Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

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BijuShet
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by BijuShet »

Chevron exits Reliance Petro; sells 5 per cent stake to RIL - According to this report from 30 April 2009:
US energy giant Chevron Corporation has sold its five per cent stake in Reliance Petroleum back to RIL, for Rs1,350 crore, to exit the Mukesh Ambani-led venture.

Chevron India Holdings sold 22.50 crore shares, representing five per cent stake in RPL, to Reliance Industries, at Rs60 per share, Reliance Petroleum said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange.
...
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by SSridhar »

Obama should have AfPak dream
Russia’s Gazprom seeks to join the Iran-Pakistan project, no matter the U.S. sanctions. “We are ready to join as soon as we receive an offer,” said Russia’s Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky. But that offer may since have gone to Turkey. Iran is playing for high stakes — not only as an exporter but also as an energy hub that optimally brings into play its unique geographical location overlooking several regions.

According to the Kommersant newspaper, Gazprom can act as a contractor for pipeline construction and as operator of the pipeline even after its completion. Also, Gazprom is keen on access to gas volumes from South Pars which it could then sell to India. Kommersant quoted a Russian official as saying, “This project is advantageous to Moscow since its realisation would carry Iranian gas toward South Asian markets so that in the near future it would not compete with Russian gas to Europe.” In political terms, arguably, there is a lot more to South Pars than highly lucrative business. The Iran-Pakistan pipeline project is one of those rare business deals where geo-strategy comes into play from Day 1. Consider the following.

Making Iran a stakeholder in regional stability will immeasurably strengthen the hands of the U.S. AfPak Special Representative, Richard Holbrooke, when he negotiates a “grand bargain” with Tehran for stabilisation of Afghanistan. Diplomacy gains in momentum when it deals with tangibles.

The Obama administration should also speak to Delhi to shed its misgivings about this project. Delhi is holding back for two or three tenuous reasons at best. One, Indian strategists are wary of a capital-intensive project that includes Pakistan. This is understandable. They say Pakistanis are unpredictable and might cut off gas supplies, which could put in jeopardy the downstream investments in the Indian economy. They say the ground situation in Baluchistan, through which the pipeline passes, is highly volatile. Finally, Indians are ostensibly unhappy with the price structure offered by Tehran. At the back of it all, there are unspoken considerations. Firstly, Delhi is upset that Tehran retracted on a massive gas deal that it thought it had wrapped up in 2004. Secondly, Delhi seems to agonise over what Washington might think if it stepped out of line and dealt with Iran, so long as the U.S.-Iran standoff continued.

But Washington can cut through this seemingly hopeless maze of Indian angst. The Indian strategic community will be hard-pressed to say ‘nyet’ if the U.S. proposes. Therefore, Washington should step forward as the guarantor of an Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project. At one stroke, that would take care of the Indian strategic community’s grave reservations. The American oil companies should participate in the project on the lines Gazprom has offered. In fact, one of the biggest energy markets in the world opens up on the Indian subcontinent in terms of developing a South Asian gas grid, retail trade, petrochemical industry, etc.

China has shown some interest in joining the South Asian gas pipeline project. In business terms, the U.S. has an opportunity to get Iran, Pakistan, India and China on board in one single project. The strategic implications for the U.S. regional policies are also far-reaching. The Cold War experience in the European theatre is that mega pipeline projects acted as a stabiliser in East-West relations. If German policies toward Russia are transforming so visibly today, one principal reason is the bond that ties them together via energy deals. The proposed North Stream gas pipeline may accentuate this trend in German-Russian ties; Russian-Italian relationship gains from the South Stream; and, Russian-Turkish relationship from the Blue Stream pipeline.

The U.S. should factor in the fact that the huge gas pipeline project is the right thing to do for stabilising India-Pakistan relationship and for putting it on a predictable footing in the medium term.
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Ameet »

Anil wins court contest over Mukesh on gas price

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... E9Nh8Wsp7M

Highlights:

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd., India’s most valuable company, was ordered to sell natural gas to a company owned by his younger brother Anil for 44 percent less than the government-set price, lawyers said.

