Energy News Monitor I Volume X, Issue 16

CNPC: Did the Tail Wag the Dog

 

 

NEWS BRIEF

OIL & GAS

September 30, 2013. India's second-largest state-run energy explorer Oil India Ltd (OIL) is now betting big on its prospects in the shale oil and gas arena. Globally, it is on the cusp of raising shale oil production in its acreage in the US, and it will also be appointing a new consultant to advise on its shale exploration strategy in north-east India. Oil India and the Indian Oil Corp (IOC) jointly bought a 30% stake in Houston-based Carrizo Oil &Gas' shale assets in Colorado for $82.5 million in October 2012. Oil India acquired a 20% stake while IOC picked up 10% in this acreage, making it their maiden investment in the shale arena in the US.

As a part of this deal, Oil India and IOC have also gained a 30% participation in Carrizo's existing production of 1,850 barrels of oil equivalent to a day from 24 gross acres. Carrizo holds 61 ,500 gross acres in the Niobrara basin, of which, the Oil India-IOC consortium have access to 18,450 acres, spread over three counties in Texas. In India, after Schlumberger's initial findings regarding the presence of shale formations in its blocks in the north east were not encouraging, Oil India is planning to hire another consultant to chart its exploration and production strategy in its acreages in the north east. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 26, 2013. The new land acquisition law will obstruct shale gas operations in the country unless landowners have the incentive to participate, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) said. The state-run company plans to spend up to ` 200 crore to drill wells in the Cambay basin to explore shale oil and gas, responding quickly to the Cabinet's decision to allow state explorers to find shale resources in blocks held by them. Global oil major and shale exploration expert ConocoPhillips is providing crucial conceptual guidance to ONGC in its new venture. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 25, 2013. ONGC said its natural gas output will rise by over 53 per cent to 100 million standard cubic metres a day by 2017-18 as new fields start off the west and east coasts. The newer gas finds will help turn the tide for ONGC, which has seen oil and gas output stagnating in recent times. ONGC's western offshore C-Series gas field has proved to be more prolific than previously predicted. The fields, which currently produce 3 mmscmd, will double output this year and another 7 mmscmd would be added when the Daman structure in the field starts output in 2016. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 30, 2013. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) has sold 240,000 tonnes of diesel and jet fuel for October-December delivery in a rare term tender and is also expected to offer spot cargoes during the period. India has been exporting more cargoes than usual since August as its currency plumbed record lows and as heavy monsoon rains dented domestic demand for the fuel, which is often used in irrigation pumps. MRPL, which normally sells jet fuel and diesel cargoes in the spot market each month, has now likely done three-month term deals due to weak domestic demand. The state-owned refiner sold two diesel cargoes for October and November loading to US trader Cargill at a premium of about $2.60 and $2.10 a barrel above Middle East quotes. Cargill is likely to ship the cargoes to Saudi Arabia to meet its term requirements. MRPL cancelled a diesel cargo for loading in December that it had earlier offered, as the refiner may be anticipating a pick-up in domestic demand when the monsoon season is over and ahead of elections. MRPL sold a jet fuel cargo for loading in October to western trader Vitol at a discount of about 55 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes, and two cargoes for loading in November and December to trader Trafigura at a discount of 75 cents and 50 cents a barrel. MRPL is expected to offer at least one or two more spot cargoes a month of each oil product for October, though spot offers might start to slow post-monsoon in November. MRPL, a subsidiary of oil and gas producer ONGC, operates a 300,000 barrels-per-day refinery in southern Karnataka state. Diesel consumption in India, which makes up over 40 per cent of local fuel sales, is expected to pick up over the next few months as the heavy monsoon hastens its retreat. Maintenance at several public sector refineries has also increased the amount of diesel they buy from private refiners, which they then offer to their customers. That in turn has curbed volumes available for export from private refiners. For instance, Reliance Industries, the country's biggest refiner, is expected to ship out about 1.5 million tonnes of diesel in October, compared with an estimated 1.8 to 1.9 million tonnes in September. Essar Oil is expected to export about 300,000 to 350,000 tonnes of diesel in October, compared with about 500,000 tonnes in September. These estimates could not be confirmed with the refiners. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 30, 2013. Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) has bought gasoline for October delivery in a rare move to plug a temporary shortfall caused by maintenance and an outage. The state-owned refiner was said to have paid about $6.00 to $6.30 a barrel to Singapore quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis. The volumes HPCL bought were not immediately clear but it had earlier sought a 13,000-tonne cargo and a 15,000-tonne parcel for Oct. 6-8 arrival at Vizag, where its 166,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery has been running at reduced rates due to a fire. Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) was also seeking a gasoline cargo as it plans to shut more than half of its 190,000-bpd Kochi refinery for about 25 to 30 days from mid-November for routine maintenance. BPCL is also expected to shut a 50,000-bpd crude processing facility and a 2,500-tonnes per day fluid catalytic cracker in Mumbai, all of which would contribute to a short-term supply disruptions. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 27, 2013. Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL), India’s second-biggest state refiner, will partially shut some secondary units at its three refineries for maintenance beginning November. The work at the 9.5 million metric-ton-a-year Kochi refinery in southern India will start in mid-November, followed by the 12 million-ton Mumbai refinery in western India in December and the 3 million-ton Numaligarh refinery in north-eastern India in January. The maintenance shutdowns will cut production of fuels such as gasoline and diesel, requiring the company to increase purchases from domestic or overseas refineries. BPCL is seeking a cargo of gasoline for delivery in October to Kochi. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 30, 2013. Indian imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have fallen in recent months as the weak rupee has made the fuel more costly, while demand from factories and power stations has declined due to the industrial slowdown. Imports are projected to fall further in winter, when prices usually rise. India imported an average of 0.91 million tonnes of LNG a month between April and August, which is on the lines of previous three fiscals. However, India imported only 0.70 million tonne of the LNG in July, according to data from Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. The price of LNG is currently about $15.5 per unit, according to the energy department of the government of Gujarat that owns Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC). The price is expected to go up further after Diwali. At present, GSPC imports limited LNG cargoes just to meet the demands from the city gas distribution companies. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 26, 2013. The US-based VGS Group has completed the design of its second $400 million Floating LNG Regasification Unit (FRU) and said it will start supplying gas to the Tamil Nadu market from 2016. The $400 million VGS East Coast India LNG Import Terminal would supply gas to Andhra Pradesh market, especially aiming to serve the 7 GW of idling power generation capacity around Kakinada, which has not commence operations due to shortage of fuel supply. VGS' floating regasification plant with ship-based storage facility, located near Kakinada Deepwater Port, has become a global trend setter in facilitating LNG supplies to consumers. The Indo-American VGS Group would link North American and Gulf Region natural gas supply with its LNG import terminals on India's heavily industrialised, yet gas starved East Coast markets. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

