[Over-Supply in Global Coal Market is an Opportunity for India]

                             “India will be importing coal from various coal exporting countries like Australia, Indonesia, and South Africa but India’s vulnerability is decided by coal prices in the global coal market. Though India and China are considered as major coal markets, India does not decide the price in the global coal market. It is China which will continue to set coal prices in the near future…”

Energy News

[GOOD]

Money should flow into resource rich poor States through coal auctions!                                   

                                                                                                    [BAD]

Gas price pooling may bail out stranded generation assets but it will equate unequal gas suppliers!

[UGLY]

Large scale solar and roof top are economically unsustainable and will come at the expense of more urgent public spending!

NEWS BRIEF

[NATIONAL: OIL & GAS]

January 19, 2015. Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd (ONGC) would soon induct more rigs to speed up exploration drive across Tripura. Currently, the oil giant is committed to supply five million standard cubic meters a day (mmscmd) gas per day to OTPC, Tripura State Electricity Corporation Ltd (TSECL) and NEEPCO for power generation. The present gas reserve is capable of meeting the demand of three customers – OTPC, TSECL and NEEPCO including Manarchak plant till 2032. If more gas is required, the ONGC will require more gas wells to meet the demand for future. At present, four rigs are functioning in the State and the ONGC has decided to induct two more heavy duty rigs in the next eight months to intensify the exploration drive in special locations, ONGC Tripura Asset Manager VP Mahawar said. He said heavy duty rigs would be capable of drilling 4,500 metre well while the ONGC is having rigs capable of drilling only 3000/3200 metre deep well. (www.assamtribune.com)

January 15, 2015. The oil ministry has rejected Cairn India Ltd's request to return areas in its Barmer oil and gas block the company had relinquished in accordance with the terms of contract. The ministry had conveyed its decision to Cairn. It was explained to Cairn that there was no legal ground for accepting the company's proposal, which would have created a precedence. Cairn is operating three development areas in the block totalling 3,111 sq km out of the total block area of 11,108 sq km and surrendered 7,997 sq km. The ministry has rejected the arguments mainly on the ground that there is no legal provision and the fact that five CBM (coal bed methane) blocks have been carved out of the surrendered areas, two of which have already been offered for bidding. Returning these areas to Cairn would, thus, give rise to litigation and set a precedence for others to seek similar dispensation, which would defeat the very purpose of having the term for relinquishment. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 20, 2015. State-run oil marketing firms – Indian Oil Corp (IOCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) -- are operating at gross refining margins which are the lowest in the last four fiscals, HDFC Securities in its research said. Gross refining margin (GRM) is what the company earns from turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel. IOCL's GRM has slipped to $0.09 per barrel during April-September 2014, against $5.19 per barrel in April-September 2013. HPCL has seen its GRM drop to $2.09 per barrel between April-September 2014, against $3.27 per barrel in April-September 2013. BPCL's GRM stood at $2.36 per barrel during April-September 2014 against, $4.38 per barrel in April-September 2013. Singapore gross refining margins (GRMs) have increased quarter-on-quarter from $4.8 per barrel in second quarter of FY15 to $6.3 per barrel in third quarter of FY15. Oil prices have fallen 60 per cent from their June 2014 peak. Rising production, particularly US shale oil and weaker demand in Europe and Asia have driven the prices down. Brent and US WTI crude oil prices fell to their lowest levels in almost six years as OPEC producers decided not to cut output to tackle a glut in the market. For the upstream companies decline in crude oil prices and stronger rupee will have negative impact on gross realization. However, fall in subsidy burden will partially compensate. Gross crude oil under-recoveries are estimated to decrease quarter-on-quarter from ` 22,419 Crore in second quarter of FY15 to ` 15,400 crore in the third quarter of FY15 on account of deregulation of diesel prices and decline in crude oil prices. (www.business-standard.com)

January 19, 2015. Buoyed by diesel price decontrol, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has reopened about one-fifth of its 1,400 fuel stations, which were shut down when state firms were selling heavily subsidised fuel. RIL and Essar Oil Ltd, the only other private refiner in India, had together captured about 17 per cent of domestic retail market for diesel and 10 per cent of petrol by 2006 before heavily subsidised sales by state-run firms took a heavy toll on private firms' fuel sales. RIL had shut down all of its 1,432 petrol pumps around March 2008 because of huge losses in incurred in trying to match its public sector firms, who sold fuel at rates much lower than their cost as they got government subsidies. The government in June 2010 deregulated or freed petrol pricing by not providing any more subsidies. This allowed Essar to re-enter the retailing arena, selling only petrol from most of its 1,400 outlets. Diesel, India's most consumed fuel, was deregulated in October last year and since then private retailers have again entered the market. Essar started diesel sales from all its outlets and has expanded its network to 1,600, which is likely to go up to 2,500 in one year's time. The company said it will leverage technology to provide superior customer value across the network with the motto of "Right Quantity and Quality of fuel at the Right price." RIL had captured the market share in 2006 by owning just 4 per cent of the total petrol pumps in the country. State-run retailers have since then swelled the network to 51,870. The company is again starting the fleet management program wherein large fleet operators like truckers were given smartcards which their drivers could use buy fuel without cash with deliveries that can be monitored online, thereby eliminating pilferage or theft. Also, aggressive automation based 'Instant Reward scheme' will provide an edge over the competition, which lacks nationwide automation, it said. RIL's present network comprises of about 900 retail outlets that are owned by the company and the rest by dealers. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 16, 2015. Indian Oil Corp (IOC) said the impact of closure of Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) on its refinery was minimal as the facility had switched to other product mix. IOC said the refinery used to supply about 50,000 tonnes of naptha per month to IOC. IOC said Haldia refinery also supplied about 10,000 tonnes of naptha to the Panipat facility of the company. IOC was banking on the new 15 million tonne capacity petrochemicals plant coming up at Paradip which is likely to be on stream by March. This new petrochemicals plant may help in better utilisation of Haldia refinery. HPL is closed for the last six months over management and fresh fund crisis. The Bengal plastic based industry has claimed that their cost has moved up due to closure of HPL. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 14, 2015. Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) plans to more than double capacity of its Bina refinery in Madhya Pradesh to 15 million tonnes at a cost of about ` 23,000 crore. BPCL and its partner Oman Oil Corp Ltd will in phase-I raise the capacity of 6 million tonnes Bina refinery to 7.8 million tonnes at a cost of ` 3,500 crore by 2018. In Phase-II, the capacity would be raised to 15 million tonnes at an additional investment of ` 18,000-20,000 crore. This was disclosed when Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan met Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 19, 2015. After oil, India is studying feasibility of laying a LPG and gas pipeline to Nepal for supply of cooking fuel to the Himalayan nation. Nepal currently buys all of its cooking gas (LPG) needs from India, which supplies gas through trucks. In a meeting with Nepalese Commerce Minister Sunil Bahadur Thapa, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan agreed to "sending a technical team to Nepal to study feasibility of setting up of LPG and natural gas pipeline infrastructure from India to Nepal". Pradhan also assured Nepal of uninterrupted supply of LPG. The two leaders also discussed the proposal to lay a pipeline from Bihar to Kathmandufor supply of petrol, diesel and ATF. Five months after India agreeing to foot the cost of the pipeline, the project is stuck over differences on the tenure of fuel supply. While Indian Oil Corp (IOC), which is to invest ` 200 crore for laying the pipeline, wants Nepal to commit to buying fuel for 15 years, the Himalayan nation is willing to sign agreement for only five years. The pipeline from Raxaul in Bihar to Amlekhgunj in Nepal in the first phase and to Kathmandu in the next phase, was agreed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the Himalayan nation in August 2014. Seeking it as a 'gift' from New Delhi, Nepal wanted India to foot the cost of laying the project, which IOC agreed. While IOC and Nepal Oil Corp (NOC) were in broad agreement on the modalities of execution of the project, including the funding options, the duration of the proposed Sale Purchase Agreement was a bone of contention. IOC has maintained that the agreement should be for a period of at least 15 years but NOC wants it to be for five years only. It can be renewed with mutual agreement after every five years, the Nepalese firm had conditioned. While IOC is to fund the project, Nepal is to provide encroachment free pipeline corridor. Also, NOC will have to bear the cost for building fuel storage tanks and other facilities at Amlekhganj. Work on the 41-km pipeline was to start this month and is targeted for completion by July 2017. Nepal is dependent on India for meeting all of its fuel requirements. Petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and jet fuel (ATF) are currently trucked from IOC's depot at Raxaul to Nepal. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 16, 2015. India imported 42 per cent more Iranian oil last year over 2013 levels as its refiners increased purchases to take advantage of an easing in sanctions targeting Tehran's nuclear programme. The jump came with an end-of-the-year boost as imports in December surged 84 per cent from a year ago to 348,400 barrels per day (bpd), the highest since March. Diplomatic efforts to reach a final agreement last year failed for a second time in November, and a self-imposed deadline was extended to June 30 this year. India - Iran's top oil customer after China - imported 276,800 bpd of oil and condensate last year, compared with 195,600 bpd in 2013, according to tanker arrival data. Indian refiners bought about 39 per cent more Iranian oil in December compared with November, the data showed. Private-refiner Essar Oil was the biggest Indian client of Iran in 2014, followed by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd and Indian Oil Corp. Iran remained the seventh-biggest oil supplier to India in 2014, while its share in overall purchases rose to 7.3 per cent last year, compared with 5.1 per cent in 2013, the data showed.

