Hit badly by the lower crude oil price, state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has sought a price assurance of $45 a barrel from the government. Owing to the lockdown and Covid-19 impact, the company has also cut its capital expenditure by over 15 per cent or Rs 5,000 crore for 2020-21.   The…

Privatisation of any public sector bank (PSB) during the current fiscal is very unlikely due to their low valuations and mounting stressed assets amid the COVID-19 crisis, sources said.   At present, four public sector banks are under the RBI’s Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework, which puts several restrictions on them, including on lending, management…

Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday met Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and discussed the fire incident that took place at Baghjan gas well of Oil India Limited on June 9. During the meeting at the Sonowal’s official residence at Brahmaputra State Guest House in Guwahati, both Chief Minister and the Union Minister decided…

Kochi: The deadline for completing the city gas project is fast nearing. With just four months left, IOC-Adani Gas Private Ltd (IOAGPL) could give just around 1,900 piped natural gas (PNG) connections so far while the target was around 40,000 connections in five years starting October 14, 2015. This has resulted in a stalemate over…

New Delhi: Crude oil futures on Friday fell 0.26 per cent to Rs 4,180 per barrel in line with a weak trend in overseas market. Crude oil contracts for December delivery traded lower by Rs 11, or 0.26 per cent, at Rs 4,180 per barrel with a business volume of 16,649 lots on the Multi…

LONDON: Oil prices edged higher on Friday but were on track for their first weekly fall in seven as new U.S. coronavirus cases spiked, raising the prospect of a second wave hitting demand.Brent was up 20 cents, or 0.52 per cent, at $38.75 a barrel by 0926 GMT, having lost more than $1 earlier in…

LONDON: Saudi Arabia’s share of the oil market is set to rise this decade to its highest since the 1980s as investment in production elsewhere dries up in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, J.P. Morgan said in a report.   Oil prices have plunged more than 40 per cent this year after an unprecedented…

LONDON/MOSCOW – An OPEC-led panel meeting to review the oil market next week will advise the wider OPEC+ group cooperating on a record supply cut, five OPEC+ sources said, meaning further talks would be needed on whether to extend the agreement further.   OPEC, Russia and allies, known as OPEC+, agreed on Saturday to keep…

The world owes much to Azerbaijan for promoting international energy cooperation and for being at the forefront of efforts to ensure sustainable oil market stability, Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, OPEC Secretary General, said at the Webinar on ‘Energy Issues in the post-COVID-19 World’, Azerbaijan Center of Analysis of International Relations (AIR Center), 11 June 2020, via…

U.S. energy firms cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating to a record low for a sixth week in a row even as oil prices rebound from historic lows and some producers return to the wellhead.   The U.S. oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by…