October 1, 2013. The government does not plan any sharp increase in diesel or cooking gas rates, but it is making aggressive strategies to cut oil imports, Oil Minister Veerappa Moily said. Moily had proposed ten fuel-pricing options to the prime minister, including a proposal to increase diesel rates weekly by 50 paise per litre and a monthly ` 50 hike in cooking gas for four months. Government said the ambitious fuel pricing reforms could not be implemented after top Congress leaders and the party's allies opposed the unpopular move ahead of the festive season and elections in five states. Fuel price hike was one of the key options suggested by Moily to the PM to reduce country's oil import bill by $19-20 billion in the current financial year. Moily had recently announced that he would be travelling by bus or metro every Wednesday starting Oct 9 and the same example would be followed by the ministry staff and executives of state oil companies. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 30, 2013. State oil companies have cut petrol prices by ` 3.66 to ` 72.40 per litre in New Delhi but raised diesel rates by 56 paise per litre. The petrol will cost ` 79.49 per litre in Mumbai as against ` 83.63, while the diesel prices would cost ` 59.46 as compared to ` 58.86 currently. The price changes announced by oil companies are excluding local sales tax or VAT and will be effective midnight tonight. The cut in petrol price is the first reduction in rates since May. Petrol price was last cut on May 1 by ` 3 per litre, the steepest reduction in rates in over five years. IOC has said that it has reduced pump price of petrol by ` 3.05 per litre (excluding local levies) across the country from Oct 1, while diesel is costlier by 50 paise without state levies. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 30, 2013. The Supreme Court (SC) issued notice to Centre, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and others on a PIL seeking cancellation of contract for exploration of oil and gas concerning the KG block and to impose penalty for failure in adhering to commitments. The bench, which had earlier also issued notice to the Centre on a PIL filed by CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta, asked the parties to file their response and tagged the case with Dasgupta's petition. The petitioners challenged the Centre's decision to raise the price of natural gas. They also sought direction for a thorough audit by CAG of the working of the production sharing contract (PSC) governing KG block, gold plating by RIL, the underproduction by RIL and all related issues. The government recently decided to increase the price of natural gas from USD 4.2 per million British thermal unit (mbtu) to USD 8.4 mbtu from April 1, 2014. The new USD 8.4 mbtu price, which will be reviewed every three months, will apply to all the gas producers uniformly including state-owned firms like OIL and ONGC and private companies like RIL. RIL has, in its affidavit filed in the apex court, refuted the allegation levelled by Dasgupta that it is deliberately reducing production of gas in KG basin in anticipation of a higher gas price and said it has taken all steps for arbitration proceedings with the Centre to sort out all disputes. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 30, 2013. Gujarat's energy minister Saurabh Dalal stated that Supreme Court's directive to Central government for allocation of cheaper natural gas to Gujarat will benefit lakhs of compressed natural gas (CNG) consumers in the state. His statement came after the apex court gave its order in response to a public interest litigation filed by a Gujarat based non government organisation. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 28, 2013. The panel of experts led by former Planning Commission member Kirit S Parikh wants to deregulate diesel prices in two years and favours a monthly increase of ` 1 to gradually align local prices with international rates. In its draft report, the panel also suggests continuation of the current system of calculating revenue losses on the basis of trade parity, or the weighted average price of import and exports of the fuel. It does not support the demand for pricing fuels on the basis of export-parity, which will reduce prices. State firms assume a market price for fuels by calculating the landed price of imports, including the customs duty, which is actually not paid. The difference between the actual administered price and the assumed market price is called 'under recovery', or revenue loss that is reimbursed partly by the government and partly by upstream firms such as ONGC. The finance ministry would have to pay a lesser subsidy if the assumed market price is calculated using export prices, but the oil ministry and the panel disagree. The panel has observed that export-price parity is not practised anywhere in the world, the oil ministry said. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 27, 2013. India will build its first strategic oil storage by January in an effort to insulate itself from supply disruptions, Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily said. India, which is 79 per cent dependent on imports to meet its crude oil needs, is building underground storages at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Mangalore and Padur in Karnataka to store about 5.33 million tonnes of crude oil. This is enough to meet nation's oil requirement for 13-14 days. Visakhapatnam facility would have the capacity to store 1.33 million tonnes of crude oil in underground rock caverns. Huge underground cavities, almost ten storey tall and approximately 3.3 km long are being built. A similar facility in Mangalore will have a capacity of 1.55 million tonnes and would be mechanically completed by March 2014. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 27, 2013. In the first major relaxation of India's tough labour laws, the government plans to allow companies in the oil and gas sector to decide on the working hours for their onsite workers. Workers in the sector will be allowed to work at a stretch on rigs and at refineries instead of the mandatory eight hours on a work day with a weekly off day. At present, companies, including those in the public sector, follow this flexible system even though there is no legal sanction. Significantly, the government will bring in the change through an executive order instead of amending labour laws as that would be difficult to steer through Parliament, it is learnt. Under the existing system, companies with workers posted at offshore oil rigs or at remote locations onshore, have two options: if they get employees to work continuous shifts, they risk violating labour laws. The alternative is to get them to work for six days a week but that raises employee costs and makes no sense at non-family stations. The companies in the sector have now approached the ministry of labour and employment to get around the problem as the number of such employees have jumped with the expansion in oil and gas exploration fields. (www.downstreamtoday.com)

September 27, 2013. The oil ministry is considering to auction 67 blocks by January provided the blocks get regulatory approvals and the cabinet approves a unified exploration licensing policy, Director General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), RN Choubey said. The oil ministry has proposed a new fiscal regime for future oil and gas contracts and the next bidding round is expected to be launched after the cabinet committee on economic affairs approves it, he said. The government prepares draft of a "perfect" exploration regime that rules out any possibility of gold plating by contractors, gives them operational freedom, limits roles of bureaucrats in managing gas and oilfields, eliminates needs for CAG audits and allows companies to explore all kinds of oil and gas resources in a block. Oil Minister Veerappa Moily said the government had learnt important lessons in last nine auction rounds of oil and gas blocks and this time it would invite bids with full preparation. A unified auction policy, will give the winner rights to explore conventional oil and gas, shale gas, CBM, gas hydrates and any other forms of hydrocarbons in the block. The proposal has concurred with CAG that the existing fiscal regime encouraged cost escalation and proposed to dispense with the controversial cost recovery regime, which allowed companies to first recover their expenditure in developing oil and gas fields before they shared the profit with the government. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 26, 2013. Amidst talk of Reliance Industries being denied a higher price for gas due to output from KG-D6 not matching targets, Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily said the new gas pricing policy will apply uniformly to all. He refused to be drawn into the issue of RIL being denied a higher price of gas produced from its main fields in the eastern offshore KG-D6 block till the dispute over the reasons for output not matching targets is resolved. The Ministry is mulling applying the current rate of USD 4.2 per mmBtu for gas produced from Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1&D3) fields even after expiry of the current term on March 31, 2014. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 26, 2013. Oil Minister Veerappa Moily said that the government would soon allow private energy firms such as Reliance Industries, Cairn India and BP and BG to explore shale oil and gas from their existing fields. The cabinet approved a shale gas and oil exploration policy, which paved way for state-run ONGC and Oil India to hunt for non-conventional resources in blocks awarded to them without auction. He said, the government would also launch the tenth bidding round of oil and gas blocks after certain policy issues are resolved. The government has auctioned more than 250 blocks under nine NELP rounds since 1999, but only two of them are so far producing, that too with several disputes. Reliance Industries, which is producing oil and gas from its KG-D6 block auctioned in the first NELP round, is facing several contractual issues. It evoked the arbitration clause of the contract in last year after the oil ministry disallowed it to recover its expenditure in developing the D6 gas fields because output from the block fell sharply. Moily said, the government would resolve differences over interpretations of various contractual provisions soon. RIL is protesting the government's move to deny rights over eight gas discoveries worth more than $8 billion because timeline expired and challenged the oil ministry's proposal to deny it the benefit of increased gas price from April 1. Moily said gas price hike proposed by the Rangarajan committee would be uniformly applicable. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 25, 2013. Major weakening of the Indian rupee over June 2013 to September 2013 will impact the financials of upstream companies that will get reflected from Q2 FY 14, says ICRA in its latest study on Oil & Gas sector. Significant depreciation of the Indian rupee to offset the impact of diesel price deregulation leading to high level of under-recoveries for FY 14. Indian rupee has depreciated sharply by around 15% against the US dollar since the beginning of the FY14. ICRA Research expects the under-recoveries to be around ` 1.5 lakh crore for FY 14 at the average INR/USD of 62.2 for FY 14 and average crude oil price of US$ 108/bbl factoring in ` 0.5 per litre increase in diesel prices on a monthly basis. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 25, 2013. The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) and adjourned hearing to October 11 on RIL's appeal against market regulator SEBI in the long-running insider trading case. The SAT also declined to allow an intervention petition by an individual who had alleged that there could be collusion between SEBI and the RIL to settle the case. Rejecting the plea, the SAT asked him to approach the Bombay High Court or the Supreme Court, saying the tribunal is not the appropriate forum to hear such a plea. Meanwhile, the tribunal continued the final arguments in the seven-year-old case between SEBI and the country's largest corporate entity. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