The current sanctions allow Iran access to some of its frozen oil revenue overseas and restrict its oil sales at about 1 million to 1.1 million bpd. Overall, India imported 3.84 million bpd of oil in December, up 9.4 per cent from a year earlier. Imports for the full year fell 1.4 per cent to 3.81 million bpd. In the January-December period India imported about 3.9 per cent more oil from Latin America, with the region accounting for about 20.1 per cent of overall imports, up from about 19.1 per cent a year ago. The Middle East region supplied about 59 per cent of India's oil imports in January to December, compared with 62.3 per cent a year ago. In the fiscal year to March 31, 2014, India cut its imports from Iran by 15 per cent to 220,000 bpd to get a waiver from US sanctions on the Islamic republic. India's annual oil contracts with Iran follow the country's April-March fiscal cycle. In the first nine months of the year to end March 31, 2015, Indian refiners have shipped in about 250,200 bpd of Iranian oil, up 41 per cent from the same period a year ago. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 16, 2015. An explosion took place at a national gas pipeline of Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) in South Delhi but there were no casualties reported. The explosion and the subsequent fire occurred when third part contractors working for Delhi Metro dug up the area, GAIL said. Fire tenders reached the spot and efforts were on to extinguish the fire. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 20, 2015. Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd (ONGC) has signed an agreement with seven IITs for developing indigenous technologies to enhance exploration and production of hydrocarbons and alternate energy sources. The industry-academia collaboration is aimed at bolstering 'Make in India' campaign in energy sector, ONGC said. ONGC signed the Memorandum of Collaboration (MoC) with Pan-IIT, a consortium of seven premier Indian Indian Institutes of Technology - IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Madras, IIT-Mumbai, IIT-Delhi, IIT-Guwahati and IIT-Roorkee. The MoC also ideates promoting internships, visiting and adjunct faculty programs, research oriented career programmes through an ONGC Scholar Programme. Within the ambit of this collaboration, while ONGC will make its high-tech laboratories available to students and research scholars of IITs, ONGC geoscientists and engineers will also have the opportunity of working with IITs, ONGC said. ONGC said the collaboration was in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for Make in India and develop indigenous technologies. The programme will be funded by ONGC and shall take advantage of the available infrastructure and manpower of the IITs and ONGC.

With this collaboration, while ONGC will use intellectual expertise of the IITs, the actual work will be done at the ONGC's in-house R&D Institutes and oilfields to enable the best talents of the country to supplement each other by applying their mind on cutting-edge technologies to boost oil & gas production in the country. HRD Minister Smriti Zubin Irani said her ministry will promote similar industry–academia linkages on a large scale and will also facilitate engagement of Adjunct Faculty. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said knowledge of theoretical aspects is available with IITs while the knowledge of practical aspects of energy business resides with ONGC. (www.firstpost.com)

January 20, 2015. India, which already has the highest number of petrol pumps in the world, will get another 35,600 retail outlets in next 2-3 years as government embarks on a massive expansion plan to boost oil product availability. The country has 51,870 petrol pumps with Indian Oil Corp (IOC) being the market leader with 23,993 outlets, followed by Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) with 12,869 pumps and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) with 12,123 outlets.

Private sector has meager presence with Reliance Industries and Essar Oil owning about 1,400 outlets each and Shell operating three. As part of their plan to increase the accessibility and availability of oil products, the retail network of public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) is being expanded by increasing the number of retail outlets and LPG distributorship in the country, the Oil Ministry said. Besides petrol pumps, OMCs (oil marketing companies) have 13,896 LPG dealers (IOC 7,035, BPCL 3,355 and HPCL 3,506). (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 19, 2015. Trade unions reiterated their commitment towards timely completion of BPCL's Integrated Refinery Expansion Project (IREP) and Petrochemical venture, which together is estimated to cost about ` 25,000 crore. The assurance in this regard was given by the trade unions at a meeting convened by Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner. The meeting was held on the basis of a decision taken during the IREP review meeting called by Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to conduct a coordination meeting with State leaders of Trade Unions and other stakeholders to assess the labour climate in IREP. It was also decided to extend all support to the forth coming Propylene Derivative Petrochemical Project of BPCL. For speedy implementation of IREP, which is imperative to ensure supply of Bharath Stage IV petrol and diesel by April 1 2016 as per the approved GoI guidelines, Central and state governments and Trade Unions had put into place a robust system of Industrial Relation Committee and had declared the Project site as 'Strike-Free-Zone'. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 16, 2015. A day after oil companies skipped revising petrol and diesel prices despite steep fall in global rates, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the state-owned firms will do what is "appropriate". As per the practice of revising rates every fortnight, state fuel retailers were expected to announce a cut in petrol and diesel prices as global rates had fallen by about 4 per cent. However, they skipped the revision. On the previous two occasions when they skipped revising rates, the government had raised excise duty to mop up additional revenue, thereby not passing on the benefit of fall in global oil rates to consumers.

The government raised excise duty on petrol and diesel by ` 2 per litre each to gain from slumping global oil rates. This was the third excise duty hike since November 2014 and cumulatively the government stood to gain about ` 16,000 crore in revenue this fiscal. Previously, it had raised excise duty by ` 1.50 a litre on both products from November 12 and by ` 2.25 per litre on petrol and ` 1 on diesel from December 2. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 16, 2015. The government is identifying the small and marginal oil and gas fields it plans to auction in coming months to boost domestic production, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said. State explorers Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) will surrender those small and marginal fields that they are unable to produce from due to economic size or operational issues. These fields will be demarcated into areas for auction. As many as 63 discovered oil and gas are being surrendered by ONGC as they were found to be uneconomic for a large firm with huge overheads to develop or bring to production. Smaller firms with a fraction of operating cost can develop them at much faster and economic rate. OIL will surrender 6 marginal fields. Pradhan said the fields that ONGC and OIL are surrendering are the ones where they have not been able to start production. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 16, 2015. Non availability of additional domestic gas has made the Power Ministry rework the proposed 'gas price pooling' scheme, Power Secretary P K Sinha said. Sinha said that state-run firm GAIL even agreed to cut its marketing margin to facilitate gas price pooling. GAIL agreed to cut its marketing margin and some of states including Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat have agreed to exempt VAT but we cannot go ahead with the proposal (gas price pooling) as we do not have gas, he said. As much as 16,000 MW of gas based capacity is stranded due to lack of fuel. Gas pooling, or averaging, would mean that plants currently getting cheaper domestic gas will have to pay a slightly more. On the other hand, stations with no domestic gas supplies that are necessarily to rely on imported fuel, will pay a lot less, thereby making electricity produced affordable. Power plants, which currently cannot buy high priced LNG, will be able to buy gas at pooled rate. This would enable the existing gas based plants to significantly improve their run-rate or operating capacity. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 15, 2015. In significant step towards adopting green fuel, the railways have launched their first CNG train. Railway minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the train, run on dual fuel system — diesel and CNG — on the Rewari-Rohtak section of northern zone. Introduction of CNG trains will reduce greenhouse gas emission and also cut the transporter's fuel bill by reducing consumption of diesel. The minister has stressed on the use of alternative fuel, including use of solar and wind power, to reduce dependence on conventional energy. The railways have modified the 1,400 HP engine to run on dual fuel - diesel and CNG - through fumigation technology. The passenger train would consume over 20% of CNG, covering a distance of 81km in about two hours. The train comprising of two power cars and six car coaches has been manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory at Chennai with the CNG conversion kit being supplied by Cummins. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

January 14, 2015. Petrol and diesel could become cheaper as international oil prices have tumbled to about $45 per barrel, continuing their downward spiral since June last year as the market remains oversupplied. A fuel price cut will bring cheer to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the high-profile Delhi assembly election on February 7. But state-run oil marketing firms are reluctant to cut pump prices of auto fuels because of inventory losses as the value of crude oil purchased at higher rates falls in step with global prices. Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the country's biggest refiner, has lost more than ` 12,000 crore. Indian refiners purchase crude in advance, which they process after about 30-40 days. At times, prices can fall more than 20% in this period. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

 [NATIONAL: POWER]

January 19, 2015. Power generation at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) has restarted after the first unit's reactor and turbine tripped January 14, Power System Operation Corporation Ltd (POSOCO) said. According to POSOCO, power generation at the first unit of 1,000 MW KNPP commenced. The atomic power unit touched a peak generation of 658 MW since it was restarted and the average generation for the day was 168 MW, POSOCO said. India's atomic power plant operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) is setting up two 1,000 MW Russian reactors at Kudankulam in Tirunelveli district, 650 km from Chennai. The first unit attained criticality, which is the beginning of the fission process, July 2013. Subsequently it was connected to the southern grid in October 2013. However, commercial power generation began only December 31, 2014. Since then the unit was generating an average of 940 MW till it tripped Jan 14. According to G Sundarrajan, an anti-nuclear power activist and who had filed a case against the setting up of the ` 17,000 crore KNPP, the atomic power company suffers at least ` 8 crore loss per day of plant outage. He said the actual per unit commercial tariff for the first unit is still unclear with different officials giving out different figures, ranging from ` 3.50 per unit to ` 4 per unit. (www.business-standard.com)

January 17, 2015. NTPC's first plant in Maharashtra's Mouda district may run up to its full capacity within next couple of months as it has been assured new coal supply arrangement by Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL). Currently, NTPC's Mouda facility, about 40 kms from here, gets coal supply from Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) in Odisha, and due to the long distance of over 600 kms, power generation cost has shot up owing to high transportation expenses, Group General Manager V Thangapandian said. The generation cost which is currently Rs 3.90 a unit will come down drastically to nearly ` 2.50, which will boost the demand, he said. The Mouda plant has a power purchase agreement with the state government for 350 MW. NTPC, country's biggest power producer with a power generation capacity of 43,143 MW, has plants at Korba in Chhattisgarh where generation cost is as low as 95 paise and at Vindhyachal and Sipat, it is around ` 1.50 a unit, he said. Looking to cater the power needs, NTPC is going ahead with stage II at Mouda under which two more units of super critical 660 MW each would be set up by May and November of 2016, respectively. Work on these plans is progressing at a fast pace. On the national scenario, NTPC has set goal to achieve the production target of 1.28 lakh MW by year 2032, Thangapandian said. (www.business-standard.com)

