crore by selling two non-core assets.Suzlon’s global operations are spread across 31 countries. The company has a strong workforce of 10,000.
Read More
NTPC remains one of the largest power producers in India and has been ranked at the 8th position in the BW| Businessworld top 500 companies ratings. Here, Chairman and Managing Director Arup Roy Choudhury talks about the last financial year and the company strategies to help growth. From increased commercialisation of assets to further expansion in the renewable energy segment, NTPC has has shown close to 9 per cent increase in its income and almost 10 per cent jump in its assets.
Read More
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) wants to take advantage of falling oil prices to more than double its overseas output to the equivalent of 400,000 barrels per day of oil by 2018, Chairman D.K. Sarraf told Reuters.Global oil prices sank to a four-year low at below $83 a barrel this month, hitting valuations of energy explorers.The government, which is preparing to float a $3 billion stake in ONGC, wants state firms to secure energy assets abroad to reduce the exposure of Asia's third-largest economy to supply risks.India is the world's fourth-biggest oil consumer, importing four-fifths of its needs as its own output shrinks."For meeting the short-term 2018 target we would like to aggressively go for producing assets, because you can't acquire an exploration block and then make it produce in such a short time," Sarraf said in a telephone interview on Monday.ONGC, the country's biggest oil explorer, has often been criticised for stagnant output and the slow pace of exploration and development.Sarraf reaffirmed ONGC's long-term plans to raise overseas output in two stages to 60 million tonnes of oil plus oil-equivalent gas by 2030 - or 1.2 million barrels per day.The plan envisages investing around $180 billion between 2013 and 2030 on a gamut of projects including raising local and overseas oil and gas output, according to the company's website.Exploration AssetsSarraf, however, added that ONGC was interested at the same time in acquiring overseas exploration assets, which would take longer to enter production, with a view to hitting its 2030 goal."More value is created through exploration assets," he said. "Even for the 2030 target we cannot get out of exploration (to production) if we don't start acting on exploration now."Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has initiated a process to sell a 5 percent stake in ONGC, which is 69 percent state controlled.ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investment arm of ONGC, produced about 9 million tonnes of oil and oil equivalent gas (180,000 bpd) in the fiscal year to March 31, 2014, Sarraf said.To achieve its pursuit of acquiring overseas assets ONGC has signed initial cooperation agreements with Mexico's national oil company Pemex, PetroVietnam, Ecuador and PdVSA of Venezuela.In the last fiscal year ONGC Videsh bought a 20 per cent stake in a block in Mozambique, raised its stake in a deepwater block in Brazil and was awarded exploration blocks in Bangladesh and Myanmar.Russia's Rosneft has also offered stakes in two Siberian oil fields to ONGC, which is already a partner in the Sakhalin 1 offshore project.ONGC has 13 producing assets in eight countries. It had cash and cash equivalent of 108 billion rupees on March 31, 2014 and its profitability is set to rise after Modi's five-month-old government hiked gas prices and scrapped subsidies on diesel.ONGC, along with other explorers, had been giving a discount on crude and products sales to state fuel retailers to partly compensate them for losses on retail sales at cheaper regulated rates for diesel, kerosene and cooking gas.When asked where his firm was targeting oil and gas assets Sarraf said: "The globe. The target is so big we can't look for one geography and say no to another."He listed Russia and the former Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States, Africa and the Middle East, adding, "We are not in the U.S. and Canada, we want to be there as well."(Reuters)
Read More
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) wants to take advantage of falling oil prices to more than double its overseas output to the equivalent of 400,000 barrels per day of oil by 2018, Chairman D.K. Sarraf said on Monday. "For meeting the short-term 2018 target we would like to aggressively go for producing assets because you can't acquire an exploration block and then make it produce in such a short time," Sarraf said. Global oil prices hit a four-year low at below $83 a barrel earlier this month, hitting valuations of oil explorers. India is the world's fourth-biggest oil consumer, importing four-fifths of its needs as its own output shrinks. The government, which is preparing to float a $3 billion stake in ONGC, wants state firms to secure energy assets abroad to reduce the exposure of Asia's third-largest economy to supply risks. (Reuters
Read More
Vietnam wants greater participation by Indian companies in oil and gas exploration projects in South China Sea, a huge source of hydrocarbons, and promised to extend full security to them. Newly appointed Vietnamese Ambassador Ton Sinh Thanh rejected China's objection to Indian oil exploration projects in South China Sea, asserting that that his country has the "right" to protect its interests. "We hope that more oil and gas ventures of India can be done in Vietnam and we will create favourable condition for them," Ton told PTI. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will arrive in on Monday on a two-day visit during which he will hold talks with top Indian leadership on a range of issues including ways to enhance cooperation in security, defence and energy sector. The two countries had established strategic ties in 2007. The ambassador said all oil exploration projects by India in South China Sea have been within the territorial waters of Vietnam and it will provide "full security" to Indian companies involved in them. Identifying oil and gas exploration as a key area of cooperation, he indicated signing of a pact between the two countries during visit of Prime Minister Nguyen. In November last year, Vietnam had offered India five oil blocks and ONGC Videsh Limited was looking at them in terms of their feasibility. Recently, Vietnam had renewed India's lease of two oil blocks in South China Sea for another year. China and Vietnam have an acrimonious relationship due to their standoff over South China Sea, a major source of hydrocarbons. China has been objecting to India's oil exploration projects in the disputed waters. Both India and Vietnam have been looking at enhancing cooperation in the the energy sector. A Letter of Intent was signed between ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) and Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) during President Pranab Mukherjee's visit to that country last month. The LoI is aimed at further consolidating cooperation between India and Vietnam in the sector as well as to pave the way for future collaboration. India has been supporting freedom of navigation and access to resources in South China Sea in accordance with principles of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The ambassador said the strategic partnership between India and Vietnam was now "better then ever" but noted that there was scope to further enhance cooperation. "In all areas, the relationship has been developed quite fast and we are happy now and we are ready to go further forward to bring this partnership to higher level," he said. Ton said the focus of the visit will be to improve economic engagement between the two countries. He said Vietnam will ensure "favourable conditions" to Indian investors. (PTI)