The Bombay High Court ruled the company honor a 2005 agreement to supply 28 million cubic meters of gas per day at $2.34 per million British thermal units for 17 years.
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Jamal K. Malik »

LPG cylinder booking through SMS now
http://www.business-standard.com/india/ ... w/66127/on
shyamd
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by shyamd »

Their Kurdistan assets appear very promising. They are rumoured to be the next Heritage oil, which are exporting oil from Kurdistan to Turkey via road, despite Ministry of Oil in Baghdad being against Kurdistan oil exports.
IOC-OIL JV eyes acquisition of Gulf Keystone
London: Indian Oil Corporation and Oil India joint venture is eyeing acquisition of London Stock Exchange-listed Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd for USD 2.23 billion.

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd has operations in Kurdistan, Iraq and Algeria.

IOC-OIL joint venture has been in talks with the promoters, including two groups based out of Kuwait, investment banking sources said.

The two have put a value of USD 2.23 billion for acquiring the company but the promoters are asking for substantially higher price, they said.

In New Delhi, IOC Chairman Sarthak Behuria declined comments on the issue while OIL Chairman and Managing Director N M Borah did not take calls.

Gulf Keystone is a Bermudian incorporated company with Gulf Keystone Petroleum LLC being the largest shareholder with 10.84 per cent.

TF Kozel and AA Al-Qabandi are both shareholders in Gulf Keystone Petroleum Co LLC and IOC-OIL are believed to have been talking to them.

Talks are still on and no agreement has been reached as yet, sources said.
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by AjayKK »

No discussion on the RNRL-RIL issues ?

RIL-RNRL row: SC to give short date for early decision on Sep 1

On TV 18 Hindi, the anchor suggested formation of gov. panel with ahem....Murli Deora in it. :rotfl: :rotfl:
Anil Ambani must surely be disappointed over where exactly is he putting his money in TV 18

Looks like RIL has succeeded in taking forward all the "relations" of the Dhirubhai era and poor ADAG Anil Ambani is left as the new Wadia
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by amdavadi »

anil attach his horse to wrong carriage, while mukesh was smart enough to follow dhirubhai's ultimate advise as
a businessman you dont choose sides.
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by suryag »

amdavadi wrote:anil attach his horse to wrong carriage, while mukesh was smart enough to follow dhirubhai's ultimate advise as
a businessman you dont choose sides.
You dont choose a side but you are neither in no-man's land. You basically, remain friends with everyone kya pata koun kab kaam aayega
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by amdavadi »

dhirubhai's motto was that you dont choose sides as a businessman. As anil openly started align himself with samajwadi party,
his mother Kokilaben, and mukesh advise him not to burn bridges in political circle, and advise him to stay away from crooks like mulayam & amar singh.

On otherhand, mukesh has very good relations with inner working group of BJP & Cong.This way he keeps both sides happy whenever they are part of central govt.
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Vipul »

Anil surely as hell is not going to give up easily.He brought out the telecom secrets out in the open in 2005.He would have much more juiceier and dirty secrets about RIL which may be selectively leaked out.
He is already making noise about the 50,000 Crore scandal (infalted investment figures) about RIL's gas find in Andhra.

He is on a weaker grounds as far as the case is concerned, because GOI has entered as a party to the dispute with the very effective argument that the country's riches cannot be distributed on the basis of a family's will or agreement.
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by AjayKK »

GoI Has entered as a party at a time when the RNRl was insisting the application of Bombay HC verdict :) The HC gave the verdict in RNRL favour saying that gas should be sold by RIL at pre decided price. Till this moment, all was fine. Suddenly the Murli Deora ministry decided to intervene and branded the gas as the national property.
Do we have a precedent for that , where the Oil ministry comes into a case and says " The contractor cannot set prices as it is national property. We will set prices" ?

Amdavadi, Dhirubhai was not aligned to any sides true, but had a great understanding with the government of the 80s. Even though his competitor Wadia had access to Rajiv , in the end he had to leave Dhirubhai alone.
In fact the hatred of one party by Dhirubhai ( till the arrival of Pramod Mahajan ) is a captivating story. Right through the 80s and the early 90s, this party was at the receiving end of Dhirubhai. In modern times Reliance IS the "establishment", ask the folks whose government fell in a mere 13 days :)
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Vipul »

Also there is the instance of Mayawati Govt falling in UP after LK Advani visited Dhirubhai's Maker Chambers office.
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by amdavadi »

I have talked to the folks whose govt fall in 13 days,and also know the other side. Throught 80's & early 90's there was only one party in power,while other party had very minor role to play where RIL has business interest.

