NATIONAL NEWS

21 JAN – India’s BPCL plans to maintain high refinery run rates

  India’s state-controlled refiner Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) plans to keep its run rates at capacity to meet increased domestic oil products’ demand, the company’s general manager of crude trading, Shelly Abraham told Argus in an interview. “BPCL refineries are all running at slightly over 100pc of capacity. We started increasing run rates around the middle Read more

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21 JAN – Clean push- Why compressed biogas has an edge over CNG

  How about filling up your vehicle with straw and running it for a full year? If this sounds bizarre, then here’s more. Verbio AG, a German company, claims that you can actually do it with just two tonnes of straw. The company is now busy setting up a plant in the middle of lush Read more

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21 JAN – Centre plans E-portal to sell MSME products- Union Minister Nitin Gadkari

  The Centre is working with State Bank of India to launch an E-portal on the lines of Amazon to facilitate Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises to sell their products, Transport & MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari said here on Wednesday. At present, Amazon.com generates a business of around Rs.70,000 crore annually for Indian MSMEs, which Read more

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21 JAN – New petrol pumps to be at least 50 m away from water bodies, says CPCB

  Almost a year after directing oil companies to ensure fuel stations are at least 50 metres away from schools, hospitals and residential areas, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has now asked them to maintain similar distance from water bodies too. The move is aimed at protecting the water bodies from getting any possible Read more

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20 JAN – India’s gas output to rise 25% helped by production RIL-BP, and ONGC gas fields

  MUMBAI: India’s gas output will rise 25% this year to 95-100 million metric standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd), led by production from fields jointly owned by Reliance Industries (RIL) and BP plc, and from that of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC).The RIL-BP joint venture started production from the new R Read more

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20 JAN – India blames Saudi oil output cut for surge in oil prices

  India, the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer, on Tuesday complained that recent output cuts by some OPEC nations had created uncertainty for customers and led to a surge in prices.   Top exporter Saudi Arabia has pledged additional voluntary output cuts of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in February and March Read more

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20 JAN – Shell Energy India opens its LNG-truck loading unit in Hazira

  Shell Energy India, a leading diversified energy company opened its first small-scale LNG supply infrastructure, a truck loading unit at its LNG terminal in Hazira, Surat. The virtual inauguration was done by the Union Minister for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Steel, Dharmendra Pradhan.The company says this will now augment its natural gas supply offerings Read more

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19 JAN – Hazira gas plant fire due to faulty gasket: PNGRB report

  Use of an improper gasket procured from the local market has been identified as a probable cause of leak which led to the massive fire at ONGC’s Hazira gas plant in the early hours of September 24, 2020, according to a report by an enquiry committee set up by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Read more

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19 JAN – Total spurs renewables drive with $2.5 bn stake in Adani Green

  Total is paying $2.5 billion (Rs 18,320 crore) for a share in India’s Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) and its solar power assets, in what the French company said was its biggest investment yet in renewables.   As it furthers its strategic shift from fossil fuel, the deal will give Total a 20% stake Read more

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19 JAN – Low production due to Covid-19 raising fuel prices: Dharmendra Pradhan

  Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said fuel prices had gone up because of lower production in oil-producing nations due to the coronavirus pandemic. This lower production had caused an imbalance in demand and supply, the minister said.   “Oil producing countries stopped production or reduced it during the Read more

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18 JAN – US biz advocacy group urges FM Sitharaman to lower tariff in next Budget

  Washington: A top India-centric American business advocacy group has suggested Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to lower tariff in the Union Budget if the country wants to compete with China-backed mega free trade agreement Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).   China and 14 other countries in November last year established the world’s largest trading bloc Read more

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18 JAN – EESL to implement ‘Energy Efficient PNG Cook Stove’ programme across India

  New Delhi: State-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) has inked a pact with Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) for implementation of Energy Efficient PNG Cook Stove (EEPS) programme, across India. The EESL, a joint venture of PSUs under the Ministry of Power, Government of India, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PCRA, Read more

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18 JAN – ONGC may have to wait till FY24 to merge MRPL, HPCL

  State run oil and gas explorer ONGC’s plan to merge its refining subsidiary Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) with Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) has got delayed. The process is now expected to be complete by FY24. The merger was in the works with the aim of aligning ONGC’s upstream and downstream operations Read more

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16 JAN – All member states of UN can now join International Solar Alliance: India

  India on Friday said all member states of the United Nations, including those lying beyond the tropics, can now join the International Solar Alliance (ISA) with an amendment to its framework agreement coming into effect recently.   In pursuance of the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for achieving the universalisation of the membership Read more

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16 JAN – Energy, physical connectivity among subjects discussed by foreign ministers of India, Nepal

  Energy and land connectivity, including the construction of a second fuel pipeline, were among key topics discussed by the foreign ministers of India and Nepal on Friday at their sixth Joint Commission meeting.   External affairs minister S. Jaishankar and Nepalese counterpart Pradeep Kumar Gyawali also exchanged views on railway connectivity between the two Read more

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