January 16, 2015. Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (BALCO) has received approval from the Chhattisgarh government to start a 1,200 MW captive power plant at its Korba aluminium smelter in the state. The functioning of the power plant, set up with an investment of about ` 5,000 crore, would help boost BALCO's annual aluminium production capacity to 5.7 lakh tonnes, the company said. The power project would have four units, each having 300 MW generation capacity. The captive power plant would be in addition to two existing plants, having capacity of 270 MW and 540 MW, respectively. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 15, 2015. Private power utility CESC's unit-I of Haldia power plant started full load generation. The company said that the first unit reached full load generation capacity of 300 MW. CESC had said the second unit of 300 MW will also come on stream by March. The power plant is 600 MW capacity thermal power plant which has coal linkage with Coal India. When both units of the Haldia plant become operational, the total capacity of CESC in West Bengal would be 1800 MW. CESC had said that the company was also trying to have a back-up plan in case it fails to secure a coal mine in the coming auctions. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 15, 2015. State-run BHEL has bagged a ` 1,202 crore order for 370 MW gas-based combined cycle power project in Karnataka. The company has been awarded this contract for setting up a Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP) in Karnataka on EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) basis by the Karnataka Power Corporation. This plant will replace the old diesel generator-based power capacity and improve the power supply in Karnataka and specifically Bengaluru city. The key equipment for the manufactured at BHEL's Hyderabad, Trichy, Haridwar, Bhopal and Jhansi plants, while the company's Power Sector - Southern Region shall execute the civil works and erection & commissioning. (www.business-standard.com)

January 20, 2015. To facilitate an integrated power grid for members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the Centre will soon approve cross-border trading on the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX). The move will initially enable short-term buying and selling of power with Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. Transactions with other SAARC members will be carried out when these countries have grid connectivity with India. In a petition, IEX has sought consent and directions for cross-border trading of 120 MW with Bhutan and 50 MW each with Nepal and Bangladesh. The petition said the key regulations governing the power market — the Indian Electricity Grid Code, open access regulations and power market regulations — didn’t have provisions barring such transactions by power exchanges.

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has asked the Central Electricity Authority, the ministry of power and the Power System Operation Corporation for their consent in the matter. Once approved, cross-border power trading will be commenced. At an annual SAARC energy ministers’ meeting in October last year, the Centre had arrived at a consensus over an inter-country grid connecting members of the SAARC bloc. The issue had been hanging fire for four years, At that time, power minister Piyush Goyal had said initial discussions for an integrated power transmission grid connecting India and its neighbours would be held. Through such a grid, excess production in a region could be used to meet deficit elsewhere, he had said. As of now, the India-Bhutan, India-Nepal and India-Bangladesh grids are interconnected and cross-border trade is already taking place through these. While an India-Sri-Lanka asynchronous interconnection is being finalised, an India-Pakistan grid is also being considered. (www.business-standard.com)

January 19, 2015. Delhi High Court (HC) dismissed Adani Power Ltd's plea seeking to restrain Lanco Infratech Ltd from selling its shares in its 1200 MW thermal power plant in Udupi district of Karnataka. Justice S Muralidhar asked the parties to initiate arbitration proceedings, as per the agreement between them, to settle their dispute with respect to Adani's ` 6,000 crore proposed acquisition of Lanco's power plant. Adani had moved the high court seeking to restrain Lanco and its representatives from selling its shares in Udupi Power Corporation Ltd or creating any third party interest in the unit, saying it would be a violation of a share purchase agreement (SPA) between them. It wanted to restrain Lanco from selling shares of its Udupi unit till the time the arbitration proceedings remained pending, saying that otherwise its interests would be harmed as it had paid ` 125 crore as advance consideration. As per Adani's plea, the conditions of the SPA required Lanco to provide consent to the transaction from all of its secured lenders as well as a consent to release the shares of Udupi pledged with them. It had also obtained the requisite clearance from the Competition Commission of India, the petition had said. Adani had also accused Lanco of trying to unilaterally terminate the SPA, even though Adani had agreed to extend the same till March 31, 2015. The SPA had expired on December 29 last year. Lanco had refuted all the allegations made by Adani. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 16, 2015. Nearly 2.29 crore consumers across Maharashtra paid their power bills online and through Any Time Payment (ATP) machines last year, an increase of about 34 per cent from 2013 of consumers availing these technologies. A total of 1.26 crore consumers across the state paid their bills through the online payment mode last year and the total collection was ` 1,673.94 crore, a release issued by Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) said. In 2013, 91.18 lakh consumers had paid their bills online which fetched a collection of ` 1,222.08 crore, it said. Besides, 1.03 crore consumers paid their power bills through ATP machines last year leading to a collection of ` 1,879.34 crore through it, whereas in 2013, the total payment made through ATP machines was ` 1,558.90 crore and 79.87 lakhs consumers had availed the service. In view of the increasing response from the consumers, the MSEDCL installed 40 new ATP machines at different locations across Maharashtra. There were 128 ATP machines in January 2014 which increased to 167 by December last year. These modes of payment have now enabled the consumers to pay their bills at their convenience. Recently, the Mahavitaran received the 'Iconic Insight Award' by the International Data Corporation for its best IT-based consumer services. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 15, 2015. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal alleged a nexus between Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Delhi chief Satish Upadhyay and power companies in the national capital. Kejriwal alleged Upadhyay owned six firms that install and replace meters for one of the Delhi’s two private power distribution companies. AAP also alleged BJP’s Delhi vice-president Ashish Sood, was director in one of these firms till last year. Both leaders dismissed Kejriwal’s claims and said they would file a criminal defamation case against him. Kejriwal said AAP had got the details about the firms through the website www.indiamart.com which showed these have been supplying, installing and replacing meters along with conducting metering work for power companies in Delhi. (www.business-standard.com)

January 14, 2015. Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) governor NN Vohra has directed the Power Development Department (PDD) to ensure stable power supply to people in the state in view of the prevalent harsh weather conditions in the region. In view of the prevalent harsh weather conditions in the state, the governor has directed the Power Development Department to ensure stable power supply to people. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 14, 2015. Neyveli Lignite Corp (NLC) has sought suggestions from the general public with regard to its proposal to import coal for its ` 14,375 crore thermal power project in Uttar Pradesh. The Coal Ministry had earlier allocated the Pachwara South mine in Jharkhand for the project. With delays in development of the block, there is a proposal by Neyveli Uttar Pradesh Power Ltd (NUPPL) to use imported coal in its proposed 1980 MW project till the time the mine begins production, the company said. NLC had earlier signed an pact with Uttar Pradesh in 2010 to set up a thermal power plant in joint venture with UP Rajya Vidyut Utapadan Nigam Ltd (UPRVUNL). The joint venture agreement was signed between NLC and UPRVUNL in October 2012 and the JV company was formed in November 2012. NLC had also earlier invited global firms for providing consultancy for the power project. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 14, 2015. The ministry of power has approved an investment of ` 996 crore for augmentation of transmission facilities. This will also support establishment of new test facilities in existing laboratories of Central Power Research Institute (CPRI), located at Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkota, Guwahati, Noida and Nagpur. A new laboratory will also be established in Western Region at Nasik. CPRI, with its headquarters at Bengaluru, is an autonomous society under the aegis of the ministry of power. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 20, 2015. Over 100 bidders have already come forward to participate in the forthcoming coal mine auctions, Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal said. The government will put on offer 46 coal blocks and the auction of mines are due next month. The government kick-started the auction process for coal mines that were deallocated by the Supreme Court. The government has already put on website the list of 17 coal blocks which would be allotted to government companies. The Minister further said a lot of wrong impression is being sought to be created on the government inviting financial bids along with the technical bids in the first instance. Defending the decision, he said that "we can get aggressive bidding right from the beginning". (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 20, 2015. Government has set up an expert panel to analyse the methodology adopted in the bidding process for ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) in Odisha and Tamil Nadu, which received tepid response from the private sector. The group will soon submit its report after examining the bidding documents to determine if the methodology adopted at the time of tendering for Odisha and Tamil Nadu UMPPs was fair, Power, Coal and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal said. He did not divulge the timeline for the submission of the report. The 5-member panel includes Pratyush Sinha (ex-Central Vigilance Commissioner), Pramod Deo (ex-CERC Chairman) and R N Choubey, Special Secretary, Ministry of Power. Goyal reiterated that the government hopes to award 4-5 UMPPs this year. He said that the country has a potential of executing up to even 9 UMPPs. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 20, 2015. Government opposed in Delhi High Court (HC) the pleas of JSPL and its promoter Naveen Jindal challenging its order changing end-use of coal blocks earlier alloted to them, saying the decision was taken to ensure optimal use of reserves of the natural resource. The Attorney General (AG) Mukul Rohatgi contended that the Supreme Court while cancelling the coal blocks had made it clear that there cannot be any link with the past. The Centre was responding to the petition in which JSPL contended that it was allocated coal blocks in Odisha and Chhattisgarh for the setting up steel and sponge iron production units respectively, and changing the end-use has resulted in making it ineligible to participate in the ongoing auction process which is expected to culminate on February 14. Rohatgi made it clear that while cancelling the coal blocks, the apex court had said not to look at prior allocation or the investment made on the same as the process of allocation was "fundamentally flawed, illegal and arbitrary". The AG said the decision to change end-use as well as merge some coal blocks, as was done in the case of Utkal B1 and B2 in Odisha (allotted to JSPL), was taken on the basis of the recommendations of a high powered committee. Rohatgi said one of the members of the panel was from Central Mines Planning and Design Institute Ltd (CMPDIL), a premier body for coal exploration and mining. He also said that the government's Coal Ordinance of 2014 was a direct fallout of the apex court verdict. The AG said the priority to power sector was given to comply with the ordinance's mandate to carry out auction in public interest, in a transparent manner and for optimal utilisation of the coal reserves. (zeenews.india.com)

January 19, 2015. Electricity bills in Himachal Pradesh's state capital Shimla can now be deposited in post offices. The general post office (GPO) in Shimla has already started receiving electricty bills. Postal department officials said this week, 21 post offices in and around the state capital could start this service. If it is successful, this service will be introduced across the hill state. Currently, power bills have to be deposited at the nearest state electricity board office. The board has also installed unmanned machines which accept cash payments in Shimla and other places. But long queues are seen at these places. There is also an online facility of bill payment through net banking but hasn't picked up. (www.business-standard.com)

