Petroleum NEWS

With a decline in India's crude oil production and natural gas output in FY20-21, the petroleum ministry has made its third attempt to get Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to privatize its oil and gas fields along with other infrastructures to raise production. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, on April 1, wrote to India’s largest producer of oil and natural gas asking it to sell its stake in oil fields to private firms and get foreign partners in KG basin gas fields. The letter also sought to monetize existing infrastructure and hive off drilling and other services into a separate firm to increase production.

BEIJING: China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, better known as Sinopec, plans a 23.8% increase in capital spending to 167.2 billion yuan in 2021 following recovery of oil prices and energy demand as the COVID-19 epidemic subsided.Sinopec expects to spend 66.8 billion yuan on upstream exploration focusing on shale gas development in southwest China

Verus Petroleum of UK has announced an acquisition of Cieco Exploration & Production (UK) Limited, a subsidiary of ITOCHU Corporation. Verus has signed a $400 million Sale & Purchase Agreement (SPA) for this procurement. This acquisition will add 11,000 boed to the daily production capacity of Verus, but will not involve the transfer of any personnel.

Oil prices gained ground on Tuesday because of fast approaching dates of US sanctions against Iran which is evidently affecting the petroleum industry. Although the market had signs of increased supplies from producers like the United States and Saudi Arabia that could make up for the supply disruptions from Iran. Brent increased at $77.48 a barrel and WTI went up and was at $67.61 per barrel.

Australia's largest E&P Company, Woodside Petroleum Ltd reported a 6% rise in its half-year earnings backed by the effective performance of company’s Wheatstone and Pluto LNG projects. In the present financial year, i.e. 2018, the company expects the production to lie between 87 mmboe to 91 mmboe. Furthermore, the Wheatstone project is likely to add approximately 13 million barrels of oil equivalent to the annual output after becoming fully operational.

Shell and BP Plc, in two different deals, are looking to acquire leading petroleum dealers in Rwanda. Royal Dutch Shell’s African operation, Vivo Energy is in talks with Engen to procure all the firm’s operations and its service stations in Rwanda. BP Plc will be acquiring majority stakes in one of the important distributors and importers of petroleum products informed the source.

If sources were to be believed, Indian oil PSUs are planning on installing some 25,000 new petrol pumps across the nation, following a directive from the Government. This will outlay an investment of thousands of crores in the fuel retailing business, employment for tens of thousands of people, and an increased dominance of state firms. New petrol pumps will bring more business for equipment suppliers, transporters, and tanker manufacturers.

Petrol and diesel prices in India are experiencing consecutive falls since they escalated on May 29. According to the Indian Oil website, diesel prices came down by 15 paise in Delhi and 16 paise in Mumbai. Based on the global oil prices, continuous revisions are being done for petrol and diesel prices by oil marketing firms. Prevailing VAT determines the price in every state.

The oil prices were reduced for a consecutive third day in India. The prices for petrol and diesel dropped by 6 paise and 5 paise per litre today, and now petrol costs Rs 78.29/litre, while diesel costs Rs 69.20/litre, in New Delhi. The state government of Kerala, however, has decided to cut petrol and diesel prices by Re 1, with effect from today, resulting in a Rs. 509cr revenue loss.

The Brazilian government has responded to a week-long national truckers' strike, which led to fuel and food shortages across the country and ceded to protesters' demands yesterday. Diesel prices in Brazil were cut by 46 Brazilian cents ($0.13; £0.09) per litre. According to the daily Folha de Sao Paulo, the first five days of the strike have cost the country's economy an estimated $2.8 billion.

Petrol and Diesel prices scaled up new highs when they turned to Rs 84.40 and Rs 72.21, respectively, in Mumbai. According to the price notification issued by state-owned oil corporations Petrol price today increased by 33 paisa/litre in the country - the highest since the daily price revision went effective in June 2017, and diesel by 26 paisa.

The largest chemical producer in the world, BASF, has formed an alliance with the US Oil and Gas giant, ExxonMobil, to mutually develop new gas treating solvents and process technologies to be used in natural gas processing and petroleum refining. Through this new contract, BASF will market and license technologies developed from this association, along with FLEXSORB and OASE technologies.

The RAK (Ras Al Khaimah) government has officially launched petroleum licensing round 2018 and established the RAK Petroleum Authority. This regulatory body will take care of the licensing round tendering process and would manage the ongoing petroleum rights. These actions are in sync with the vision of a developed Emirate with its natural resources

US petroleum demand is approaching its highest level in eleven years. The macroeconomic background is in sync with the rising demand and continues to reflect solid momentum in 2018 so far. Economists at the American Petroleum Institute (API) say that consumers will gain from this momentum and would enjoy affordable and reliable fuels produced in their own country. Moreover, a buoyant industry value chain has absorbed the growth efficiently.

According to the data by shipping sources and industry, Indian imports of oil from Venezuela have fallen to its lowest over the past five years. The import is at its lowest since 2012. “Venezuela which is crippled by lack of hard currency and recession is obliged to supply barrels to China and Russia to pay back debts”, says Ehsan Ul-Haq, Director of Crude Oil and Refined Products

India’s top oil refiner, Indian Oil, has developed its own refining processes using catalysts and hydro-cracking for converting crude oil into fuels like gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas. This move may help the firm save at least $1.5 billion in terms of cost. The director of research and development at Indian Oil believes that the firm will soon turn into a technology provider in near future and would not have to be at the mercy of a few multinational suppliers.