POWER

September 28, 2013. The Videocon group is hopeful about the ` 20,000 crore power and steel project at Jamuria in Burdwan district in West Bengal and work could begin as early as the end of this fiscal. The company had signed a memorandum of understanding with the former Left Front government for setting up a three million-tonne integrated steel plant and a 1,200-MW power plant in October 2007. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 26, 2013. Hmar People's Convention (HPC) objected to the construction of the proposed 210 MW Tuivai hydro electric project in north eastern Mizoram. The HPC said that a number of people would be adversely affected if the Tuivai dam is constructed. It said that the submergence of cultivation areas would adversely affect the villagers by depriving them of their main livelihood. Meanwhile, the Science Teachers' Association of Mizoram (STAM) also protested construction of hydro electricity projects by construction of dams in all the feasible rivers in the state. The association proposed that only two or three proposed hydro projects, which can help not only in attaining self-sufficiency in energy, but also can be exported should be implemented. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 25, 2013. Tata Power said the company generated 90% more power in 2012-13 as compared to previous year. The company generated 34,682 million units (MUs) of power from all its power plants in the year 2012-13 compared to 18,317 MUs in the previous year. Total power generation capacity of Tata Power stands at 8521 MW from various fuel sources including thermal, hydroelectric, renewable and waste heat recovery. The company's Mundra ultra mega power project and Maithon power project contributed significantly to the increase in generation capacity with 12,401 MUs and 3,362 MUs respectively. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 29, 2013. Transmission projects in the country take about 5 years to complete, a factor responsible for the slow rate of growth in the sector, says a FICCI report on Power Transmission said. The transmission sector is already lacking in investments made so far. Although 50 per cent of the amount invested in power generation should be invested in transmission, in India this figure stands at a mere 30 per cent, the report said. With the future investments in the sector planned to be of the order of USD 75 billion for the two Five Year Plans (from 2012-2022) the investments in the transmission sector certainly need to be jacked up significantly, the report said. The investment required in the power transmission sector is about USD 35 billion, out of which about USD 19 billion is planned to come from Power Grid Corp. The remaining USD 16 billion would have to be secured from private players, the report said. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 27, 2013. India started transmission of electricity to Bangladesh to test a newly built line under an agreement to export 250 MW of power to its energy-starved neighbour. 50 MW of power was transmitted and the quantity will vary from 50 and 175 MW till October 5, when Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to launch a power-grid substation at western Bheramara, the entry point of the cross-border transmission line. The state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and Indian NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN), a subsidiary of India's National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), inked a deal to import 250 MW of electricity, following up on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed during Sheikh Hasina's 2010 visit to New Delhi. The transmission line went into operation ahead of the foundation stone laying ceremony of Bangladesh's biggest ever power plant, the the USD 1.5 billion 1320 MW plant at Rampal, to be built by BPDB and NTPC on a 50:50 equity basis. The BPDB will import 250 MW of electricity from Indian government's unallocated quota, while another 250 MW was is set to be supplied by an Indian private firm called PTC India Limited. The average power tariff would be Bangladeshi Taka 6 under the 25-year agreement while the BPDB will have to pay an additional Taka 0.80 per unit as wheeling charge to the power distribution firm. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 29, 2013. Bihar government has decided to invest ` 28,000 crore in the next five years on revamping the power sector in the state. Out of this amount, the state government has planned to spend ` 10,000 crore on replacing its obsolete power infrastructure. The state government has planned to connect all of every village in Bihar with electricity in next couple of years. The amount will also be used to improve generation in the state. The state government has planned to invest ` 10,000 crore in revamping its old and obsolete transmission and distribution network. Bihar has the highest T&D losses in the country. According to the government data, the state loses almost half of its power even before it reaches to the consumers. The state government has recently signed a MoU with the PowerGrid Ltd., with an aim to revamp its transmission network. It has also decided to give the distribution network of almost 70 towns in the state in the private hands to improve its revenue collection. (www.business-standard.com)

September 28, 2013. Tata Power and Adani Power may have to wait longer for relief to their imported coal-based plants in Gujarat as the Maharashtra government has decided to take opinion from the national auditor or vigilance commission before signing a report that recommends tariff hike for the projects. Maharashtra is one of the five states whose power distribution company has been asked by power regulator Central Electricity Regulatory Commission to respond to the report prepared by a committee headed by Deepak Parekh. Maharashtra government said the state would take opinion of the Comptroller and Auditor General or the Central Vigilance Commission. The regulator had also asked the power distribution utilities of Maharasthra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab to sign the report as members of the committee. The states would have to approach their respective cabinets before signing the report. This move could delay revision in electricity tariffs from stations run by Tata Power (4,000 MW) and Adani Power (4,620 MW) at Mundra in Gujarat. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 28, 2013. The electricity prices are hovering at their lowest levels on power exchanges that account for over 2.5% of the power transacted in the country. Increased power generation, congestion in the grid and poor financial health of distribution companies have brought down electricity prices. From around ` 7 per unit in 2008 when country's two electricity trading platforms became operational, electricity is traded at an average price of little over ` 2. Also, electricity price has never crossed ` 3 per unit during current fiscal. Since April 2010, average price of electricity on Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), which dominates market with over 90% share, crossed mark of ` 5 per unit only once. Average electricity price on IEX came down by 10% to ` 2.05 per unit in August from ` 2.28 in July. It attracted sellers for 5200 million units (MUs) in August, substantially higher than buyers for 2899 MUs during the same month. The similar trend was witnessed on both IEX and Power Exchange of India Limited (PXIL) during July when they witnessed demand for 3040.32 MUs, which was 60% of available 5,111.02 MUs of electricity in the market. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 27, 2013. Reliance Power has approached the power regulator seeking an increase in tariff for electricity generated from its ultra mega power project at Tilaiya in Jharkhand higher prices of land and sharp increase in equipment cost due to the rupee's depreciation. It has approached the Central Electricity Regulatory Authority (CERC) as 10 states, which have contracted to buy the power from the giant plant, did not agree to its demand for higher tariff. The state governments said the company had sought 25% higher tariff. The company has demanded revision of the tariff to about ` 2.22 per unit that brings it close to price of electricity generated from imported coal-based ultra mega power projects, a senior official in Jharkhand government said. Tata Power's imported coal-based Mundra ultra mega power project in Gujarat is supplying power to consumers at ` 2.26 per unit, but it is also seeking higher tariffs. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 26, 2013. The government expects to garner a good response to the two ultra mega power projects that have been put on auction in the last two days. Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC), the bid coordinator for ultra mega power projects, has called developers to set up the mega projects of 4,000 MW each in Odisha and Tamil Nadu. Power minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia said the new projects save the developers from risk, as fuel cost will be passed on the consumers. Private power companies have been opposing the new bidding framework and said that they will not be able to quote a low tariff for power supply. The fresh round of bidding for ultra mega power projects comes after a gap of more than five years. The bidding for the last such plant in Jharkhand was held in 2007. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 26, 2013. The power ministry will approach the Union cabinet seeking an independent transmission regulator to attract more investment in the sector. Power minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia said the ministry has decided to grant independent regulatory status to the Power System Operation Corporation Ltd (POSOCO), a unit of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, that looks after the cross-country transmission grid. The autonomous status to POSOCO would help it take actions against indiscipline by states power distribution companies or generating companies that caused the twin blackouts in July last year. The minister said the investment of ` 12.37 lakh crore are likely to be incurred for adding 88,000-MW power generation capacity the 12^th Plan. The power ministry is holding several round of meetings with ministries of coal, water resources and environment and forests to resolve the issues related to power sector. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 25, 2013. Jharkhand State Electricity Board's (JSEB) due to Damodar Valley Corporation's (DVC) has touched ` 314 crore since July as it has stopped regular payment. DVC supplies power among others to Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB) and in spite of repeated request, DVC is yet to receive regular payment against power bills since July, 2013 amounting to ` 314.29 crore till date from JSEB. DVC is the first multipurpose river valley project of the country, is operating in the states of West Bengal and Jharkhand. Presently, the corporation is operating with 5710 MW of thermal and 147.2 MW of hydel capacity. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

