OIL under fire after clearance to drill in bio-diversity hotspot vicinity

GUWAHATI: Amid strong protests against ministry of environment, forest and climate change giving environmental clearance for drilling and testing of hydrocarbons at seven locations under Dibru-Saikhowa National Park Area in Tinsukia district to Oil India Limited (OIL), the company said that its operations will have no impact on the bio-diversity hotspot. The company in a…

India’s proposed 15% ‘covid tax’ draws ire from chemical end-users

MUMBAI (ICIS)–India is proposing to impose a 15% tax on all chemical and petrochemical imports, to protect the domestic industry in the current fiscal year ending March 2021 as the south Asian nation battles the coronavirus pandemic. Downstream end-users, however, have posed strong opposition to the measure dubbed as “covid (coronavirus disease) tax” – which…

Crude oil prices gain on signs of output cuts, improved demand

LONDON: Oil prices rose slightly on Tuesday amid signs that producers are cutting output as promised just as demand picks up, stoked by more countries easing out of curbs imposed to counter the coronavirus pandemic. Benchmark Brent crude climbed 7 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $34.88 a barrel by 0907 GMT, after earlier touching…

U.S. crude strengthens as certain stimulus measures to continue

NEW YORK – U.S. crude ended slightly higher on Tuesday, as U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he supported extending certain measures intended to bolster the economy, while Brent ended lower on concerns that output cuts might not be sufficient. Oil has rallied for several days following numerous output cuts from major producers to curb…

Global gas demand to shrink by 2 per cent this year amid pandemic: Research

LONDON: Global demand for natural gas is expected to fall by almost 2 per cent this year as commercial and industrial activity is reduced amid coronavirus lockdowns, consultancy Rystad Energy said on Monday. Global gas demand could total 3,878 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2020, down from 3,951 bcm last year, the consultancy forecast. Before…

Saudi Arabia crude exports rise to 7.391 million barrels per day in March: JODI

JODIDUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports in March rose by 113,000 barrels per day (bpd)to 7.391 million barrels per day from 7.278 million bpd in February, official data showed on Monday. Saudi Arabia built up its crude stocks in March by more than 3.5 million barrels to 2,964 million barrels from minus 0.683 million barrels…

Successful OPEC+ output deal fits a pattern: Kemp

LONDON, Saudi Arabia and its allies in the expanded OPEC+ group of oil-exporting nations have successfully engineered a prospective deficit in the oil market, boosting spot prices and calendar spreads over the last four weeks. Front-month Brent futures prices have risen by more than $15 per barrel (80%) since the second trimester of April, while…