January 19, 2015. The Prime Minister's Officer (PMO) has asked the Coal Ministry to monitor closely the process of allotment and auction of coal mines to ensure that there is no disruption in the production of dry fuel. It has also asked the ministry to prepare a perspective plan to step up the domestic coal output to meet the growing demand for the fossil fuel. Besides, expressing concerns that the three critical rail links were behind schedule, the PMO was of the view that the lines need to be expedited in close coordination with the concerned states. Three rail corridors are: Tori-Shivpuri-Kathotia in North Karanpura, Jharkhand; Bhupdeopur-Korichhaapar to Mand Raigadh mines in Chhattisgarh; and Barpali-Jharsuguda in IB Valley, Odisha. The Supreme Court had scrapped the allocation of 204 out of 218 coal blocks to various companies since 1993 terming it as "fatally flawed". The Union Cabinet later approved re-promulgation of the coal ordinance and necessary guidelines for mine allocations. The government had kick-started the auction process for coal mines that were deallocated by the Supreme Court. The much-awaited auction of coal blocks is likely to begin next month. In the schedule II mines (in production) category 23 blocks will be auctioned and in the schedule III blocks list (ready to produce) 23 blocks will be put up for offer. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 18, 2015. Government's proposal to allow multiple power suppliers is "anti-people" and would help private palyers earn "creamy profit", a federation of power engineers has said. All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) would soon make a written submission before a Parliamentary Panel demanding immediate withdrawl of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2014, and launch a nationwide agitation. The Federation has decided to request the Government for a detailed deliberation with power employees and consumers before going for such a major amendment. The government has said amendments proposed in the Bill would usher in much needed further reforms in power sector. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 16, 2015. The city is likely to be fully lit with LED lights by the end of this year saving power consumption by 50 per cent, its Mayor Prafullajjit Sinha said. The Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) has signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) to replace the sodium vapour and other lamps by LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights in the whole city. The work is likely to be completed by this financial year, he said.

Sinha said the first phase of the project covering about 20 km areas had already been completed by EESL, a PSU of the union power ministry, and the last two phases would be completed by March next.  The project cost stands at ` 20 crore to light up 35,000 LED lights and the entire cost would be borne by EESL, the Mayor said adding the cost of the saved energy would be taken away by the PSU for the next seven years as project cost. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 16, 2015. The Centre is open to all options, including privatisation of the now-defunct 1,967 MW Dabhol power project operated by the Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Ltd (RGPPL) in Maharashtra, said Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal. The minister said he would convene a meeting in the next 10 days with lenders to the troubled project, the officials of Maharashtra government and its undertaking Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MahaVitaran) to discuss the issues pertaining to the arrears of ` 2,000 crore. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss how the project could be revived. Goyal also said the Centre was planning to float tenders for five ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) with 4,000 Mw each during the current calendar year. According to the minister, the Centre has proposed an investment of $250 billion in generation, transmission, distribution, renewable energy and coal production in a bid to achieve 24x7 power supply. (www.business-standard.com)

January 15, 2015. States, especially the relatively poorer ones, are in for a bonanza due to the coal auctions with the government estimating payments of ` 3.5 lakh crore over the next few years once the 204 coal mines cancelled by following a Supreme Court order are auctioned. The new revenue stream will be in addition to another ` 3.5 lakh crore flowing to them by way of royalty payments. Among the seven states, the initial round of auctions this are expected to benefit Chattisgarh and Odisha the most since majority of the cancellations are related to these two states. But over the next few years, mineral-rich Jharkhand is expected to steal a march over the rest. According to estimates, over the next 30 years, Jharkhand may end up pocketing close to ` 1.25 lakh crore from the 60 blocks with reserves of over 15,000 tonnes. This will translate into annual receipts of around ` 4,100 crore — which is almost 35% of the own tax revenue of ` 11,800 crore that the state has budgeted to mop up during the current financial year. Odisha is expected to be the second major beneficiary with receipts of close to ` 1 lakh crore from coal mined in the 30 blocks. So, annually it can hope to get around ` 3,200, which is around 17% of the budgeted tax collections of ` 18,300 crore for the current fiscal year. The payment calculations are baseline estimates and the actual flows could be much higher, helping some of the states garner resources to meet their development and infrastructure needs. The calculations are based on the assumption that 70% of the coal is supplied to the power sector at ` 100 a tonne, while the remaining goes to others such as steel at ` 300 a tonne. Following the Supreme Court order last year, the government has initiated the process of auctioning coal mines and the process has already been set in motion. The court has given the government time till March-end to complete the auction process, which will help keep several power and steel plants running. The realizations are expected to pick up over the years once more blocks commence production. The estimates suggest that the power sector will help states generate around ` 1.5 lakh crore, while ` 2 lakh crore will flow from the others that consume coal. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 14, 2015. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on Prime Minister (PM) of Bhutan Tshering Tobgay and discussed important bilateral issues including security and hydro power projects. During the meeting, Tobgay assured India that his government will not allow any anti-India activities from its soil. The two leaders also reviewed the status of various joint hydropower projects. Tobgay had held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the margins of 'Vibrant Gujarat' in Gandhinagar. (zeenews.india.com)

January 14, 2015. A committee under the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has recommended state-owned NTPC Ltd to consider shifting the location of its proposed 4,000 MW power plant from the current site at Vishakhapatnam as the area is "ecologically sensitive". AP has allotted 1,200 acres of land on a lease basis for 33 years to NTPC for setting up the 4,000 MW power project in Visakhapatnam with an investment outlay of ` 20,000 crore. According to an earlier order issued by the government, NTPC had committed to complete the project before March, 2019 and once completed, it would be the biggest single location power project in the state. If the project is running successfully at the end of the lease period, it can be extended further on mutual terms. (www.business-standard.com)

 [INTERNATIONAL: OIL & GAS]

January 20, 2015. Schlumberger Ltd will pay $1.7 billion for a stake in Eurasia Drilling Co, a bet by the world’s largest oilfield services provider that economic sanctions won’t hold back Russia’s energy industry. Schlumberger, based in Houston and Paris, will pay $22 a share for a 46.45 percent holding in London-traded Eurasia Drilling. Schlumberger has an option to buy the rest of the company’s shares three years after the deal closes. By buying into Russia’s largest driller, Schlumberger is putting aside concerns about economic sanctions and the state of the country’s economy.

The deal comes as the slide in the crude price to less than $50 a barrel spurs consolidation in the services industry as demand for rigs drops and oil producers lean on suppliers to drive down costs. Though U.S. and EU sanctions have targeted Russia’s oil industry, where Schlumberger has had a significant presence since the 1990s, they don’t affect the vast majority of Eurasia Drilling’s business. The measures include a ban on export licenses for technology used in production of oil from shale, as well as from Arctic offshore and deepwater areas. The industry has also been hit by measures limiting access to international capital markets for Russia’s largest companies. The transaction foresees Eurasia Drilling’s principal shareholders taking the company private and de-listing it. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter, Schlumberger said. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 20, 2015. Norwegian Energy Company continues to face production cutbacks as an output restriction on the Huntington field in Britain, its biggest asset, will remain in place until the end of February, it said. Huntington production continues at restricted rates, with output around 1,500 barrels of oil per day to Noreco, the firm said. The Huntington field is operated by Germany's E.ON. (www.rigzone.com)

January 19, 2015. Russia's Rosneft has started oil production at the Arkutun-Dagi field, which is expected to produce 4.5 million tonnes of oil a year (90,000 barrels per day) at peak production, the company said. The Arkutun-Dagi offshore field is part of the Sakhalin-1 project led by U.S. major ExxonMobil. Japan's Sodeco and India's ONGC Videsh are two other shareholders in the Sakhalin-1 project. The launch of the field, one of three operating at Sakhalin-1, should add to Russia's oil production, which hit a post-Soviet record high last year, averaging 10.58 million bpd. Two other fields in the Sakhalin-1 project, Chayvo and Odoptu, began production in 2005 and 2010, respectively. Russian oil production is expected to stay at between 526 and 528 million tonnes (10.56-10.60 million bpd) this year, according to Energy Ministry forecasts. The ministry so far has played down any major risks to domestic oil output due to sanctions and oil price volatility. (www.rigzone.com)

January 19, 2015. Norwegian energy firm Det norske has started up its Boeyla oil field in the North Sea, expecting to recover 23 million barrels of oil equivalents after a 5 billion crown ($660 million) investment, it said. The field, produced through subsea equipment and tied to the Alvheim floating production, storage and offloading unit, will produce over 20,000 barrels of oil equivalents at its peak, the firm said. (www.rigzone.com)

January 19, 2015. Russia’s record crude oil output last year is likely to prove a high-water mark as economic sanctions and lower prices erode investment in developing deposits needed to replace aging Soviet-era fields. The world’s largest oil producer will probably see total output flat, at best, over the next two to three years, according to analysts and forecasters including OAO Gazprombank. Others, such as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries, predict a decline. The prospect of stagnant oil production, which has almost doubled since the chaotic years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, will add to the chronic economic challenges confronting President Vladimir Putin’s government including the slump in energy prices, sanctions and capital flight. It will also allow other oil-exporting nations to grab market share. Over the past several years, Russia has successfully offset lower production from West Siberia, the country’s primary source of crude for almost half a century, with new volumes from East Siberia. Output reached a post-Soviet record of 10.667 million barrels a day in December, according to the Energy Ministry. That will start to change this year because there isn’t same flow of new fields in the eastern part of Russia’ vast hinterland. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 18, 2015. Iraq produced a record of around 4 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in December, Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mehdi announced. Abdel Mehdi also revealed plans to export 375,000 bpd for the first three months of 2015 from around the northern city of Kirkuk and the Kurdistan region. He said those fields would increase production to 600,000 bpd as of April. The previous monthly record for Iraqi production was 3.56 million bpd in 1979, according to Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization. Abdel Mehdi said that Iraq had set the level of exports for Iraq's northern and Kurdish oilfields for the first three months of 2015 after the meeting with Yildiz. The oil from Iraq's north is exported via a pipeline network from the Kurdistan region to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The arrangement is the result of an interim deal reached between Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan in early December after years of acrimony between the two sides over oil rights. Under the deal, the sides agreed to ship 300,000 bpd of oil from Kirkuk and 250,000 bpd from Kurdistan via the Kurds' pipeline network. (www.rigzone.com)