OIL & GAS

September 29, 2013. State-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) said its loss-making subsidiary Harvest Operations had found at least 5.9 million barrels of crude oil in a Canadian well where it began drilling. The oil well, now worth $470 million, is in the northwestern Canadian mining area of Royce, KNOC said. The well is producing the equivalent of 800 barrels per day of combined oil and gas. Another 30 or 40 drilling sites could be developed. KNOC also plans to invest heavily in shale gas in the Muskwa region, together with oil sand in the Black Gold mine as part of Harvest's non-conventional crude oil sector. (www.rigzone.com)

September 27, 2013. Oil production in North Dakota may double to 1.6 million barrels a day by mid-2017. At 875,000 bpd, output has already exceeded the department's forecast of reaching 850,000 bpd by early 2014 and staying at that level until 2015. Risks to the forecast include the possibility of new federal rules governing hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the drilling technique used to access the shale oil. Other risks include potential changes to oil taxes and demand for more of the light sweet crude that Bakken produces. U.S. oil refineries only have an additional 650,000 bpd in capacity to take light sweet crude beyond the amounts they are processing now. (www.reuters.com)

September 27, 2013. Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras will produce 100,000 barrels a day from its offshore Sergipe prospects by 2018, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Maria das Graças Foster said about one of the company's most promising new discoveries. Early drilling results show that the area controlled by Petroleo Brasileira SA and Indian partners Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Videocon Industries Ltd likely holds more than a billion barrels of oil. If confirmed, the new find could make the region the country's biggest new oil frontier since the government unveiled the massive subsalt discoveries off the coast of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo states in 2007. Graças Foster said the company has begun talks with Chinese officials over possible partnerships in constructing new refineries in the region, once oil production picks up there with the development of the offshore wells. (www.rigzone.com)

September 25, 2013. China's CNOOC has won a final production license for Uganda's Kingfisher oil field and will spend $2 billion over four years to develop it. Uganda, which struck oil in 2006 and has estimated reserves of 3.5 billion barrels, is aiming for commercial output in 2016. It is one of several nations in the east African region looking to develop newly found hydrocarbons. The Kingfisher field, with an estimated 635 million barrels of reserves of which 196 million are recoverable, would produce between 30,000 to 40,000 barrels of crude per day, Uganda's junior energy minister, Peter Lokeris, said. Production would be achieved by drilling 40 development wells, of which 27 would be producers and 13 would be injection wells, he said. (www.reuters.com)

September 26, 2013. Dubai has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for China Sonangol International to build an oil refinery to reduce the Middle East financial hub's reliance on imported fuels, the government said. Dubai-based Noor Investment Group will act as the financial advisor to Dubai's Supreme Council of Energy on the project, it said, without giving any indication of the expected cost or the capacity of the refinery. Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven Gulf emirates, produces very little oil and relies on costly imports of gasoline and Iranian light oil to feed its bustling international airport and a growing number of cars on its streets. China Sonangol has several oil production projects in Angola and one in Indonesia, but it is not clear if the MoU includes Angolan oil being shipped to the Gulf. (www.downstreamtoday.com)

October 1, 2013. The widened Panama Canal will cut costs to ship U.S. cooking and heating gases to Asia by shortening voyages, effectively lowering tanker demand just as yards build more of the ships. The canal expansion scheduled to finish in 2015 will shorten U.S.-to-Asia voyages for very large gas carriers to 25 days from 42 days going around Africa. At the same time, yards will construct the most new vessels since 2008. U.S. terminal operators are expanding to take advantage of record exports of liquefied petroleum gases, a byproduct of surging domestic oil and natural-gas output. The wider canal will require fewer ships for shorter voyages, eliminating the premium for tankers loading in the U.S. even as it stokes trade. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 30, 2013. U.S. President Barack Obama and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani must build on their weekend phone call to convince crude traders that a thaw in relations will open the way to increased oil exports. While the historic conversation Sept. 27 will probably limit gains in prices, any “long-term” declines for crude will depend on the success of negotiations aimed at curbing the Persian Gulf nation’s ability to enrich uranium, according to Nomura Holdings Inc. For Citigroup Inc., the differences between the two nations are likely to weigh on talks even as some countries, such as India, seek to boost imports from Iran. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 27, 2013. The South Stream pipeline that will transport natural gas from Russia to Europe will reach full capacity at the end of 2017, half of which will go to Italy. The South Stream will be funded 30 percent by shareholders and 70 percent by the market. The pipeline will run more than 2,000 km through the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia into north east Italy. Shareholders in the project are Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom, France's EDF, Germany's Wintershall, and Italian major Eni. The first phase of the pipeline would be built by the end of 2015. (www.downstreamtoday.com)

September 26, 2013. State-run Korea Gas Corp is considering selling at least part of its 15 percent holding in the $18.5 billion Gladstone LNG (GLNG) project, the South Korean company said. KOGAS, the world's largest corporate buyer of LNG, did not say in the filing how much of the stake it might sell. The announcement comes after South Korea initiated a review of its overseas investments in oil and gas due to poor profitability, particularly those made in the last five years. Another state-run firm, Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC), said that it is considering selling "non-core parts" of its loss-making Canadian energy subsidiary Harvest Operations and also reviewing other overseas assets for potential sales of some of their parts. (uk.reuters.com)

