NATIONAL NEWS
Venezuela’s military to escort Iranian fuel tankers -defense minister
CARACAS, Venezuela’s military will escort Iranian tankers bringing fuel to the gasoline-starved country as soon as they enter its exclusive economic zone, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said on Wednesday. His comments came after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said the shipment should “alarm” Latin America. Both OPEC members are U.S. adversaries whose oil industries are…
Trump administration abruptly postpones New Mexico oil and gas auction
The Trump administration abruptly postponed an auction of oil and gas leases in New Mexico that had been scheduled to begin on Wednesday morning without providing a reason for the move. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) spokeswoman Allison Sandoval confirmed the delay, which was first announced on a government website. She said the agency “will…
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…
Covid effect: Crude oil import to fall 8.9% in FY21
Due to lower demand of petroleum products amid the lockdown to contain the outbreak of the coronavirus, India’s crude oil import is likely to fall by 8.9% in FY21, according to Care Ratings. Since people are likely ‘to be sceptical to travel anywhere any time soon post the lockdown period’, analysts pointed out that consumption…
Oil Demand Will Take Months to Recover in No. 3 Buyer India
It’s going to take months for oil demand in the world’s third biggest market to get back to pre-virus levels as India faces its deepest recession ever in the wake of its near two-month lockdown. Once the engine of global oil demand growth, India’s fuel consumption collapsed by as much as 70% at one stage…
Saudi Arabia pips Iraq as top oil supplier to India in April
NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia replaced Iraq as the top oil supplier to India in April after a gap of three months as refiners in Asia’s third largest economy were drawn by deep discounts on Saudi crudes, data obtained from sources showed. Refiners in India, the third largest oil importer, requested higher volumes for April from…
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…