January 17, 2015. Oil advanced, capping the first weekly gain since November, after the International Energy Agency lowered forecasts for supplies from outside OPEC and an industry report showed U.S. companies reduced drilling activity. Crude rose 5.3 percent in New York. Non-OPEC oil producers will boost output this year at a slower rate than previously forecast, aiding a recovery in crude prices, the IEA said. Rigs targeting oil in the U.S. fell for the eighth time in nine weeks, by 55 to 1,366 this week, Baker Hughes Inc. said. They are at the lowest level since October 2013. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 15, 2015. France's Total and Britain's BG Group have started producing gas at the West Franklin field in the North Sea, the companies said. The field, located 240 kilometres (150 miles) east of the Scottish town of Aberdeen, is expected to deliver 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) and has gross reserves of 85 billion boe. Britain is in need of fresh oil and gas supplies as North Sea production has declined drastically since its peak at the turn of the millennium. Gas pumped from the field will be processed at the nearby Total-operated Elgin platform. (www.rigzone.com)

January 20, 2015. BP Plc has finished restarting a 60,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) catalytic reformer at its 413,500 bpd refinery in Whiting, Indiana. The reformer, which converts refining by-products into octane-boosting additives for gasoline, was shut by a power outage more than a week ago and began restarting on Jan. 13. (www.downstreamtoday.com)

January 16, 2015. Refineries around the world processed a record volume of crude in December as plants returned from maintenance and falling oil prices boosted margins, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. Global refinery crude throughput rose by 370,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 78.9 million bpd last month, the West's energy watchdog said in its monthly report, although it warned that volumes will drop off in the first quarter this year. The largest gains took place in the United States, where refiners increased operations following seasonal maintenance. The price of Brent crude has fallen by more than half since June to around $50 a barrel. Refinery runs are expected to fall to an average of 77.8 million bpd in the first quarter of 2015 due to growing product stock levels and deteriorating profit margins, the IEA said. (www.downstreamtoday.com)

January 15, 2015. A major new joint-venture refinery in Saudi Arabia shipped its first clean diesel cargo, the company Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Co (Yasref) said. The 400,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and China's Sinopec, started trial runs in September and had originally planned its first exports by November. Yasref said it loaded 300,000 barrels of diesel from the refinery, located in Yanbu on the Red Sea coast. Yasref is the second refinery to start up in Saudi Arabia in the past two years and will complete state company Saudi Aramco's transformation into a leading exporter of diesel. Yasref will produce 263,000 bpd of diesel, 90,000 bpd of gasoline, 6,200 tonnes per day of petroleum coke, 1,200 tonnes a day of pelletized sulphur and 140,000 tonnes a year of benzene, according to the company. The first cargo will be marketed by Saudi Aramco, which holds 62.5 percent share of output from the mega refinery. Sinopec, which holds the remaining share, will target Europe and East Africa for diesel shipments from the refinery. (www.downstreamtoday.com)

January 20, 2015. A crude oil pipeline and a deep sea port meant to secure an alternative route for Chinese imports overland through Myanmar are set to open at the end of January, but an affiliated refinery in China is months away from completion. The finished development should help ease China's reliance on shipments via the narrow and potentially risky Malacca Strait. Although that route, through which some 80 percent of China's oil imports now pass, would still be used for the vast majority of overseas purchases. PetroChina, the main investor in the facilities, has built 60 percent of the refinery in Yunnan province that borders Myanmar, designed to process the crude shipped via the pipeline, a spokesman for the state energy giant said. Completion is slated for later this year. Until the 200,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Anning refinery opens, the new pipeline can only be used to pump oil into tanks, providing limited near-term support to China's crude oil imports, which expanded by nearly 10 percent in 2014 to 6.2 million bpd. The pipeline has a capacity of 440,000 bpd. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) subsidiary Southeast Asia Pipeline Co. Ltd., which is in charge of building and managing the pipeline, said the 2,400-km (1,500 miles) line would open at the end of this month. The planned opening was confirmed by an energy official in Myanmar. Before the launch of the new refinery, oil will be stored in tanks in Guangxi, a region east of Yunnan. CNPC also has up to a dozen storage tanks in Myanmar, and could have even more in Yunnan, according to a Chinese media report. CNPC had said in 2013 that the pipeline was 94-percent complete and would be finished that year. An adjacent natural gas pipeline opened in 2013, carrying 1.87 billion cubic metres of gas in its first year. (www.rigzone.com)

January 20, 2015. The developer of the Keystone XL oil pipeline made good on its promise to try to seize access to the Nebraska land it needs to finish the project — the first steps it's taken since the state's high court removed a major legal barrier. TransCanada employees said the company filed legal papers in nine Nebraska counties to invoke eminent domain for the land that's needed to construct, operate and maintain the pipeline. The filings come just before the company's two-year window closes. The pipeline still faces legal challenges in Nebraska, even though the state's Supreme Court allowed the route to stand by default. Opponents have sued to try to prevent the Calgary, Alberta-based company from using eminent domain and to overturn the state pipeline-siting law that allowed ex-Gov. Dave Heineman to approve the route in 2013. The pipeline would carry an estimated 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day to Nebraska, where it would connect with existing pipelines headed for Gulf Coast refineries. (www.downstreamtoday.com)

January 17, 2015. In the US the cost of gasoline for dropped by almost half since June. The price of diesel used has lagged behind. That’s about to change as sliding farm demand after the U.S. harvest and milder weather brings diesel, nearly identical to heating oil, more in line with gasoline. Government forecasts show the fuel dropping to $2.73 a gallon by June.

The average retail price slipped below $3 this week for the first time in four years. Diesel’s drop will aid everyone from truckers to industrial users such as Towne Construction Services in Batavia, Ohio, which uses 300,000 gallons of diesel a year. Haulers have cut fuel surcharges to shippers, lowering the cost of delivering two-thirds of retail goods in the U.S. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 16, 2015. ExxonMobil Corp has signed a memorandum of understanding to supply natural gas to power plants in Papua New Guinea in a deal that would give it licences to develop a new gas field that may help expand the company's PNG liquefied natural gas plant. LNG from Papua New Guinea is seen as the most profitable to develop for supplying Asia compared with rival projects in Australia and North America. ExxonMobil said it would begin preparations this year to drill an appraisal well at the P'nyang gas field, co-owned by Oil Search Ltd. (www.downstreamtoday.com)

January 16, 2015. The theory goes that commodity prices move in “supercycles” or bursts of phenomenal surges, followed by longer, less-exciting periods. As such, a barrel of oil at $50 is, well, normal. Many people think the oil price has crashed, but it has just gone back to its long-term historical trend, according to Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc. That makes a barrel of oil at around $50 just about right based on a 100-year inflation-adjusted average, said Sharma, who manages $25 billion as head of emerging markets. The supercycle surge in oil prices was kicked off by China’s emergence as an industrialized economy and net oil importer in the middle of the 1990s. In 1995 it imported 343,000 barrels a day, according to BP Plc data. In 2013, it bought 5.7 million barrels a day. The nation is now the world’s biggest energy consumer and the second-biggest oil user. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 16, 2015. Attempts are being made near the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’ coast to disguise oil from Iran so that it can be sold to countries that are blocked by the U.S. from purchasing such shipments, global ship insurers said. The attempts to transfer cargoes between ships off the UAE’s coast are to allow the transportation of crude to countries that don’t have a waiver to U.S. sanctions blocking the purchase of Iranian oil, it said. Two calls to the UAE.’s National Transport Authority in Abu Dhabi weren’t answered outside normal business hours. Nor were two calls to the National Iranian Oil Co., which were also made outside normal working hours. The terms of U.S. sanctions allow China, South Korea, Japan, Turkey, Taiwan and India to buy oil from Iran. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 20, 2015. OPEC has no immediate plan to cut its output target for crude, and Iran is strong enough to withstand a deeper slump in prices even if the country must sell at $25 a barrel, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said. Brent crude traded below $49 in London on Jan. 19. Oil has fallen more than 30 percent since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided on Nov. 27 to keep its ceiling unchanged at 30 million barrels a day. Iran isn’t seeking for OPEC to hold an emergency meeting, Zanganeh said. The group is scheduled to meet next on June 5. Iran together with Venezuela has called for OPEC, which supplies about 40 percent of the world’s oil, to work together to support a recovery in crude. The U.S. shale boom has contributed to a global glut, and Qatar and the United Arab Emirates estimate the oversupply at about 2 million barrels a day. Iran is hobbled by international sanctions over its nuclear program and struggling for market share. Iran is consulting with its fellow OPEC members to respond to the collapse, Zanganeh said, without providing details. As of yet, OPEC has made no decision to reduce its production ceiling, he said. Upheaval in oil markets is the result of politics and decisions by producer countries, Zanganeh said. Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, said it was “irrelevant” whether crude fell as low as $20 a barrel, Middle East Economic Survey reported. U.A.E. Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei said that sustainable development in the petroleum industry cannot be achieved at current prices. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 19, 2015. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices in Asia are poised to average below $10 per million a British thermal unit in 2015 for the first time in four years amid growing supply and as oil tumbles. Spot and term cargoes will be priced lower this year from 2014, according to the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Holmwood Consulting Ltd. LNG prices will likely be “single digit” even as oil prices recover from their collapse, said Jonathan Stern, a senior research fellow from the U.K.-based Oxford Institute. Long-term LNG contracts can be priced off by up to 15 percent of oil prices, and for the supercooled gas to sell under $10 Brent needs to trade below $66 a barrel, according to a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance and data compiled by Bloomberg News. Benchmark crude slumped almost 50 percent last year as the U.S. pumped at the fastest rate in almost three decades, exacerbating a global glut. Brent crude fell below $65 a barrel on Dec. 10 and was trading down 57 cents at $49.60 at 5:06 p.m. Singapore time on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Crude may fall below a six-month forecast of $39 a barrel and rallies could be thwarted by the speed at which lost shale production can recover, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 16, 2015. Iran, its oil exports curbed by sanctions, is lowering the crude price for this year’s budget to $40 a barrel as the energy slump affects governments and industry. The government is revising its draft budget to assume a base price of $40, from $72, the Finance and Economy Minister Ali Tayebnia said. The minister said some projects will have to be halted. Prices of Brent, a benchmark for more than half the world’s oil, have dropped about 50 percent in the past year, forcing governments to reduce subsidies on diesel, natural gas and utilities and companies to cut billions from capital budgets.