September 25, 2013. Libya’s Zawiya port exported its first crude cargo this month after flows were restored from oilfields that supply the terminal. The nation, which canceled deliveries from several other ports because of protests by guards, shipped a 700,000-barrel cargo from the terminal. The shipment is destined for Repsol SA in Spain. A second vessel is loading 800,000 barrels. The port had stopped exporting since Aug. 29, even though it was open for operation. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 25, 2013. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer Applied Natural Gas Fuels Inc said it plans to build a plant in Texas to supply LNG to industries like rail and trucking that want to reduce reliance on more-expensive diesel fuel. The plant will consist of up to five liquefiers, each with a production capacity of 86,000 gallons per day, Applied said. The privately held company has secured land south of Dallas in Midlothian, Texas and is in the permitting process. Applied said it expects the plant to be operational in mid-2015, sharply boosting the company's production capacity to more than 600,000 LNG gallons per day. The company currently produces 86,000 gallons per day at its Arizona facility. New drilling techniques unlocking vast reserves of natural gas from shale have produced a boom in U.S. supplies and driven prices down sharply. Many industries have become more interested in using liquefied natural gas as a primary fuel. Applied Natural Gas, based in Westlake Village, California, is currently doubling the production capacity of its LNG plant in Topock, Arizona. The plant's second liquefier is scheduled to come online in July of next year, and will bring the company's production capacity to about 170,000 LNG gallons per day. (www.reuters.com)

September 25, 2013. Pavilion Energy Pte, the liquefied natural gas unit of Singapore’s state-owned investment company, wants to invest in Asian terminals and infrastructure to further its aim of supplying gas to the region. Temasek set up Pavilion Energy in April to tap growing demand for LNG in Asia, the company said. Pavilion will start trading LNG in Asia and will seek to form partnerships with existing trading companies in Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan. It will seek to reduce supply risk by considering purchases of LNG from North America, Australia and Africa. Pavilion Energy has no long-term supply contracts. Singapore imported its first LNG cargo in March to inaugurate its 3 million metric-ton-a-year receiving facility on Jurong Island. Completion of a third tank in early 2014 will expand the terminal to 6 million tons. BG Plc won the contract in 2008 to supply 3 million tons of LNG to Singapore annually over 10 years starting in 2013. It sold 2.7 million tons as of August, the company said. A second license to supply the Asian city-state with 1 million tons through 2018 will be awarded through a competitive process held by Singapore’s energy regulator, the Energy Market Authority. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 27, 2013. A group of Ecuadorians lost a bid to remove a U.S. judge set to oversee a trial over Chevron Corp.’s claims that a $19 billion pollution verdict against it in the South American country was obtained fraudulently. Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company, won a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejecting the Ecuadorians’ attempt to have a new judge take up the case and to reverse several orders by the current judge. The three-judge appeals panel issued its ruling just hours after hearing arguments over the matter. Chevron denies there was company wrongdoing in Ecuador and claims that Texaco cleaned up its share of the pollution at its former oil fields, which were taken over by state-owned PetroEcuador. The U.S. company also said that it was released from future liability by an agreement between Texaco and Ecuador. Chevron said it won’t seek money damages against the two Ecuadorians in the fraud case. The oil company asked that a jury determine liability claims against Donziger and his law firm. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 26, 2013. ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, has expressed interest in bidding in the next round of licensing for offshore and onshore oil/gas blocks in Tanzania. The matter came up for discussions between Minister of State for Commerce and Industry D Purandeswari and Tanzanian Industry and Trade Minister Abdallah O Kigoda at Dar-es-Salaam. The move would help in strengthening cooperation between the countries in the field of oil and gas. It also said that both the ministers agreed to double the volume of bilateral trade in the next two years and to reduce the trade imbalance, which is currently in favour of India. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 25, 2013. ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) is in talks to acquire more oil and gas blocks in Kazakhstan after losing a giant Caspian Sea oil field deal to China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC). Kazakhstan had recently blocked OVL's USD 5 billion deal to buy a 8.4 per cent stake in its giant Kashagan oil field and instead transferred the interest to CNPC. OVL had struck a deal to buy US giant ConocoPhillips' 8.4 per cent stake in the giant Kashagan offshore oil project in the Caspian Sea. While the partners in the project approved the transaction, Kazakhstan in July exercised its preemptive buy-out right and acquired the 8.4 per cent stake ConocoPhillips held in Kashagan. Kazakhstan's national oil and gas producer KazMunaiGaz bought the stake as a representative of the Kazakh state at the same price as agreed between OVL and ConocoPhillips. KazMunaiGas signed a deal to sell that stake to CNPC for about USD 5 billion. Under the deal, China will help arrange a loan of up to USD 3 billion for KazMunaiGas to help it finance the second stage of Kashagan's development, due to begin after 2020. Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Italy's Eni, Total of France and KazMunaiGaz each hold 16.8 per cent of Kashagan. Japan's Inpex Corp has 7.56 per cent stake. The Kashagan field, located in the shallow waters (about 5-8 metres) of the Kazakh North Caspian Sea, is the world's largest current development project. The field, which is set to produce 370,000 barrels of oil a day, started output this month, eight years later than initially planned and with costs nearing USD 48 billion, double the early estimates. It holds an estimated 35 billion barrels of oil in place reserves. OVL continues to hold 25 per cent stake in the Satpayev oil block of Kazakhstan. Also, OVL is actively pursuing exploration bid rounds in Australia, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Lebanon. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

POWER

October 1, 2013. The government of Nigeria has signed an agreement with a consortium of China National Electric and Engineering Corporation (CNEEC) and SinoHydro for the construction of the 700MW Zungeru hydro-electric power project. Exim Bank of China is funding 75% of the total project cost of $1.3 bn, while the remaining 25% is being funded by the Nigerian government. The plant, which is likely to be completed in four years, was captured in the 2012-2014 medium term borrowing plan approved by the National Assembly. Nigeria's finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said that this project is likely to create thousands of jobs for Nigerian engineers, technicians and artisans during the construction phase, boosting the local economy. The project, which will be a boost to the country's current 4.5GW electricity capacity, is part of the government's efforts to curb electricity shortages in the country. (hydro.energy-business-review.com)

September 27, 2013. Reykjavik Geothermal, the Icelandic company that’s helped build power plants in more than 30 countries, agreed to develop as much as 1,000 MW of projects in Ethiopia over the next 10 years. The company expects to spend a total of $4 billion and will begin drilling test wells early next year. About 10 MW will be in operation by 2015, with a total of 500 MW by 2018. A second phase may include as much as 500 additional MW of capacity. Ethiopian Electric Power Corp. has agreed to buy all the electricity under a 25-year contract. The project planned in Ethiopia’s Corbetti Caldera region will be Africa’s largest geothermal power plant, and is part of President Barack Obama’s $7 billion plan to double electricity access in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Tanzania. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 25, 2013. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco), operator of the crisis-ridden Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear station, vowed to press ahead with plans to restart another atomic plant in Niigata prefecture that’s key to its return to profitability. Hirohiko Izumida, the governor of Niigata prefecture has said Tepco, put profit ahead of safety and has demanded additional questions about the original Fukushima disaster of March 2011 be answered before he’ll agree to approve the restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa. The Niigata plant, the world’s largest nuclear power station by generating capacity, sits on a site by the Sea of Japan on the opposite coast from Fukushima. In a bid to win local approval, Hirose said Tepco will set up a secondary nuclear venting system at the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa. Under new safety rules, nuclear power plants in Japan must install radiation filter vents. Additional vents could cost several billion yen, Hirose said. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, 220 kilometers northwest of Tokyo, consists of seven reactor units ranging in age from 16 years old to 28 years old, according to the Nuclear Regulation Authority, Japan’s nuclear regulator. If operations at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa remain suspended, Tepco would need to increase the rate it charges consumers for electricity by 8.5 percent to 10 percent as early as January to achieve a pretax profit for the year to March 2014. Tepco said that it won’t request a safety inspection from the regulator before gaining consent from Niigata’s governor. Hirose reiterated that Niigata’s approval is critical. Japan’s utilities are in the process of seeking approval to restart their reactors under rules designed after the Fukushima disaster. Chubu Electric Power Co. said it will strive to apply for safety checks at its Hamaoka nuclear plant in the fiscal year ending in March. Chubu’s Hamaoka nuclear plant, which lies close to an active fault line, was shut in 2011 after the utility accepted government calls to address safety concerns at the site. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 30, 2013. The Energy Company of Minas Gerais (Cemig) has awarded a contract to Alstom Grid to improve transmission power quality in the Bom Despacho III and Sao Gotardo 2 substations, which are located in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Specifically, the company will supply a Static VAr Compensator (SVC) with a power rating of -200/300 MVAr, and network connection equipment with nominal voltage of 500 kV for the Bom Despacho substation project. Work on the Sao Gotardo and Bom Despacho projects is scheduled to complete within one year and 18 months respectively. Alstom Grid had originally supplied and delivered the Bom Despacho substation to Cemig in 2004. (utilitiesnetwork.energy-business-review.com)