During 80's we were still living in licence Raj everything happen thru licence approval including bringing new machines for textile & chemical component.so It was obvious dhirubhai had understanding with govt in power.

This is well known to everyone when LKA decided to run from gandhinagar seat he consulted very handful of people, and RIL played big part in that decision & having him run for that seat.
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by svinayak »

AjayKK wrote: In modern times Reliance IS the "establishment", ask the folks whose government fell in a mere 13 days :)
Rockefeller is transferring all the sociology studies and India studies of the west to Reliance backed think tanks.
Reliance is hiring lot of western trained sociologists who were employed in the Rockefeller backed Universities.
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by ashish raval »

AjayKK wrote: Amdavadi, Dhirubhai was not aligned to any sides true, but had a great understanding with the government of the 80s. Even though his competitor Wadia had access to Rajiv , in the end he had to leave Dhirubhai alone.
He was from Chorwad village in Saurastra not Ahmedabad. Very different way of thinking than people of Ahmedabad ;). Saurastra gave Dhirubhai, Tulsi tanti, Gandhi, Jinnah, Bhutto and Azim premji. :wink:
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Vipul »

Viren Shah of Mukand Steel is also from Chorwad. Dhirubhai had in a press interview recalled how in his struggling days he had appoached Viren Shah for help and was made to sit outside his office for 5 hours only to be brushed off by him in less then 5 minutes.
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Javee »

Vipul wrote:He is on a weaker grounds as far as the case is concerned, because GOI has entered as a party to the dispute with the very effective argument that the country's riches cannot be distributed on the basis of a family's will or agreement.
I'm not sure if GoI has legal binding over the issue, as in, the block was contracted to a corporation, then its up to the corporation to maintain/spoil the riches, the govt should just get the gas/royalty for the fields. But this is one of the potential game changer for our economy and the neighborhood.
The Krishna Godavari basin off the Andhra Pradesh coast is described as the North Sea of India due to its immense gas prospects.

The basin is likely to produce 120 million cubic metres per day (mcmd) of gas, four times the gas and 30% cheaper than the gas India would have received through the much-delayed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline.

Once the entire gas comes on stream, it will have a huge impact on the country's fertiliser and power companies.
-The BeeBeeC
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Vipul »

But wouldnt the royalty due to the Govt be based on the sale price of oil? If RIL is going to sell the gas to RNRL at less then half the market price wouldnt govt loose out on the royalty that would have otherwise accrued at the higher price??
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Javee »

Per my understanding of the proceedings, GoI has a production sharing contract (PSC) with RIL, which means they will get their share of royalty as gas, after all the costs/expenses is recovered by RIL. This new price was set in 2007, while RNRL, GAIL etc had booked them in 2003. So I dont think the govt can arbitrarily quash the earlier private agreements made by RIL and RNRL.

From DNA,
For the Krishna-Godavari offshore fields the government was to receive a 5% royalty on all the gas discovered, plus was to get a rising share of the gas extracted. An Edelweiss Research report reveals that the government gets 10% of the gas or its value until Reliance recovers 1.5 times its investment, 16% for 1.5 times to 2 times the investment, 28% for 2 to 2.5 times the investment and 85% thereafter. Reliance invested $5.2 billion to make the field operational and will spend another $3.6 billion over the 15 to 20 year lifetime of the field.
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Javee »

RIL still has plenty of tricks up its sleeves. First, building the Jamnagar complex in record time and now this.

On April 2, 2009, gas production commenced from KG D6 block (D1 / D3 discoveries) in a record time of six and half years, against the world average of 9 - 10 years for similar deepwater facilities. KG D6 is among the five largest deepwater gas projects globally.


During the period, natural gas production from MA field (D26) was re-injected after minimum internal utilization and there was no sale during the reporting period. Crude oil and natural gas production operations of D26 Field remained shutdown from March 22, 2009 to April 25, 2009 for hook up of the Phase - II subsea facility and connection to the FPSO. During the period, the total production from KG D6 was 1,733 MMSCM of natural gas and 99,274 tonnes of crude oil.

In a short span of 3 months, total gas production from KG D6 has ramped up to around 30 MMSCMD. This is one of the fastest ramp-ups in gas production among deepwater gas fields worldwide
. Currently, natural gas from KG D6 block is being supplied to 15 fertilizer, 15 Power and 2 Steel companies. GSPA with 6 additional customers for the supply of nearly 5 MMSCMD is executed and supply is expected to commence shortly.

