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35% of fuel sales off price control (Business Standard 8th Jan 2008) Branded fuels help oil firms cut losses. At a time when the government is considering a “marginal” increase in petrol and diesel prices, about a third of fuel sales come under the category of premium branded fuels that are outside the price controls and for which consumers readily pay a premium. In 2007, branded fuels, which offer better mileage and superior engine performance, accounted for about a third of revenues from retail sales of petrol and diesel, as against about 23 per cent in 2006, and 12 to 13 per cent two years ago. Oil marketing companies sell high-performance petrol and diesel mixed with additives under brands like Xtra Premium (Indian Oil Corporation), Speed (Bharat Petroleum) and Power (Hindustan Petroleum). More

Oil PSUs plan big retail expansion (Business Standard 3rd Jan 2008) Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum to open over 3,000 outlets this year. Even losses of over Rs 300 crore per day from selling automobile fuels have not stopped government-owned oil marketing companies from expanding their retail network across the country. The three government-owned companies -- Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) -- are together planning to open over 3,000 retail outlets this financial year as against 2,000 outlets opened last year. In fact, over 1,600 outlets have already been commissioned in the current year. More

ONGC seeks rig from global oil firms for KG block work (The Ecoomic Times 14th Dec 2007) India’s biggest oil explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is believed to have approached global oil firms seeking an ultra deepwater rig for drilling well UD-1 in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin block KG-DWN/98-2. The global major is believed to have even offered a stake in the block, where it claims to have discovered huge natural gas reserves, in return for the rig, people close to development told ET. ONGC is in talks with global oil firms StatOil, Norway’s Norsk Hydro among others to secure an ultra deepwater rig for drilling in well UD-1. It has so far been unable to secure an ultra deepwater rig in the international market even after willing to pay higher prices. The logic is simple: ONGC needs to drill more in that well to establish its claims of gas discovery. Govt offers 57 oil, gas blocks in seventh round (The Hindu Business Line 14th Dec 2007) The seventh auction round of o...

Essar Oil edges out RIL, BPCL in race for Kenyan refinery (The Economic Times 11th Dec 2007) Essar Oil (EOL) is believed to be very close to sealing a deal to acquire a majority stake in Kenya Petroleum Refinery (KPRL), one of Kenya’s oldest refinery complexes with a capacity of four million tonnes. India’s largest oil company by market capitalisation, Reliance Industries (RIL) and state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) were also in the race to acquire the 50% stake held by Chevron, Royal Dutch/Shell and British Petroleum (BP), it is learnt. The remaining 50% is held by the Kenyan government. Mittal group may take part in oil, gas blocks’ bid (The Hindu Business Line 11th Dec 2007) New Delhi, Dec. 10 The seventh round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) will offer 57 oil and gas blocks. Speaking to newspersons here on Monday, the Petroleum Minister, Mr Murli Deora, said, “we will announce NELP-VII on ... More ONGC Videsh`s Iran dream gets rude jolt from Chin...

Govt mulls combination of fuel price hike, duty cut (The Hindu Busienss Line 10th Dec 2007) The Government is mulling a combination of fuel price increase and duty cuts to oust the impact of rising crude prices, Petroleum Secretary M S Srinivasan said on Monday. ONGC cuts gas supply after pipeline leak ( The Hindu Busienss Line 10th Dec 2007)State-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) said it had cut gas supplies by about 0.5 million cubic metres per day following a leak in a pipeline off the west coast of India. Reliance third well in Cauvery Basin turns out to be dry ( The Hindu Busienss Line 10th Dec 2007) Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) seems to have run out of luck in its deepwater Cauvery asset. The company has been able to strike hydrocarbon in only one of the three wells drilled in CY-DWN-2001/2 (CY-D5). In October, RIL had re-entered the asset to carve out the third well. GAIL enters into transmission deal with Reliance Gas (The Economic Times 10th Dec 2007)GAIL India ...

Kuwait Petro in talks with RIL, IOC for refinery, petrochem projects here (The Hindu Business Line 7th Dec 2007) Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) is in talks with Indian private and public sector undertakings to build large-scale refinery and petrochemicals projects in the country. The company is in talks with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and others, ... More

GAIL, RIL sign MoU for petrochemical plants (The Fiancial Express 5th Dec 2007)Reliance Industries, India's most valuable company, and state-run gas firm GAIL India joined hands to set up a multi-billion dollar petrochemical plants in gas-rich Middle-East, Central Asia or Russia. "It will be a mega petrochemical plant with a capacity of 1.9-2 million tons," GAIL Chairman and Managing Director U D Choubey said from Mumbai after his firm signed an agreement with Reliance for exploring possibility of setting up the petrochemical complex.