September 26, 2013. Eltel Networks has been awarded a contract worth $150 mn by Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (Zesco) to construct 132kV of sub-transmission lines in Zambia. The project, which is scheduled for completion in 2015, will connect all the districts in North-Western Province including Lukulu in Western Province, Zambia Daily Mail reports. Under the two-year engineering, procurement and construction contract, Eltel Networks will construct a new network of around 190km long 132kV transmission lines from Lumwana Mine substation to Mwinilunga, while the other lines from Lumwana Mine to Mufumbwe, Kabompo, Mumbeji and Zambezi will be constructed with a total length of around 518km. The contract also includes the construction of a 93km long 132kV transmission lines from Mumbeji to Lukulu and 80km long 132kV lines from Zambezi to Chavuma. The corporation is planning to build new 132/33kV bulk supply substations in Mwinilunga, Mufumbwe, Kabompo, Mumbeji, Zambezi, Chavuma and Lukulu districts. The new overhead transmission lines will be connected to the existing Lumwana 330/132/33kV substations. The project will be funded by Nordea Bank of Sweden and Standard Bank of South Africa. (utilitiesnetwork.energy-business-review.com)

October 1, 2013. A U.S. District Court judge in Maryland sided with Pennsylvania power company PPL Corp and others and invalidated Maryland's attempt to subsidize development of new natural gas-fired generation in the state, PPL said. PPL and other electric generators brought the lawsuit because they could lose money on the power and capacity they sell if Maryland subsidizes the construction of new plants. The Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) ordered state utilities to enter long-term power supply contracts with privately held power plant developer Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) to build a 660 MW plant in Maryland. U.S. District Judge said that Maryland's generation order was unconstitutional because it infringed on the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's authority to regulate the sale of wholesale power in interstate commerce. PPL said gas-fired generation was already being built in the PJM power grid without state subsidies and there are already ample resources in the market to meet the state's and region's energy needs. (www.reuters.com)

September 30, 2013. Hydropower rich Himalayan country Bhutan is not keen on any new FDI from any country in power sector before fulfillment of its commitment of providing 10,000 MW additional hydropower to India by 2020. Bhutan has also finalized ` 70,000 crore fund utilization pattern in the targeted hydropower capacity augmentation project. Development of this installed capacity to produce targeted 10,000 MW with an estimated expenditure of around ` 70,000 crore will remain mainly under the monitoring of Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC), the highest Hydropower authority of Bhutan. According to DGCP, at present, Bhutan does not have enough in house human resource, infrastructure or financial strength to develop all these projects by ourselves. So, it is proceeding with two finalized models in hand. These are Inter Governmental (IG) and Joint Venture (JV) models. For the IG model, a new body, powered by Indian finance, will shoulder the responsibility of installing capacity of 7,000 to 8,000 MW. For the rest 2000 to 3000 MW capacity, Indian public sectors, with DGPC as partners, are undertaking the projects under JV model. As the agreement between the two countries for these JV projects goes, Indian partners will organize loans to suffice 70% of the need. They, along with DGPC will put in their own equity as the rest 30%. Here, DGPC's share of equity also will be provided by India as Grant. Beside new generation capacity building, the country is also chalking out power evacuation plans to build additional 1460 km of transmission lines to back up the existing 1007km of high tension transmission lines under consultation with India. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 25, 2013. Britain’s business lobby groups said the Labour opposition’s proposal to break up the “Big Six” utilities and cap power prices threatens the investment needed to avoid blackouts by the end of the decade. Labour leader Ed Miliband said the program would buy time for creating a new energy regulator with the authority to reduce prices. The Confederation of British Industry along with groups representing utilities and renewable-energy developers said the policy may halt decisions on funding new projects. The proposal backtracks on Labour’s support for Prime Minister David Cameron’s energy policy, which is designed to lure 110 billion pounds ($175 billion) for replacing older power stations. The electricity regulator Ofgem says that funding is essential to keep the lights on toward the end of this decade. Miliband’s remarks raise the risk that Labour would rip up energy legislation that’s passed most of its hurdles in Parliament. His proposals suggest a new round of legislation to restructure power markets if the opposition wins the next election, which is due in 2015. The most immediate risk is Electricite de France SA’s talks with the government about building the first new nuclear power plant in two decades. All except one of Britain’s 23 atomic plants is due to retire from service by 2023. (www.bloomberg.com)

October 1, 2013. Nearly 80 per cent of firms in the country expect up to 15 per cent of their power coming from renewable sources in the next 3 to 5 years, says a survey by Schneider Electric India. Schneider Electric India, which is completing its 50 years in India, conducted the study with AEEE (Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy) on the energy consumption profile of the Indian business and drivers for clean energy investment, the company said. This survey was conducted with 300 respondents across Metro and Tier II cities in the country providing details on how they look at their energy consumption. The cities included in the study are four metros -- Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata and 8 Tier II cities -- Ludhiana, Jaipur, Rajkot, Nasik, Lucknow, Vijaywada, Kochi and Patna. The respondents belonged to various fields including manufacturing, building and construction sector, textiles, food and beverages, automobiles, pharma etc. Schneider Electric India Pvt Ltd is a 100 per cent subsidiary of French-firm Schneider Electric Industries. The company has completed its 50 years presence in India. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

October 1, 2013. NYSE-listed ReneSola, technology provider of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules and wafers, is expanding its India presence to tap the growing potential in the country. At a time when foreign players are shying away from the conventional power business in India, ReneSola is betting big on solar energy in India and therefore plans to expand its product portfolio, and open multiple logistic and warehouse facilities across cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Delhi in the next 2-3 years. So far ReneSola India has sold around 110 MW modules in India, which includes 5.5 MW project in Phalodi and Rajasthan by Solar Direct, 1.5 MW project in Gujarat by Sun Edison, and 54 MW project in Neemuch MP by Welspun. India's aim to scale up its solar power generation capacity to 20,000 MW by 2020 has encouraged power utilities like Tata Power Company, Reliance Power, GMR Energy and Adani Power to expand into renewable energy. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