The total production from Panna-Mukta block was 470 MMSCM of natural gas and 451,700 tonnes of crude oil, a growth of 33% and 40% respectively as compared to the previous year. The increase in production at Panna-Mukta was due to a shutdown in PPA process platform in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The total production from Tapti block was 834 MMSCM of natural gas and 51,300 tonnes of condensate, registering a decrease of 26% and 34% respectively over the corresponding period of the previous year. The decrease in production at Tapti was due to natural reserves decline in the reservoir. To arrest the declining gas production in Tapti, 3 infill wells (2 in South Tapti and 1 in Mid Tapti) are planned to be drilled in 3Q and 4Q of FY 2009-10. After drilling these wells, the gas production is expected to be ramped up from the current level of about 9 MMSCMD to about 11 MMSCMD.

The litigation in respect of gas supply from KG D6 basin where RIL is a contractor under a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) is now pending before the Honorable Supreme Court of India and the next date of hearing is fixed on September 1, 2009.

http://www.rigzone.com/NEWS/article.asp?a_id=78578
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by ashish raval »

^^ why on earth any sane Oil giant would want to sell the refinery when there is plenty of Oil in it ! Just like Jaguar, it will be pain in backside of any company which will buy it. UK refineries are getting notorious of throwing out the skilled foreign workers and replacing them with unskilled/to be trained UK nationals which goes against the fundamental rule of Globalization. So anyone buying it will bear the consequences.
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Rishirishi »

ashish raval wrote:^^ why on earth any sane Oil giant would want to sell the refinery when there is plenty of Oil in it ! Just like Jaguar, it will be pain in backside of any company which will buy it. UK refineries are getting notorious of throwing out the skilled foreign workers and replacing them with unskilled/to be trained UK nationals which goes against the fundamental rule of Globalization. So anyone buying it will bear the consequences.
Old refineries are labour intensive and have greater environmental impact. Most probably Shell is trying to get rid of a potential problem in the making. Essar and the likes can get away with poor working conditions and even negative publicity. Sh
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Chinmayanand »

RIL discovers gas in Mahanadi basin block

NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries has found natural gas reserves in a well drilled on its NEC-25 block in Mahanadi basin, off the Orissa coast, the
companys junior partner Niko Resources of Canada said on Friday. "Gas was discovered in the well AJ2 last month," Toronto-listed Niko said in a regulatory filing.

A source said it is not a new discovery, but an appraisal of earlier gas finds. "AJ2 is an appraisal well drilled to access the potential in the previous A6 and J1 discoveries. Gas was struck in AJ2, but it is not a new pool," the source said. Since AJ2 is an appraisal well and not a new discovery, RIL — the operator of the block NEC-OSN-97/2 or NEC-25 — has not made any announcement.

Niko Resources holds 10% interest in the Mahanadi basin shallow water block covering an area of 10,755sqkm in water depths ranging between 20-600 metres. RIL holds 90% interest in the Bay of Bengal block.

RIL has so far made eight gas discoveries in NEC-25, off which six were declared commercially exploitable and development plans had been submitted to the directorate general of hydrocarbons (DGH) in 2007. Field development plan (FDP) is an investment proposal for bringing to production oil or gas finds. Operators like RIL can only begin such investments after getting the necessary approval from DGH, the sector regulator.

Niko did not give potential reserves in the AJ2 well, but the source said the discovery "looks promising". The discoveries in NEC-25 are besides the 19 gas and one oil find RIL made in the KG basin deepsea block KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6.
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by AjitK »

The RIL-RNRL war is getting ridiculous now.R-ADAG published an ad against RIL in today's IE.At first glance it looks as if its been issued by NTPC criticizing the stand of the Petroleum Ministry.

Here's the link to the epaper.Its in the bottom-right corner:

R-ADAG vs RIL advt.
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Suraj »

GoI responds to ADAG psyops:
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/govt-says-it-will-earn-178-billiond6/367673/Govt says it will earn $17.8 billion from K-G D6 field[/url]
Amid allegations from the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) that the government was losing out on revenue from the Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Ltd's D6 field in the Krishna-Godavari basin, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has estimated that the government would earn $17.8 billion over the expected 13-year life of the field.

This is significantly higher than the government revenues of Rs 500 crore that ADAG has been claiming in an advertising campaign that it launched on August 17.