Qatar Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell Plc called off plans to build a $6.5 billion petrochemical plant. Iran President Hassan Rouhani presented a budget to lawmakers based on $72 oil. Since then, Brent crude has dropped about 30 percent. It budgeted $100 oil last year. Iraq, the second-biggest member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is using $60 in its budget. Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer, is probably assuming $80, according to John Sfakianakis, a former Saudi government economic adviser. Kuwait has propsed basing its 2015-16 budget on oil at $45. Rouhani said that he expected oil prices at five-year lows to place “short-term pressure” on state revenue. Saudi Arabia has rebuffed calls from Iran and others in OPEC to cut output amid a struggle with U.S. shale producers for market share. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 16, 2015. Indonesia has scrapped a land tax that companies pay while exploring for oil and gas, a move that might encourage exploration at a time of concern that it could fall sharply due to tumbling oil prices. According to a ministerial decree posted on the Finance Ministry, the tax office is no longer assessing a 0.5 percent "land and building tax" charged on the area in which companies are carrying out exploration activities, effective from Jan. 1. The ministry's tax office said the interpretation used for taxing exploration areas was wrong, thus the ministry amended the regulation. In December, the Indonesian Petroleum Association said that spending on oil and gas exploration and production in the country could fall by up to 20 percent this year. (www.rigzone.com)

January 16, 2015. Non-OPEC oil producers will increase output this year at a slower rate than previously forecast, aiding a recovery in crude prices, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. The adviser lowered its non-OPEC supply growth estimate by 350,000 barrels a day, the first cut since the 2015 forecast was introduced in July. Half the cut is from Colombian output while effects on U.S. production are so far “marginal,” it said. The slow-down in non-OPEC output will lead to a “rebalancing” of currently over-supplied global markets in the second half, reviving prices, the agency said.

Oil prices have collapsed almost 60 percent from last year’s peak, as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) resolved to defend market share against the fastest U.S. production in more than three decades. OPEC’s decision is testing the ability of rival producers to keep pumping as prices slump to a 5 1/2-year low. Non-OPEC supply still will increase 950,000 barrels a day this year to 57.5 million a day, the IEA said. Colombia’s supply will be about 175,000 lower than previously anticipated, about the same as Canada and the U.S. combined. Production from Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s biggest member, remained steady in December at 9.6 million barrels a day, the IEA said. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 16, 2015. Top policy makers in western Europe’s biggest oil producer underscored their commitment to providing stimulus should the economy need it. Norway is strong enough to weather the fallout of plunging crude prices, Prime Minister Erna Solberg said after meeting with central bank Governor Oeystein Olsen and Finance Minister Siv Jensen. It was the first set of crisis talks between the government and central bank since 2008.

Norges Bank in December cut its main rate for the first time in almost three years and signaled a 50-50 chance for another cut early this year, saying Norway risks a “severe downturn” as oil prices slumped. The cut followed comments from Jensen, who said late last year it was up to the central bank to protect Norway from the shock of lower oil prices. Olsen said there was nothing “dramatic” happening to the economy and that he would return with a fuller assessment in March. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 16, 2015. Major oil companies are awaking from their slumber and facing up to the magnitude of the crash in crude prices. From Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) canceling a $6.5 billion project in Qatar to Schlumberger Ltd. firing about 9,000 people and Statoil ASA giving up exploration in Greenland, the oil industry concluded that the slump is no blip. Top producers follow U.S. shale developers such as Continental Resources Inc. in unraveling a boom that produced more oil and natural gas than the world is ready to buy. And there’s certainly more unwinding to come. For most of this month, crude oil has traded below $50 a barrel, a level few predicted even two months ago when OPEC signaled it wouldn’t cut production to defend prices. If the market stays this depressed, global spending on exploration and production could fall more than 30 percent this year, the biggest drop since 1986, according to forecasts from Cowen & Co., a New York-based investment bank. Shell, BP Plc, Chevron Corp. and other top producers will signal plans for this year when they present 2014 earnings to investors this month and in early February. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 16, 2015. BP Plc faces a maximum fine of $13.7 billion after a U.S. judge ruled that the company dumped 3.2 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 -- about 75 percent of what the U.S. calculated. The government’s 4.2 million-barrel estimate of the spill size was rejected by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, decreasing the potential maximum fine from $18 billion. BP estimated the flow at 2.45 million barrels. The maximum possible fine would still be the largest U.S. pollution penalty. Barbier previously found BP’s exploration unit acted with gross negligence in causing the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. That decision triggered BP’s exposure to the maximum fines under the Clean Water Act. The ruling on the spill’s size sets the stage for a trial next week in New Orleans at which Barbier will determine the amount of the fines, based on the law’s provision for as much as $4,300 per barrel released and factors such as what BP did to minimize or mitigate the effects of the disaster. BP still faces multiple claims by private parties and state governments. The company reached an estimated $9.7 billion settlement of claims from most private parties who alleged they were harmed by the spill. The company didn’t settle with banks, casinos, local governments and businesses claiming harm from the deep-water drilling moratorium imposed by the government after the spill. Louisiana, Alabama and other Gulf states are also seeking unspecified damages for harm to natural resources. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 14, 2015. Oil’s price slump may hurt Saudi Arabia and Kuwait more than Iran, which depends less on crude exports than the other two nations, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said. Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, and neighboring Kuwait opposed Iran’s unsuccessful effort to persuade the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut output at their Nov. 27 meeting. Iran’s crude exports have been curbed by international sanctions imposed because of the country’s nuclear program. It produced 2.77 million barrels a day of oil in December, down from an average of 3.58 million in 2011. Declining oil prices will not put pressure on Iran because the government drafted its “least oil-dependent” budget, with only one-third of official revenue expected to come from oil exports in the next Iranian calendar year beginning March 21, Rouhani said. (www.bloomberg.com)

 [INTERNATIONAL: POWER]

January 15, 2015. China is expected to start building at least five nuclear reactors in 2015 while facing a further delay at a plant that had been slated to start this year. The Sanmen project in the eastern province of Zhejiang is expected to come online at the beginning of 2016 after problems were found in the main pump during testing, China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corp said The Westinghouse Electric Co.-designed plant is the world’s first AP1000 reactor. China plans to expand atomic capacity threefold by 2020 in a renewed nuclear push after the country stopped approving new projects following the Fukushima meltdown in Japan in March 2011. The country’s reactor-building program is now the world’s most ambitious, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The five projects represent more than 5 GW of capacity, the Chinese Nuclear Society said. China will probably keep up the pace of construction next year, the Chinese Nuclear Society said. Nuclear power is among the clean energies China hopes to rely on in a bid to cap carbon emissions by 2030. Atomic energy now accounts for just 2 percent of the country’s total power generation, the IEA estimates. Asia represents the future for nuclear energy. The region has 47 reactors under construction and a further 142 forecast by 2030, the World Nuclear Association (WNA) said. Asian investment in nuclear projects could reach $781 billion during the period, the WNA said. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 19, 2015. Appalachian Power is planning to upgrade an existing 69 kV electric transmission line in Mercer, Bland and Wythe counties to a 138 kV transmission line. The existing line was built in 1917. American Electric Power plans to keep the new line within the same right of way that currently exists. Both the 69 kV system and 138 kV system are at the low end of the transmission capacity. (www.bdtonline.com)

January 20, 2015. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that Pakistan has implemented the nuclear safeguards agreement. The Foreign Office (FO) said that IAEA's Deputy Director General (Safeguards) Tero Varjoranta conveyed the IAEA's satisfaction over the implementation of the safeguard agreement. The IAEA's safeguards system is a set of technical measures by which the IAEA secretariat independently verifies the genuineness of the declarations made by the member countries about their nuclear material and activities. Pakistan has been operating nuclear power plants under the IAEA safeguards for over 40 years. The Pakistan government plans to increase nuclear power generation to 8,800 MWe by 2030 and 40,000 MWe by 2050 to meet the energy shortfall. A number of new nuclear power plants are planned under the Nuclear Power Programme 2050. Pakistan has been seeking international assistance for its ambitious nuclear power generation plan under the IAEA safeguards. (www.business-standard.com)

January 19, 2015. A new price structure unveiled by Beijing to help gas-fired power generators pass on rising fuel costs to customers does not go far enough to address problems facing the sector. The on-grid electricity tariff paid to gas-fired power stations has been allowed to move with the price of gas since 1 January, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said. Gas-fired power is largely used for peak shaving, but China has not experienced any electricity shortages in recent years, Chen Zongfa, the director of corporate management at state utility China Huadian Corp. said. The under-utilisation of gas capacity, together with rising prices, saddled a third of domestic gas-fired power stations with losses in 2014, Chen said. Huadian’s own gas-fired power plants in Zhejiang province – where non-residential gas prices are 14.5% higher than average – only broke even in 2014, Chen said. The company is China’s largest gas-derived power producer, with installed generation capacity of 7.97 GW in 2014.

Huadian reportedly aims to build capacity to 20 GW by 2020, while gas burn by its generators will rise to 14 billion cubic metres from 3.7 billion cubic metres (bcm) over the same period. Power generation is seen as one of the key drivers for China’s gas demand surge over the next two decades, as the government boosts the use of greener fuels.