Read More
After unveiling major reforms since BJP's storming to power, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan plans to overhaul the exploration policy to attract investors, spur energy output and revive the economy.In parallel, the Ministry is setting stiff targets for state explorers like ONGC to reverse the declining trend in oil and gas output in recent years as it looks to cut on import dependence.Pradhan, 45, wants to replace the 15-year old production sharing regime, which has produced more controversies and less oil and gas. Only three out of the 252 blocks given out have come to production stage. The new regime aims to inspire confidence in investors and require minimal government intervention."We want to increase ease of doing business in India.Bottlenecks have to be removed, red-tapism cut and investors given confidence so that they can come and invest in oil and gas exploration and production," he told PTI.The focus is on raising domestic oil and gas production beginning with state explorers ONGC and Oil India, who had in the immediate past not met their own stated targets. They have been given a 10 per cent improvement target so as to cut imports, he said.Top most on priority is monetisation of small and marginal fields lying with ONGC with help of private investment as well as technology, he said.Natural gas pipeline network in the country will be doubled to 30,000 kilometres by 2019 to expand the reach of environment-friendly fuel. Also, state refineries are being asked to improve efficiencies to become globally competitive even as fuel retailing is opened up for competition."We have set priorities and targets at every level - upstream, midstream and downstream. Efficiencies have to improve. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has showed how the same set of people under the same system can deliver better results," he said. While the house is set in order, Pradhan wants India, which spent USD 143 billion to import crude oil last year, to diversify its purchases to guard against geopolitical risks in some of the world's biggest suppliers."I met officials from the US recently and asked them to allow oil exports to India. We are keen to import oil from US, which currently does not allow oil exports. We will look at Russia and Latin America too," he said.Global oil prices slumping by 25 per cent from about $115 for a barrel in June to $85 or so, last week emboldened the government to press ahead with politically risky decisions of scrapping controls on diesel prices and raising natural gas tariff for the first time in four years, in a bid to lure investors and revive the economy."I consider these as big ticket reforms," Pradhan said, adding that the government has also announced a 10-point reform of PSC for early monetisation of fields.For the next licensing round, the experience of nine rounds of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) where government entered into Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with explorers, like Reliance Industries, will be used.(Agencies)
Read More
The Indian government has no plans to curtail supply of subsidised cooking gas (LPG) from current 12 cylinders per household in a year even as it looks to give cash subsidy to consumers across the country by June."There is absolutely no proposal to reduce subsidised LPG quota (per household)," Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told PTI in an interview here.In August, the Narendra Modi-led government gave consumers the freedom to avail their quota of 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg weight at subsidised rate during anytime of the year against the previous restriction of one per month.Pradhan said the Cabinet had on Saturday modified the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme for LPG to provide for cash subsidy equivalent to the difference between the current rate and the market price, in bank accounts of each consumer.But unlike the scheme launched during the previous UPA government, having an Aadhaar card for getting the cash subsidy is not mandatory, he said.Currently, the modified DBTL is being launched in 54 districts and from January 1 it will be rolled out in all the remaining districts of the country, he said."We hope to extend the coverage to all the districts in three months and enroll majority of the consumers in another three months. So you can say by June, majority of the LPG consumers will be covered," he said.LPG consumers who have opened accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana too would benefit from the revised scheme. Over 6 crore such accounts have been opened so far and 4 crore more are being targetted by the year end to provide for at least one bank account per household.Currently, bank accounts of LPG consumers are being seeded with their cooking gas numbers. Once that is done, cash subsidy will be transfered into the bank accounts so that the consumers can buy the LPG refills at market rates. Presently, 12 cylinders are available to consumers at a subsidised rate of Rs 414 each in Delhi. Any requirement beyond this will have to be purchased at market price of Rs 880 per 14.2-kg cylinder.Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the Modi government stands for protecting the interests of poor and at the same time it will ease conditions for doing business in the country."Reforms and being pro-poor are not oxymorons. Being pro-poor does not mean that reforms will stop. Both the things can go together," he said.The previous UPA government had linked DBT for LPG to the Aadhaar platform. But there were some legal issues, including some court orders, that prevented implementation of the scheme.So, the new government has decided that in addition to the Aadhaar platform, all those who have a bank account will also get the LPG subsidy in their accounts directly.He said the scheme will be implemented in a mission mode.There will be no consumer who will be denied LPG for want of Aadhaar number.Pradhan said the government is working on fixing the amount of subsidy to be given under DBTL.(Agencies)
Read More