The exercise marks the first time the Directorate General of Hydrocarbon (DGH), the upstream oil regulator, has worked out such an estimate. The exercise is not carried out in the normal course for oil or gas fields.

The estimates are based on the government-mandated price of $4.2 per million British thermal units (mBtu) which is valid for five years ending March 2014 but may go up if prices of the benchmark Brent crude goes up.

A senior petroleum ministry source said the government is estimated to earn $9.2 billion as profit petroleum, $6.5 billion as taxes and $2.1 billion as royalty, making for total earnings of $17.8 billion over the field life of 13 years.

RIL's own profit at $12.2 billion will be less than the government revenue, though it will be recovering cost through sale of gas as "cost petroleum".
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by a_bharat »

Asia's oil exports a threat to U.S. refiners
...
India and China could provide intense competition on the global market to refineries in North America and Europe, which could suffer losses and eventually close down.

Some small European refineries have already closed, while many in the United States are struggling to stay afloat. News agency Bloomberg reported at the end of July that refineries from Germany to Hawaii, foreseeing 25 percent idle capacity in North America and 30 percent in Europe within five years, are weighing plans to shut or sell plants. These include big names such as Petroplus Holdings AG, Royal Dutch Shell – one in Germany and another in Montreal – Total SA, and Chevron Corp. from the United States.

“In 2008 Asia, led by India and China, exported 750,000 barrels per day of finished petroleum products to Europe and North America, which is expected to go up to 1 million bpd by 2010,” said Alan Gelder, head of Downstream Oil Americas for Wood Mackenzie, a global energy research firm.
...
Refinery capacities in China and India have seen scorching growth over the past couple of years, expanding by 1.5 million bpd since 2008. China alone added about 800,000 bpd. India, with the commissioning of the Reliance Industries refinery, added 580,000 bpd while Petro Vietnam contributed the rest.
...
Data gathered by BP Plc. revealed that global refining margins dropped to an average of US$4.98 a barrel in the second quarter of this year compared with US$8.25 a year earlier. This quarter, margins have tanked to an average of US$2.17 a barrel.

The reason may not be hard to guess.

Reliance’s newly constructed refinery in the Indian city of Jamnagar in Gujarat state, along with its previous one of 660,000 bpd meant for the domestic market, recently became the largest refinery complex in the world.
http://www.upiasia.com/Economics/2009/0 ... ners/3799/
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Katare »

Suraj wrote:GoI responds to ADAG psyops:
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/govt-says-it-will-earn-178-billiond6/367673/Govt says it will earn $17.8 billion from K-G D6 field[/url]
Amid allegations from the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) that the government was losing out on revenue from the Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Ltd's D6 field in the Krishna-Godavari basin, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has estimated that the government would earn $17.8 billion over the expected 13-year life of the field.

This is significantly higher than the government revenues of Rs 500 crore that ADAG has been claiming in an advertising campaign that it launched on August 17.

The exercise marks the first time the Directorate General of Hydrocarbon (DGH), the upstream oil regulator, has worked out such an estimate. The exercise is not carried out in the normal course for oil or gas fields.

The estimates are based on the government-mandated price of $4.2 per million British thermal units (mBtu) which is valid for five years ending March 2014 but may go up if prices of the benchmark Brent crude goes up.

A senior petroleum ministry source said the government is estimated to earn $9.2 billion as profit petroleum, $6.5 billion as taxes and $2.1 billion as royalty, making for total earnings of $17.8 billion over the field life of 13 years.

RIL's own profit at $12.2 billion will be less than the government revenue, though it will be recovering cost through sale of gas as "cost petroleum".
I doubt Mukesh bhai would let GoI earn that kinda money. If the field cost has stayed close to original estimates GoI might have earned twice as much as they are calculating now in profit petroleum. As of now Reliance gets 99% of the revenue and GoI gets 1%. The formula (as signed in production sharing contract) is 90% of the revenue would go for paying the cost of field development while remaining 10% would be shared between Reliance and GoI in 90:10 ratio which comes out to be 1% for GoI and 9% for RIL.

Huge jump in field development cost and relatively shorter life span of field would rob GoI. Although field development cost/MBTU (~$1.25/MBTU) appears competitive when compared to other producing Indian gas fields but they are smaller/marginal fields. A large field, like KG D6, should bring out much better economy of scale even if it's under water.

RIL was initially showing signs of low cost production from KG D6 and was competing aggressively for gas delivery but than two things happened.