October 1, 2013. The European Union’s (EU) plan to keep its curbs on pollution from airlines is the main hindrance to an international agreement on a carbon market for the industry, according to a senior Indian official. An accord discussed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) wouldn’t authorize EU measures prior to the global deal unless other states agree, said Prashant Sukul, India’s representative to the United Nations agency. Envoys from more than 190 countries meeting in Montreal are trying to iron out differences over the first-ever commitment to a carbon tool for the $708 billion industry. The ICAO general assembly is due to decide this week whether to back a pledge to agree on the details of a global carbon-reduction program for airlines in 2016 and start the system by 2020. A potential deal, which lay the groundwork for a single worldwide industry, would help avert a trade war between the 28-nation EU and other regions over carbon-reduction policies. Under a draft deal recommended by a majority of states in the 36-nation ICAO Council last month, the EU would be allowed to continue its program in a limited form in exchange for a global pledge to facilitate an international market. The proposed resolution, which would give the EU the right to impose pollution curbs on airlines in its own airspace, is unacceptable to some member states, according to Sukul. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 30, 2013. CLP India has pooled cash flow of its wind projects to mitigate risks and ensure security to lenders. The company announced signing of the new pooled financing structure for its wind assets with three Standard Chartered Bank, IDBI Bank Ltd and IDFC. The Company said pooled financing will help secure CLP India's current and future assets and mitigate the inherent risk arising out of the unpredictable nature of wind projects' output. The company was so far following the project financing structure of financing where the cash flow is restricted to a specific project. The company would move wind projects to the pool as and when they get commissioned.CLP India expects to add 250 MW - 300 MW of wind projects every year. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 27, 2013. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a $500 million loan to build a transmission system for solar and wind energy in western India, the bank said, a day after it announced a $400 million package for a water and sanitation programme in the eastern part of the country. The loans from the Manila-based bank come at a time when India is looking to boost dollar inflows to prop up the sagging rupee. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 26, 2013. The Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) that accounted for 78% of market share at the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) trading session 25 September witnessed trade of 38,195 Non-Solar and 5,880 Solar RECs with supply far exceeding demand. The demand for REC continues to remain sluggish as sellers are not witnessing demand for even 2% of their certificates. One REC represents 1 MWh of energy, which is generated from renewable sources. RECs were expected to become the currency of renewable energy markets because of their flexibility. Also, they are not subject to the geographic and physical limitations of commodity electricity. Electricity distribution companies and others can buy RECs to meet their obligation to promote renewable energy. In the non-solar segment, buy bids of 38,195 RECs and sell bids of 23, 25,171 RECs were received against which 38,195 were cleared at ` 1,500 per REC. In the solar segment, buy bids of 5,880 RECs and sell bids of 37,028 RECs were received against which 5,880 RECs were cleared at ` 9,300 per REC. The trading session featured 658 participants of which 601 participated in non-solar segment while 159 participated in the solar segment. On an overall basis, a total of 1969 participants are registered in the REC segment at IEX. Of this, 504 are RE Generators, 1452 are distribution companies and industrial houses and 13 are registered as voluntary entities. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 26, 2013. Neyveli Lignite's wind power project in Tamil Nadu is expected to be commissioned by June next year marking the company's foray into the renewable energy sector. Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) is planning to set up a 51-MW wind power farm at Kaluneerkulam in Tamil Nadu. Leitwind Shriram Manufacturing Ltd had said that it has bagged an order worth ` 346 crore from NLC for supply of wind turbines. The company - a joint venture between Shriram Group and Italy-based Windfin BV - is into design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of wind electric generators. The contract from Neyveli Lignite Corp is related to the wind project. The scope of the work includes procuring of land, designing, manufacturing, supplying, erecting, testing, commissioning and synchronising with grid. Meanwhile, NLC is also examining 89 proposals from Indonesia, Australia, Mozambique, the US and a few other countries offering coal assets and long-term fuel supplies among other things for its upcoming power projects. NLC has plans for growth in power generation capacity and is expanding its activities not only at Neyveli, but also in other parts of the country. It is already in the process of setting up two power projects in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh at an estimated cost of ` 24,770 crore, to take its capacity to 11,195 MW. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

September 25, 2013. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has set a target of generation of 10,000 MW of power through solar energy by the year 2017. The minister for new and renewable energy Farooq Abdullah said that the phase I of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) has been very successful wherein 1685 MW of solar power was generated as against the target of 11,000 MW. Abdullah said that large tracks of land have been identified in Rajasthan, Kargil and Ladakh which have immense potential of generation of solar power. He though cited that the challenge was starting a transmission line in the areas of Kargil and Ladakh so that power could be evacuated to the other parts of the country. He also said that there should be a lot of focus on breakthrough in new research to ensure storage of solar energy for greater time period. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

October 1, 2013. Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada, who headed development of the Prius, said automakers should step up their efforts on hybrids so cumulative U.S. sales will reach 5 million in three years. That’s 72 percent more than the 2.9 million hybrids sold in the U.S. until August. The Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker is the world’s largest producer of gasoline-electric hybrids, with the company estimating to have sold more than 3 million Prius vehicles since they first went on sale in 1997. Longer term, the company is betting on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The company plans to offer a fuel-cell sedan in 2015. (www.bloomberg.com)

October 1, 2013. The U.S. Army is spending billions of dollars shifting toward solar energy, recycled water and better-insulated tents. The effort isn’t about saving the Earth. Instead, commanders have found they can save lives through energy conservation. It’s especially true in Afghanistan, where protecting fuel convoys is one of the most dangerous jobs, with one casualty for every 24 missions in some years. While President Barack Obama called on the U.S. government to cut greenhouse-gas emissions 28 percent by 2020, the Army is embracing renewables to make the business of war safer for soldiers. In May, it announced plans to spend $7 billion buying electricity generated by solar, wind, geothermal and biomass projects over the next three decades. The transition is a sales opportunity for companies including Lockheed Martin Corp., which is installing small-scale power systems at U.S. bases, along with Alta Devices Inc. and Sundial Capital Partners, which make sun-powered systems. The moves threaten U.S. utilities, which stand to lose revenue when the Army shifts to photovoltaic panels from traditional power sources. (www.bloomberg.com)

October 1, 2013. JGC Corp., a Japanese constructor of industrial facilities, said it will build a 31 MW solar power station in Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo, its second such project in the country. Construction for the 10 billion yen ($102 million) plant will start in March and operations will start in January 2015, the Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture-based company said. (www.bloomberg.com)

