India NEWS

ONGC sets out aggressive plans to spend about $3.64 billion this financial year as part of government’s drive to reduce oil imports

Aramco’s CEO Amin Nasser believes that the oil market fundamentals remain generally “sound” for the rest of the year.

A change is on the horizon for oil demand, with India set to eclipse China as the most important driver of global growth — and potentially the last, as the world shifts to a greener future.

Rejuvenation of prolific offshore asset part of larger effort to extend the lives of mature fields and reduce dependence on imports

Petrol and diesel demand had fallen month-on-month in July. Whilepetrol consumption is almost flat in the first half of August, diesel - the most widely used fuel in the country - saw demand drop 11.2 per cent during August 1-15 to 2.82 million tonnes from 3.17 million tonnes in the same period of the previous month.

India's Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.NS) on Friday reported a 46.3% jump in June-quarter profit, as robust refining margins due to intake of cheaper Russian crude and fuel exports buoyed its dominant oil-to-chemicals business.The Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate said consolidated profit rose to 179.55 billion rupees ($2.25 billion) in the three months ended June 30 compared with 122.73 billion rupees a year earlier.

In a bid to boost the natural gas-based economy, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri dedicated 166 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations to serve the community. The 166 CNG pumps have been set up by GAIL (India) Limited and nine of its group City Gas Distribution (CGD) companies in 41 Geographical Areas (GAs) across 14 states. According to Puri, the CNG stations will incentivise the market of such vehicles and will have a positive impact on manufacturing and employment generation.

The government recently imposed a windfall tax on all refiners, including SEZ refineries, on the export of diesel, petrol, and air turbine fuel. Besides, it also imposed a cess on domestic crude output. Analysts said the development is a setback for refiners as they cut FY23 estimates steeply. The tax could potentially be used to offset OMC losses on auto fuel, analysts said. The government has raised export duty on diesel by Rs 13 a litre and on petrol by Rs 6 a litre. It has also raised export duty on ATF by Re 1 per litre. The government said Indian exporters would have to sell 50 per cent of petrol in the domestic market on total shipping bill while they have to sell 30 per cent of diesel in domestic market on total shipping bill. In addition, a cess of Rs 23,250 per tonne was imposed on crude produced domestically.

India's offshore wind sector has gained momentum as a result of the Prime Minister's announcement of net-zero targets at the last UN climate change summit(COP26). At the summit, India also announced its increased ambitions of installing 500 GW of non-fossil-fuels-based power generation capacity by 2030, inclusive of 30 GW offshore wind capacity.

India is making a big push for oil and gas exploration in Andaman deep water basin with the government planning to fund an ONGC-led drilling campaign and easing clearances, according to people familiar with the matter. Increasing exploration at a break-neck speed is at the center of the government's plan to raise domestic production of oil and gas and cut imports at a time when high fuel prices are tormenting consumers. ONGC NSE -2.40 % plans to launch the drilling campaign in the Andaman offshore after the monsoon and is currently engaged in talks with ExxonMobil and Shell to involve them in the project, they said. ONGC is expected to drill 3-4 wells under the special program funded by the government in the Andaman Sea, with each well costing about Rs 350-400 crore, they added.gt

The Cairn Oil & Gas, India’s largest private oil and gas exploration and production company, has signed a contract with Baker Hughes, an energy technology company, to harness geothermal energy from its repurposed oil and gas wells in Rajasthan. On successful execution, the contract will help Cairn Oil & Gas co-produce up to 2.4 MW of electricity along with oil and gas and offset 17,000 tons of greenhouse gas per annum. This contract follows Cairn Oil & Gas’ recently announced ESG roadmap where it is committed to becoming a net-zero company by 2050, a spokesperson said here on Friday.

Indian shares were little changed on Monday, with gains in consumer stocks offset by losses in metals, while global prices of copper and crude oil declined. The NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) edged up 0.05% to 15,302.8 by 0516 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) was up 0.1% at 51,423.83. Both indexes fell over 5% last week in their biggest weekly drop in two years. Oil prices dropped to $113.04 per barrel while copper prices also fell, on fears that a recession would dent demand for metals.

New Delhi: State-owned CIL is looking at green mining options by leveraging a slew of eco-friendly technologies in both underground and opencast mines, a move that would help in augmenting the production and reduce the adverse impact on environment. With land turning out to be a major pain point for expansion of coal mining operations, these technologies bypass land acquisition and avoid its degradation. "Coal India Ltd (CIL) is taking a close look on green mining options in a bid to minimize adverse environmental impact by leveraging a slew of eco-friendly technologies in its underground and opencast mines," the maharatna firm said.

The two foreign ministers noted the potential for a closer India-Italy industrial collaboration in the defence sector and vowed to work closely in countering common challenges of terrorism, violent extremism and cybercrimes.

"The conglomerate, which is owned by Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani, reported a net profit of 162.03 billion ($2.1 billion) between January and March, 22.5 percent than the same period last year."

While natural gas makes up just a small portion of India's power mix, a scarcity of coal and hot weather has triggered scheduled blackouts, threatening to upend the economy

India has already bought more than twice as much crude from Russia in the two months since its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 as it did in the whole of 2021,

The latest offer from Moscow involves payment for Indian oil imports from Russia in dollar or euro while the rest of the trade will be settled using a rupee-ruble-denominated mechanism,