1) Oil minster was changed from Mani Shankar Aiyar (a socialist/Communist) to Murali Deora
2) Global Oil prices shot up and so did gas prices.

These two changes gave RIL an opportunity to rework its field development cost (some increase in cost is definitely genuine due to rig shortage etc) and got govt to set the gas price, obviously at much higher level. It also got govt to decide on a gas allocation policy to get rid of ADAG and NTPC. Although the allocation policy and gas prices were set after the contracts with NTPC and RNRL were signed and now being implemented retroactively.

I think ADAG knows it stands little chances of getting gas from RIL/GoI so it has gone on to a mutual assured distruction policy.
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Vipul »

ADAG has already won the case at the Bombay High Court. At the very least it is aiming to get the gas at less then the figure being asked by RIL now.This is clear from MMS advice to the two brothers to seek a "middle ground" from their respective positions.
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Post by a_bharat »

This article is probably an RNRL plant. Nevertheless, facts are facts.
Can NTPC forestall rip-off by UPA ministers?
...
In a shocking anti-reforms development during the regime of the man considered as architect of the reforms, NTPC is now at risk of losing out to powerful self-serving elements. Ministers in the UPA appear to be hell-bent on pushing the NTPC into the gallery of dying or dead PSUs. At stake are thousands of crores of rupees that will flow from the balance sheet of NTPC into greedy pockets in the form of kickbacks. The actual damages they would be inflicting to the company in the long term by interfering in the management issues may be several times more than this.

The corporation had, in 2004, accepted a bid from Reliance Industries for the supply of 12 million standard cubic metres of gas per day (mscmd) for 17 years to its Kawas and Gandhar expansion projects. Reliance subsequently started dragging its heels as it wanted to go back on the committed price of US$2.34 per mbtu (million British thermal units). It avoided the formal signing of a purchase agreement on one pretext or other. In December 2005, NTPC took the company to Mumbai High Court to force it to fulfill its commitments. The oil ministry was not as "tough" about corporate ethics as the NTPC management. Reliance could lobby with the ministry babus to approve almost 3.8 times the investment outlay in exploration and production facilities in the Krishna Godavari field.

The ministry was eventually 'convinced' that the hike would improve peak production from the wells to almost double that originally estimated. Accordingly, the government fixed US$4.20 per mbtu in 2007 as the "minimum price" payable for the gas from K-G D6 block to recoup the additional investment. While this was an acceptable practice, the company enlisted the blessings of the ministry to demand that the new price apply even to the pre-existing firm contracts entered into earlier. The power major has another contract for ten years to procure 2.0 mscmd of regasified liquid petroleum gas (LNG) at US$6. 4 mbtu from GAIL, which works out to a delivered price of US$8.00 mbtu.

The government pressurised NTPC to pay the revised price to Reliance which works out to a delivered price of US$6.70 arguing that that the power company will still be saving US$1.30 per mbtu. But, NTPC management led by Chairman and Managing Director RS Sharma refused to connive in any such sell out. It is keen that Reliance fulfil its commitment for the agreed 17 years. The company has floated a tender for 1.9 mmsc for 6 months starting from September 2009, refusing to touch Reliance gas at more than the committed price. After all, it has a strong case because the tender had been handled with absolute transparency as per global norms. So, it is ready to risk incurring the extra $1.30 per mbtu rather than succumbing to the latter's tactics. The loss amounting to approximately Rs. 1000 crores can be recovered from Reliance if the court upholds its stand. Any sell-out for the sake of pleasing mandarins would also jeopardise its future prospects of inviting global investments.
http://www.merinews.com/article/can-ntp ... 2363.shtml
vishwakarmaa
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by vishwakarmaa »

Mukesh Ambani for once should focus on business ethics and efficiency rather than being a greedy looser and using his political power so that Indian consumer ends up paying more for his comforts.
BijuShet
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by BijuShet »

Xposting from the BD News Dhaga but relevant here too.
BijuShet wrote:Posting in full. This is from TSP newspaper but relevant here.
BD grants oil, gas blocks in disputed waters
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
DHAKA: Bangladesh has awarded three offshore exploration blocks to American and Irish companies to search for oil and gas in the disputed waters of the Bay of Bengal, an official said on Tuesday.

The country’s highest cabinet committee on economic affairs awarded two blocks to the US energy giant ConocoPhillips and another to Irish company Tullow, energy secretary Mohammad Mohsin told AFP.