October 1, 2013. Billionaire Tom Steyer ended his 26-year career as a hedge-fund manager and set out to make an economic case for addressing climate change. He wasn’t the only person from the financial world to have this idea: Henry Paulson, Treasury secretary from 2006 to 2009 and a longtime conservationist, and Michael Bloomberg, the outgoing mayor of New York, which had suffered the costliest hurricane damage in its history, were also plotting how to reframe the issue. Along with Steyer and Bloomberg, Paulson is betting that as climate change, once a distant possibility, becomes altogether real, our economic self-interest will be the thing that finally provokes a popular call for action. That will almost certainly have to be making carbon dioxide emissions expensive by either taxing or regulating the gas on a global basis, Steyer says. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 30, 2013. Ikea, the biggest home-furnishing retailer, tied up with Hanergy Solar Group Ltd. to sell solar-panel systems in its 18 U.K. stores for the first time. Ikea will sell the systems in all U.K. shops within 10 months after a successful trial in July. The Hong Kong producer will offer its thin-film panels, as well as consultation, installation and maintenance services. The deal shows how photovoltaic power is moving into the mainstream in the U.K., where more than 400,000 small solar systems operate. Price drops and state subsidies have doubled installations since the end of 2011. Ikea will offer standard 3.36-kilowatt photovoltaic systems for 5,700 pounds ($9,200) upfront, as well as a leasing option. Solar power is a part of Ikea’s plan to source all its energy from renewables by 2020. It has installed more than 500,000 panels on some of its 298 stores across the world. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 30, 2013. Intel Corp., the world’s largest chipmaker, plans to expand in the global smart-grid market following a jump in demand for energy-saving technologies. Intel intends to take a “significant chunk” of the market for smart-grid microprocessors, which may surpass $5 billion in annual sales by the end of the decade, said Hannes Schwaderer, Intel’s director of energy in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Smart grids allow power generators and users to monitor usage, helping utilities adjust supply to consumption and reducing costs by saving energy in transmission. Demand for the technology has grown as countries boost renewables output, overloading traditional networks when production peaks. The company, based in Santa Clara, California, is already forging partnerships to tap the market. It has agreed with France’s Alstom SA to cooperate on smart grids and is working with Germany’s EON SE on better integration of renewables on the country’s transmission network. Fellow Californian manufacturer Cisco Systems Inc. and Armonk, New York-based International Business Machines Corp. are also seeking to expand in the smart-energy networks industry. European nations in particular will drive growth in the industry as Germany and the U.K. bolster renewable generation to meet climate-change targets, he said. The International Energy Agency says $38 trillion of investment in energy-supply infrastructure is needed by 2035 to meet increasing demand. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 28, 2013. Global warming has slowed since 1998 as pollution reached record levels and rising seas became a more pressing concern, according to a United Nations report that’s hardening views on both sides of the climate debate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said the temperature has been increasing at less than half the longer-term average since 1951. It also found for the first time most of the world’s untapped fossil fuels must remain in the ground to avoid catastrophic increases in storms and ocean levels. The findings came in a 36-page summary of a report that’s aimed at guiding the work of policy makers and provided ammunition for both environmental groups pressing for stronger action on carbon emissions and skeptics who dispute that climate change is a concern. Scientists said the lull in warming shouldn’t provide any comfort. Even at the slower rate, the increase translates to half a degree of warming per century, which is more than three times the estimated speed of warming when the last ice age ended between 17,500 and 10,000 years ago. The UN has resolved to limit warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius since industrialization began, and has charted about 0.8 degrees of warming already. The lower pace of warming in recent years may be explained by natural phenomena including volcanic eruptions, a periodic drop in the sun’s warmth and natural variation in the weather, the panel said in its wider report, the UN said. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 28, 2013. A failure by negotiators to agree upon a global deal to cut emissions from airlines risks trade conflicts between the European Union and other regions, EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said. Envoys from more than 190 countries are meeting in Montreal to iron out differences over a measure that would facilitate the design of a market-based tool to reduce pollution from the $708 billion airline industry. If the talks end Oct. 4 without a pledge from the United Nations’ aviation agency to tackle emissions, the EU is set to restore carbon curbs on foreign flights that were suspended for a year during global talks, according to Hedegaard. Countries from Russia to the U.S. and China are in Montreal to decide whether to back a draft resolution by the UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) paving the way toward a global carbon market by 2020. Details of the mechanism would be agreed upon by the agency’s next triennial assembly in 2016. The creation of a greenhouse-gas program for airlines made it to the top of the ICAO agenda after the EU included airlines in its emissions-trading system beginning in 2012. That triggered protests from non-European nations, which argued the EU measure was extraterritorial and that curbs on airline emissions should be discussed in the UN agency. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 27, 2013. Most known reserves of fossil fuels will need to stay unburned to stop temperatures rising beyond a United Nations target that seeks to curb climate-change dangers. About 531 billion metric tons of carbon have been emitted by burning oil, coal and gas, cutting down forests and making cement since 1750, the UN said. Capping greenhouse gas output at 840 billion tons gives a 50 percent chance of meeting the UN target of restraining warming below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), it said. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 27, 2013. Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe’s second-largest airline, handed back 50 million euros ($68 million) of unused European Union carbon permits after the bloc suspended its cap on international flight emissions. More than 400 aircraft operators worldwide were exempted from the pollution limits for a year following protests from countries including China, the U.S. and Russia. The curbs were rolled back to cover only emissions from flights within EU airspace instead of entire routes to and from the region. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 26, 2013. Angela Merkel's best hope of saving her bold energy revolution may lie in a coalition with the center-left Social Democrats, who could agree to modest cuts to costly incentives for green power which are, paradoxically, driving up energy prices. The German chancellor's experiment to wean Europe's biggest economy off nuclear and fossil fuels and push it into renewables is at risk because generous subsidies have proved so popular with investors in green power that the country is straining under the cost. While a boom in renewables has boosted supply and led to a fall in wholesale power prices, the incentives, or feed-in tariffs, are paid for by end users via surcharges added to their electricity bills. These charges mean German consumers pay the second highest power prices in Europe. (ca.reuters.com)

September 25, 2013. U.K. utilities said the government’s clean energy policies are behind a surge in consumer electricity bills, remarks aimed at shifting debate away from a proposal to freeze prices until 2017. Chief executive officers from SSE Plc and RWE Npower Plc, two of the country’s six largest generators, said it’s the cost of wind and solar power along with the government’s ambition to install high-tech meters in every household that have boosted costs for consumers. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 25, 2013. Phoenix Solar AG won a contract to build Singapore’s biggest solar photovoltaic plant as demand for larger units grows in the city state. The company’s Singapore unit will design and build a 1.2 MW plant for CMM Marketing Management Pte., a unit of Sheng Siong Group Ltd (SSG), the Sulzemoos, Germany-based company said. The plant, to be built on the roof of CMM’s head office, is expected to start up by the year-end. Demand for bigger solar plants is growing in Singapore due to falling costs for photovoltaic modules, Phoenix Solar said. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 25, 2013. The Obama administration is trying to build support for a key element of its climate-change plan with appeals to everyone from trout fishermen to fans of Al Roker on the Weather Channel. The push to promote the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to curb carbon dioxide from power plants stands in contrast to the low-key approach of President Barack Obama’s first term, when it downplayed the hazards and trumpeted an “all of the above” energy policy. The outreach by Obama aides -- along with opposition from industry lobbyists -- follows proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency to cap for the first time greenhouse gases that new power plants can emit. Those rules, and guidelines due next year for thousands of existing power generators, take aim at the source of 40 percent of the carbon dioxide released in the U.S., the world’s second-biggest producer of greenhouse gases after China. The rules would prohibit construction of new coal-burning power plants that don’t have carbon-capture technology, a plan opposed by mining companies such as Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) and utilities such as Southern Co. Lawmakers from coal-dependent states such as Kentucky and West Virginia have blasted the agency for waging a “war on coal,” saying the plan will result in a de facto ban on the construction of new coal-fired power plants. (www.bloomberg.com)

September 25, 2013. Australia’s new prime minister can’t count on big polluters to support his plan to stop charging them for greenhouse-gas emissions, according to the Carbon Market Institute. While business groups such as the Minerals Council of Australia have criticized the carbon price as a “dead weight on the economy,” few individual companies have spoken up to endorse Tony Abbott’s plan to scrap what he calls a carbon tax, said Peter Castellas, chief executive officer for the Melbourne-based institute, which surveyed about 200 of the country’s largest emitters before the Sept. 7 election. It plans to publish a study on the costs of repealing carbon trading in Australia. The Carbon Price Mechanism passed by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard in 2011 requires more than 300 of Australia’s largest emitters to pay about $24.15 a metric ton for greenhouse gasses this year, the highest price in the world. EnergyAustralia, a unit of Hong Kong’s biggest electricity supplier, would have to write off investments if Abbott prevails with his repeal, said Kenneth Wong, manager of carbon credits at China Light & Power, EnergyAustralia’s parent company. (www.bloomberg.com)

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