The country burned 30.2 bcm of gas for power production in 2013 – which represented 18% of total gas consumption. But Chen said the big five state power groups – including Huadian – are reluctant to invest in gas-fired power. The NDRC said it will continue to encourage local subsidies and other financial incentives to improve the economics of gas-fired power plants. But Chen said subsidies are unlikely to brighten the sector’s prospects much and 2015 will be another difficult year. (interfaxenergy.com)

January 15, 2015. South Korea’s nuclear regulator may decide as soon as whether to extend the operating license for the Wolsong No. 1 nuclear reactor, the first to come up for renewal since the 2011 Fukushima disaster in neighboring Japan. The 679 MW reactor, South Korea’s second-oldest, has been offline since its original 30-year license expired in 2012. Operator Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. has already spent 560 billion won ($520 million) to refit Wolsong No. 1, forecast to run at a loss if its operating life is extended to 2022.

While approval was essentially a foregone conclusion when regulators last faced this issue in 2007, since then the triple meltdown at Fukushima, a domestic scandal over forged safety documents and a hacking attack on Korea Hydro’s computer network have galvanized the country’s anti-nuclear movement. Even if money already spent tips the Wolsong decision in its favor this time, mounting public opposition means the state-run operator can no longer be guaranteed to get its own way.

The Wolsong nuclear plant, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul in the town of Yangnam, is a focal point for all aspects of the anti-nuclear movement. The government ordered the replacement of control cables at both Shin-Wolsong No. 1 and No. 2 in 2013 after they were found to be using components whose safety certificates were faked. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 15, 2015. Oleg Deripaska, who became a billionaire selling Russia’s natural resources, plans to use Siberia’s abundant hydropower to create a string of data centers that could transform the region into a technology powerhouse. With energy accounting for almost a third of operating costs for these centers, Deripaska aims to leverage low power rates at a time when a new law pushed by Russian President Vladimir Putin will require companies to store electronic data on Russian users within the country, starting in September.

The first center is set to be completed this year in Irkutsk, a city that sits by Lake Baikal where Deripaska’s En+ Group holding company operates three dams. It’s closer to China and Mongolia than to Moscow, and the company has said it will seek customers both within Russia and in Asia, a strategy that fits with Putin’s efforts to improve ties with Asia as relations chill with Europe and the U.S. En+ Group’s energy unit EuroSibEnergo produces about 9 percent of Russia’s total electricity, according to the Moscow-based company. It has 19.5 GW of capacity, three-fourths generated by hydropower. Data centers will be a good way to utilize about 1 GW of excess capacity, according to En+ Group. (www.bloomberg.com)

 [RENEWABLE ENERGY / CLIMATE CHANGE TRENDS]

January 20, 2015. A 10 MW solar power plant of Finnish firm Fortum Company, located in neighbouring Ujjain district, became operational. With this, the company's green power generation capacity in India has gone up to 15 MW. Solar Energy Corporation of India's Managing Director Ashwani Kumar said that solar power plant has come up under second phase of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) at Kapeli village and it was nation's first Greenfield project. Kumar said with the start of JNNSM the country's solar power generation capacity has gone up to over 3,000 MW. Fortum India Managing Director Sanjay Agrawal said the Kapeli project was their second plant in the country and its first project of 5 MW was already operational in Rajasthan. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 20, 2015. ABB India, a supplier of power and automation technology, announced that it will accompany Solar Impulse 2 and its crew on the aircraft's flight around the world powered only by energy from the sun. Solar Impulse, based in Switzerland, announced it will begin its historic flight between late February and early March in Abu Dhabi. In 2014, ABB and Solar Impulse had formed an innovation and technology alliance to advance a shared vision of reducing resource consumption and increasing the use of renewable energy, ABB said.

Three ABB engineers have joined the Solar Impulse team where they are contributing their expertise and passion. Their work includes improving control systems for ground operations, enhancing the charging electronics for the plane’s battery systems and resolving obstacles that emerge along the route, the company said. On the plane’s 40,000-kilometre route, pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg will share duties as the aircraft stops in cities including Muscat, Oman; Varanasi and Ahmedabad in India; Chongqing and Nanjing in China; and Phoenix, Arizona in the US. It will stopover in Europe or North Africa. Among the challenges before the mission concludes in Abu Dhabi in mid-2015 will be a non-stop flight of five days and nights from China to Hawaii. The plane, powered by 17,248 solar cells, will soar higher than Mount Everest each day while fully charging its batteries to stay aloft during the night. (www.business-standard.com)

January 20, 2015. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu released a book on climate change in the capital. The book titled "Carbon Capture, Storage and Utilisation" deals with mitigating climate change that is arising out of carbon emissions in the atmosphere. The book is a collection of papers prepared by authors such as R V Shahi, the former Power Secretary, Malti Goel, former Advisor in the Ministry of Science and Technology, and M Sudhakar, Advisor/Scientist, Ministry of Earth Sciences. The Carbon Capture, Storage and Utilisation (CCSU) is a global response to the challenge of climate change. It is an emerging energy technology dealing with capturing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, storing it away in underground reservoir and/or utilising it by conversion to various food, feedstock and fuels. Prabhu said the Railways is the biggest consumer of energy in the country.

Referring to the energy scenario in the country, he said that while India is making vigorous efforts to use alternate sources of energy, our dependence on fossil fuel will continue for many years. The climate change concerns arising from combustion and increasing accumulation of green house gases have given rise to the need for development of clean energy technologies and carbon dioxide mitigation is one of them. (zeenews.india.com)

January 19, 2015. Pitching for a paradigm shift in the global approach towards climate change, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi said instead of only focussing on emission cuts, due credit should be given to efforts made for clean energy generation and conservation. Underlining that focus should shift from "carbon credit" towards "green credit", he singled out solar energy, saying it needs to be integrated with hybrid system of energy to make it useful. He favoured setting up of a consortium of nations having potential in solar energy which could join hands with India in innovation and cutting-edge research that would reduce the cost of solar energy, making it more accessible to people. Chairing the first meeting of the reconstituted 'Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change, Modi said that "instead of focussing on emissions and cuts alone, focus should shift on what we have done for clean energy generation, energy conservation and energy efficiency, and what more can be done in these areas". Modi said India looks at the global concern and awareness on Climate Change, as a great opportunity for working towards improving the quality of life of its citizens, and making a positive contribution for mankind. He also directed ministries to prepare a concept note on five uncovered areas -- health, urban waste management, coastal areas and wind energy -- while dealing with climate change as these are not covered under the ongoing missions. Modi asked the ministries to ensure the existing eight missions run in a more focussed manner and deliver the results. These include missions on solar energy, enchanced energy efficiency, sustainable habitat, water, sustaining the Himalayan ecosystem, green India, sustainable agricutlure, Strategic Knowledge for climate change.

Modi asked the ministries to evaluate initiatives taken in the areas such as solar energy, wind energy, biomass energy, and transportation projects that have reduced distances or travel times. Emphasizing that India's "sanskar" (traditions) and "soch" (thinking), where "prakriti prem" (love of nature) was imbibed among people from childhood, "the Prime Minister recalled his meeting with leaders of Pacific island nations in Fiji in November 2014, and the apprehension they had over the issue of climate change. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 19, 2015. Big-sized solar power projects and residential rooftop installations are not long term solutions for India as they would result in huge cost for supplying electricity, according to Ratul Puri, chairman, Hindustan Power Projects. He said that his views are shared by other private companies as well and have been conveyed to the government. Ministry of new and renewable energy facilitates setting up grid connected solar rooftop as it has large potential area for generating solar power using unutilised space on rooftops. The ministry also facilitates development of solar parks and ultra mega solar power projects in the country. As far as ultra mega solar power projects are concerned, evacuation of power from plants would require massive transmission cost. Puri said that his company Hindustan Power Projects, which has an installed capacity of 500 MW plans to add another 1,500 MW by end of 2016. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 19, 2015. Managing Himalayan forest ecosystems on a trans-boundary scale is a must to reduce the effects of climate change, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said. The union minister viewed the symposium titled "Transforming Mountain Forestry in the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region", as first-of-its kind on a subject of vital interest in the region and looked forward to the outcome and recommendations of the deliberations. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) laid emphasis on the need for a paradigm shift in managing forests. Calling upon International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) member countries in the region to come together to create an interactive knowledge platform as a regional forestry community, he stressed the need for trans-boundary cooperation to raise their voice about forest issues. (zeenews.india.com)

January 18, 2015. Engineering firm Sunil Hitech Engineers expects to develop nearly 200 MW solar capacity in the next 5 years on the back of government's ambitious target of developing 100 GW renewable energy capacity by 2022, the company said. The company, through its infrastructure arm Sunil Hitech India Infra (SHIIL), is currently developing a 5 MW solar plant in Maharashtra under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) phase II batch I. The new government has given emphasis on setting up 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022. The company is also L1 for the 15 MW solar power project, which is yet to be awarded under the same scheme. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 17, 2015. In a bid to augment supply of environment friendly fuel, the government allowed private manufacturers of bio-diesel to sell it directly to consumers like Indian Railways. Till now, only state-owned oil firms and only those private firms investing ` 2,000 crore in oil infrastructure were allowed to retail petrol and diesel. Bio-diesel, which is to be doped in diesel before being used to fire automobiles, too was clubbed under this rule.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval for amending the Motor Spirit (petrol) and High Speed Diesel (diesel) control order for Regulation of Supply, Distribution and Prevention of Malpractices dated December 19, 2005. The amendment will allow private bio-diesel manufacturers, their authorised dealers and joint ventures of oil marketing companies (OMCs) authorised by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoP&NG) as dealers and give marketing /distribution functions to them for the limited purpose of supply of bio-diesel to consumers. The amendment was made because users faced problems in sourcing bio-diesel. State-owned firms had their financial consideration because cost of bio-diesel was more than the refinery-gate price of diesel. With the relaxation, bulk users like Railways can buy bio-diesel directly from manufacturers and dope in diesel for running locomotives. The ministry had in January 2006 announced a Bio-diesel Purchase Policy to encourage production of bio-diesel in the country for blending it with diesel with the objective of increasing energy security and meeting other emission and environment objectives. Under this Policy, OMCs were to buy Bio-diesel, meeting fuel quality standard prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), at a uniform price, as decided by the OMCs from time to time, for blending with HSD to the extent of five percent, at identified purchase centres across the country. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 14, 2015. Located in the underbelly of Australia, and holding nearly a quarter of the world's uranium reserves, the Australian province of South Australia, whose capital is Adelaide, is looking to help India boost its supplies of clean energy and water. South Australia has more than 23 percent of global identified uranium resources and we are definitely looking at supplying India with fuel required for producing clean energy, South Australia's Minister for Investment, Trade and Defence Industries Martin Hamilton-Smith said.