The government granted the blocks despite ownership claims on some of the territories by neighbouring India and Myanmar, he said.

“We will tell the companies not to explore in the disputed areas until it is settled,” he said.

“The two companies will now sign agreements with the (state-run oil and gas company) Petrobangla and can start survey and other exploration activities from early next year,” said Mohsin.

Bangladesh’s last army-backed emergency government invited bids for offshore exploration in February last year after dividing its sea territory in the Bay of Bengal into 28 blocks.

But Mohsin said the bidding was met with a poor response, as top oil companies opted out because of the conflict over the territories from India and Myanmar.

A tense stand-off between Myanmar and Bangladesh flared in November last year when Myanmar escorted a South Korean gas exploration company into a disputed stretch of the Bay of Bengal.

Both countries deployed their navies to the waters, prompting high-level diplomatic contacts to prevent the situation escalating dangerously.

Experts have forecast major reserves of gas in the Bangladesh part of the Bay of Bengal, after huge discoveries were made in the Myanmar and Indian areas of the bay.

Bangladesh needs to urgently locate new sources of energy as the government forecasts the nation’s current gas reserves will run out by 2014-15 at present consumption rates.
Prem
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Prem »

Cairn's Raj output will cut import bill by $6.8 bn: Report
NEW DELHI: Cairn India's prolific Rajasthan oil fields, which are likely to go on production next month, will bring down India's oil import bill by
USD 6.8 billion, investment banker Goldman Sachs said in its latest report.

"Based on the recent discoveries in the Rajasthan basin, we believe that Cairn's peak production level can go beyond the company's present guidance of 175,000 barrels per day (8.75 million tons a year)," Goldman Sachs' conviction report on Cairn India said.

It forecast a peak production of 190,000 bpd (9.5 million tons a year) of oil from Rajasthan by end of 2012-13 fiscal.

"We now estimate this would represent about 20-22 per cent of India's total domestic oil production in FY13, making the Rajasthan project one of national importance. Rajasthan oil would likely bring down India's oil import bill by USD 6.8 billion at peak production, which is about 7 per cent of the country's net oil import bill," it said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Cai ... 784799.cms
Pranay
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125128165767460207.html
MUMBAI -- A unit of Cairn Energy PLC is about to start production in fields that marked India's biggest oil discovery in decades, as the Indian government seeks to reduce its dependence on oil imports.

Cairn India is scheduled to start oil production in western India after five years developing the fields. India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled Saturday to inaugurate production at one of Cairn's fields in the western state of Rajasthan. Cairn and its partners have invested about $2 billion developing the fields since their discovery five years ago.
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Katare »

Brazil recently found multiple offshore oil fields that could contain as much as 100 Billion barrel of crude oil. Cuba and China have also reported discoveries of oil fields potentially containing Billions of barrels of crude oil.

If we find a massive oil field like these at this stage of our development it could really make a big and qualitative impact on our economy. With major discoveries at Rajasthan and KG basin I hope major private investment flows into oil exploration activities in India. There's got to be oil somewhere in India.
Prem
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Prem »

Oil is there in huge quantity right in the middle of India but under mile thick granite shelf. Let pray and hope if technology help in digging and extracting this black gold. Also, in few years mining of Gas Hydrates should start and there is wild estimate of 17k TCM of Gas in Indian EEZ, enough for few thousands years .
Katare
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Katare »

Prem wrote:Oil is there in huge quantity right in the middle of India but under mile thick granite shelf. Let pray and hope if technology help in digging and extracting this black gold. Also, in few years mining of Gas Hydrates should start and there is wild estimate of 17k TCM of Gas in Indian EEZ, enough for few thousands years .
Interesting but Enlighten/inform pl
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by vera_k »

India's next big business?
The optimism is grounded in massive oil deposits, close to 30 billion tons, in Central India. That's twice the size of the deposits in Iraq (13 billion tons, according to the Institute of Petroleum) and just shy of Saudi deposits.
Wiki says the Deccan Traps are 2000m deep. Since XOM is able to drill down to 2500m, this oil can be extracted using present day technology.
Prem
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Re: Oil & Natural Gas: News & Discussion

Post by Prem »

Thanks Vera, for digging the old info. Hope guture techonological advancement help in exploiting these resources.
Last edited by Prem on 30 Aug 2009 23:58, edited 1 time in total.
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