Oct. 30 - Russia-based energy efficiency consultancy firm, GCE group, announced its entry into the Indian market, where it will be operating in sectors such as oil and gas, power and cement, reports The Hindu.
“We have entered the Indian market with a long-term expansion plan and aim to clock $100 million revenue annually over the next five years,” GCE Group President Alexander Moskalenko said at a press conference. Read the rest of this entry »
Sept. 2 - The government is considering awarding top state-owned companies the Maha Ratna status to give it more freedom to negotiate joint ventures, investments and grow capacity.
“My ministry will seek cabinet approval for elevating some of the Nav Ratna companies owned by the government to the Maha Ratna status provided their net profit is Rs.50,000,000,000 for three consecutive years,” Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was quoted as saying by The Economic Times at the sidelines of an official function.
Sept. 1 - India’s economy grew by 6.1 percent from April to June despite the previous quarter’s 5.8 percent growth and the economic crisis stunting its manufacturing and services sectors.
According to Delhi’s Central Statistical Organization, mining, electricity and financing sectors performed well during the quarter while there was a registered slowdown in trade, hotels, transport and communication industries. The Hindu reports that manufacturing was down to 3.4 percent from 5.5 percent and agriculture slowed to 2.4 percent from 3 percent compared to last year.
Jun. 24 - The Indian government is considering a series of tax holidays, including a seven year tax break, to assist with the development of exploration in its oil and gas sectors and lessen its dependence on imports.
Currently three quarters of India’s oil and gas consumption is imported, and the decision to approve tax breaks has been under review after the collapse of the nations National Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) last year.
At immediate stake is the on-going development of the country’s KG Basin, operated in the private sector by Reliance Industries, as well as various state owned oil and natural gas corporations.
By Vikas Srivastava
Jun. 18 - The government of India is implementing more initiatives to attract more foreign direct investment in its petroleum, chemicals and petrochemical sectors by establishing specific investment regions for this.
The Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Regions (PCPIRs) will be established in the state of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. The government plans to set up investment regions which will offer foreign and domestic players networking and a common infrastructure of services to provide cost benefit opportunities suitable for new ventures and leading to growth in production, exports and job creation.
May 14 - India’s oil ministry may build a national gas highway to bring a steady supply of natural gas across the country.
Currently, gas pipelines are found mainly in the eastern and western regions while the southern, central and north-eastern regions are lacking. Expanding the pipeline should balance economic and regional growth.
Funds for the project will come from various sources, including a possible cess on domestically-produced natural gas, said petroleum secretary RS Pandey on the sidelines of an industry meeting organized by the India Energy Forum. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr. 10 - In order to attract increased revenues into long term investments and reduce the burden of importing 75 percent of its annual crude oil requirements, the Indian government is stepping up oil and gas exploration to boost production.
The Indian government is offering 70 oil and gas exploration blocks under the eighth round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (Nelp-VIII). Bids will be accepted from both domestic and international investors until August 10th. Petroleum secretary RS Pandey told the Economic Times, “We have offered 24 deepwater blocks, 28 shallow water blocks and 18 on land blocks under Nelp-VIII”. Read the rest of this entry »
Dec. 24 - Planning to ease the subsidy burden on Indian oil companies, the Oil Ministry said it is in the process of formulating a system to offset losses incurred by state oil companies.
Reuters sources say the paper which is expected to be released in mid January is likely to limit the subsidy share between crude oil firms and oil refinery companies to 300 billion rupees (US$6.40 billion) for the current financial year ending March 2009. Meanwhile the government has also told upstream Indian oil companies ONGC and Oil India Ltd not to extend any discounts to public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) – Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation – on the sale of crude oil, effective from December. Read the rest of this entry »
Dec. 3 - The value of global oil and gas companies has decreased in the last year due to the ongoing economic downturn making it an opportune time for Indian companies to buy global assets as well as global wealth funds particularly from China, the Middle East and Singapore to buy oil and gas assets in India.
“With the ongoing economic downturn and the resultant crash in oil prices, the valuation of oil and gas companies has decreased and this offers Indian companies the opportunity to buy global assets at more reasonable prices than earlier.” Dilip Khanna, partner, Ernst & Young’s oil & gas practice told the Financial Express. Read the rest of this entry »
Nov. 26 - Following the failure of the Turkey-Iran-Pakistan-India oil and gas pipeline due to security and cost pressures, visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested Turkey could ship oil and gas to India via Israel. The proposed route, through the red sea, will avoid the over- crowded Suez Canal and the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope.
According to the new plan,Turkey would supply India with not only oil and gas but also water, electricity and fiber optic cables. The project is expected to cost over US$10 billion (Rs.496 billion).
Energy abundant Turkey and India plan to increase bilateral trade to US$6 billion by 2010 from the current US$2.6 billion. Read the rest of this entry »
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