India and Australia signed an MoU for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy during the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot's visit to India in September last year, which has opened the way for uranium supplies to this country. Australia has world's largest reserves of recoverable uranium, while South Australia accounts for 80 percent of it. Situated as the "gateway" to the country, and with geographical similarities with India, South Australia is also looking share its expertise in the sphere of water management.

He had just returned from the water resource ministry's technology showcase event - India Water Week - being held over Jan 13-17, where he proposed South Australian services in meetings with Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Uma Bharti, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh. The minister is also exploring South Australia's participation in developing the action plan for Ganga renewal and the role companies from his state can play in the process. Hamilton-Smith is going to Rajasthan to explore business ties with the state, which he said has climate and geography similar to South Australia. (www.thehansindia.com)

January 14, 2015. Noting that India has great solar power generation potential, a United Nations (UN) body asked the Centre to promote it as it can help mitigate climate change and its consequences. Kandeh Yumkella, Under Secretary-General of United Nations and CEO of its Sustainable Energy for All initiative, met Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu to promote the cause and the Union minister agreed with his concerns. Experts accompanying Yumkella said efforts were on to promote use of solar panels and related equipment by reducing their weight to 20 percent of the present load per square meter. Yumkella also complimented Gujarat government for its initiative in this regard. Naidu informed him that his ministry had recently come out with a policy of achieving 100 MW of solar power generation through roof-top solar panels to be installed over the buildings owned and managed by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD). (www.business-standard.com)

January 14, 2015. INOX Wind Ltd (IWL), a subsidiary of Gujarat Fluorochemicals, will set up a single location integrated wind turbine manufacturing facility in Madhya Pradesh's Barwani district. The plant will be set up with an investment of over ` 300 crore. INOX Wind has 400 MW of projects under it in Madhya Pradesh, making it the largest developer in the state. The company will be manufacturing Nacelles (800 MW capacity), hubs, blades (800 MW capacity) and towers (800 MW capacity). The company will be manufacturing a 2 MW turbine and various variants including the 93 rotor diameter and the 100 rotor diameter. This complex will also be manufacturing Inox's Gen-Next 113 rotor diameter turbine.

The Barwani facility is spread over 45 acres and is bigger than other standalone manufacturing facilities of INOX Wind in Una in Himachal Pradesh and Rohika in Gujarat. INOX plans to set up 2500-3000 MW in next two years. Due to continuous investment, it has been growing at 79 per cent CAGR even as the sector went through tough times in last few years. INOX Wind already had manufacturing plants for blades and towers in Gujarat. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

January 20, 2015. Saudi Arabia is delaying by eight years its target to complete clean-energy program including $109 billion in solar power, saying it needs more time to assess what technologies it will use. The project was originally intended to produce a third of the nation’s electricity from solar panels by 2032 and more from wind, geothermal and nuclear reactors. The ambition was to save more crude oil for export.

Saudi Arabia will consume about 129 GW of power by 2032, Hashim Yamani, president of the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy said. The nation wants to be able to build solar plants with 80 percent of the components made domestically, making it a regional hub for exports of renewable energy technology, he said. Saudi Arabia’s effort has helped spur discussion about renewable energy across the Persian Gulf region, with oil producers seeking alternatives to fossil fuels. Abu Dhabi is already operating one 100 MW solar plant, and Dubai awarded a contract for a 200 MW facility. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 20, 2015. Flaws found in some Chinese solar panels can drastically eat into their efficiency, reducing how much power the panels will produce as the country races to meet aggressive goals to hold the line on fossil fuel emissions. The defects, found in products set to be used only in China, are in a coating that suppresses reflections on glass, allowing the panels to capture more light. About 23 percent of samples taken from dozens of Chinese companies failed to meet requirements, according to regulators in China. For samples from Jiangsu, the eastern province where much of the glass is made, the rate was as high as 40 percent.

China is promoting both large solar farms in remote areas and smaller, rooftop systems within cities, and domestic demand for panels is climbing. In a landmark pact announced with the U.S. in November, China set a target of getting as much as 20 percent of its energy from clean sources by 2030. That goal will rely heavily on its rapidly growing solar industry, which controls about 70 percent of the global market. China became the world’s biggest solar market in 2013 and accounted for about a quarter of global solar additions in 2014. Its total solar installations surged almost 10-fold in the past three years to about 33 GW. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 20, 2015. RWE AG, Germany’s second-largest utility, hasn’t ruled out following larger competitor EON SE’s example and breaking itself up in response to the country’s unprecedented switch to wind and solar power. The company must work to reduce debt before thinking about how to structure itself, and no decision is imminent, but splitting the power generation unit and the business that supplies customers is possible, RWE Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Bernhard Guenther said.

EON’s split is the most radical response yet to Germany’s Energiewende, or energy shift, which has forced traditional utilities to close nuclear reactors and undermined power prices. The Dusseldorf-based company said it will concentrate on renewables, distribution and marketing, while a spinoff will include conventional power generation, global energy trading and oil and gas and production. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 19, 2015. Cheap gas may make electric cars an even harder sell, according to BMW AG, the German luxury automaker that’s aiming for plug-in versions of all its top models. Sales of the zero-emission vehicles will probably dip in some countries, including the U.S., Ian Robertson, BMW’s head of sales and marketing, said. In the U.S., sales of hybrid and electric cars totaled 570,475 vehicles last year, down 3.7 percent compared with a year earlier, according to the Electric Drive Transportation Association. Carmakers including BMW, Daimler AG and General Motors Co. (GM) are building electric cars to comply with tightening emissions regulations.

In 2014, BMW delivered 16,052 of its i3 city car as well as 1,741 of the i8 plug-in hybrid sports car. Combined, the two accounted for 0.8 percent of the vehicles BMW, the world’s largest maker of luxury vehicles, sold last year. A short-term shift away from cars like the small and zippy i3 won’t change BMW’s strategy, Robertson said. Up next is a plug-in hybrid version of its X5 sport-utility vehicle. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 16, 2015. Dubai’s government-owned utility plans to double the size of a solar power project that it expects will produce some of the world’s cheapest electricity. Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) awarded a contract to build the 200 MW plant to a group led by Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power International. The 1.2 billion dirham ($330 million) generating station will be completed in April 2017, DEWA said. Dubai plans to build 1,000 MW of solar capacity by 2030, enough to meet 5 percent of its forecast electricity needs that year, as it seeks to reduce reliance on natural gas as its main source of energy for local use. Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, the U.A.E.’s capital and largest emirate, are also developing renewable energy as oil producers in the Gulf try to reduce the burning of costlier fossil fuels to produce power. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 15, 2015. U.S. solar companies boosted their employee rolls by 22 percent last year, and now employ 86 percent more workers than they did in 2010, driven by rising demand in the world’s third-largest market. Almost 174,000 people are working in the U.S. solar industry, compared with 143,000 in 2013 and 93,500 in 2010, according to a report from the Solar Foundation. Another 36,000 solar jobs may be added this year, including factory workers, salespeople, installers, developers and researchers. The growth indicates that solar energy is one of the industries helping drive an economic recovery in the U.S., while slumping oil prices are prompting oil companies to reduce capital spending and cut employment. About 3 million Americans found work last year, the most in 15 years, and one out of every 78 new positions was in solar. About 97,000 people worked last year as system installers, with 32,000 in manufacturing and 20,000 in sales. Approximately 15,000 helped develop projects and another 9,000 performed work that includes research at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. SolarCity Corp., the largest U.S. rooftop developer, hired 4,000 people in 2014, almost doubling its headcount to 9,000, Chief Executive Officer Lyndon Rive said. Jobs in the U.S. solar industry can’t be shipped overseas, Rive said. Fewer than 20 percent are in manufacturing, a sector threatened after government-backed Chinese panel makers flooded the market and drove down prices, leading to a trade dispute. (www.bloomberg.com)

January 15, 2015. Reflecting bullish sentiment for solar power, the total value of corporate funding into the sector globally more than doubled to $26.5 billion last year, says a report. The amount is way higher than $9.6 billion worth of funding seen in 2013, according to global clean energy communications and consulting firm Mercom Capital Group. The total corporate funding of $26.5 billion in 2014 includes venture capital/private equity, debt and public market financing. Mercom Capital Group CEO Raj Prabhu said the big story coming out of 2014 was the revival of capital markets as solar companies were able to access funding through multiple avenues such as venture capital, public markets and IPOs. The solar sector has come a long way from being perceived as a speculative high risk investment to attracting investors based on low risk attractive dividend yields, he said. (www.thehindubusinessline.com)

January 14, 2015. The Obama administration plans to require the oil and gas industry to cut methane emissions from the drilling and transportation of fossil fuels by as much as 45 percent over the next decade, another step in its efforts to curb greenhouse gases tied to climate change. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will seek methane cuts from the industry of 40 percent to 45 percent by 2025 compared with 2012 levels. The proposal would be a victory for environmental groups that have lobbied the administration to force the industry to directly target methane, the second most prevalent gas tied to climate change after carbon dioxide. The gas seeps from wells and the compressors, pumps, pipes and storage tanks that make up the oil and gas production and distribution network. (www.bloomberg.com)

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