As per IOC's revised rate list that was made public today, the 14.2 cylinder will cost Rs 744 in Delhi from today (April 1, 2020), down Rs 61.5 from the last list (Rs 805.5 per cylinder). For Kolkata the new rate is Rs 774.5 (earlier price 839.5), for Mumbai Rs 714.5 (earlier price Rs 776.5), and for Chennai 761.5 (earlier price Rs 826).
As nationwide demand plummets, oil and gas players flooded with such notices.
Oil Ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) said the bulk of India's existing gas production will be priced at USD 2.39 per million British thermal unit for the six-month period beginning April 1, down from USD 3.23 as of now. This will be the second reduction in six months to the lowest since 2014.
ONGC was the top contributor with Rs 300 crore, followed by IOC chipping in Rs 225 crore. Privatisation-bound Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) provided Rs 175 crore, while Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) chipped in Rs 120 crore.
Brent crude futures dropped to around USD 23 per barrel the lowest since November 2002, while US crude briefly dipped below USD 20 as coronavirus lockdowns dried up demand while the crude surplus ballooned.
The government on Tuesday extended the deadline for bidding to buy its entire 52.98 per cent stake in the country's second-biggest oil refiner, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), by over a month to June 13.
The fifth bid round under Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) opened in January and was to initially close on March 18. However, the bid date was earlier this month extended to April 16. Now it has been further extended. So far, the government has awarded 94 blocks in four rounds in the last two-and-a-half years.
REC is committed to participating in corporate India's response to COVID-19 through funds, community welfare plans and through leveraging its expertise to offer assistance, the company said.
Power demand has fallen 30% since the start of the lockdown on March 25, compared to a year ago, and may fall further, forcing 65 GW of capacity to back down.
The 14.2 kg LPG cylinder has become the main stay of cooking in the country as government has expanded its coverage to over 96 per cent of households. Under Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana (PMUY), additional 8 crore connections have been given to women member of poor families who were depending on wood and coal for cooking.
The joint venture company, Adjaristsqali Georgia LLC, is setting up one of the largest projects in Georgia at an overall project cost of approximately $ 500 million. After the 178 mw-Shuakhevi Hydro Power Project, the JV will comission a 9 mw units, namely Skhalta Hydro Power project.
“The recent deals for resolving stressed thermal power companies have valued them at around Rs 3 crore per megawatt. Jindal’s offer values the company at Rs 2 crore per megawatt. There is a gap that they need to bridge,” one executive familiar with the discussions said.
The Distributed Solar Power Association, a body of solar rooftop developers, told ET it’s likely to soon file a petition before the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission protesting the power discoms’ reluctance.
A coal ministry official said the power ministry’s demand was being evaluated though with Rs 14,000 crore outstanding receivables from state run power projects, Coal India is stretched for funds. “Realisations from them are likely to be long-drawn under the present challenging times,” he said.
The collective assurance of uninterrupted supplies of all oil products, especially LPG cylinders, by Indian Oil, BPCL and HPCL, come amidst panic booking of cooking gas by consumers since the national lockdown imposed to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.
Distribution companies (discoms) owed a total of Rs 67,012 crore to power generation companies in January 2019, according to portal PRAAPTI (Payment Ratification And Analysis in Power procurement for bringing Transparency in Invoicing of generators).
According to the NLDC data, the peak demand met was 163.72 GW on March 20, which came down to 161.74 GW on March 21. This dropped sharply to 135.20 GW on March 22 due a call for 'Janata Curfew' by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sanjiv Singh, who has been overseeing refinery operations and distribution chain since the time states declared restrictions to check spread of coronavirus in mid-March, lost his 89-year-old father on March 24. Within 24-hours he was back in action, converting his parental home at Lucknow into a war room, monitoring operations and supplies to see no part of the country went dry at anytime.
"Had a video conference with HRH Prince Abdulaziz, Saudi Minister of Energy and Mr Amin Nasser, President & CEO @Saudi_Aramco. We discussed about the global oil market developments and on uninterrupted LPG supplies from Saudi Arabia to India. Prince Abdulaziz assured (me) of LPG supplies in the coming days to support our domestic requirement," Dharmendra Pradhan posted on his Twitter account.
India, the world's third largest energy consumer, has enough petrol, diesel and cooking gas (LPG) in stocks to last way beyond the three-week nationwide lockdown as all plants and supply locations are fully operational, Indian Oil Corp (IOC) Chairman Sanjiv Singh said.
In a statement the company stated, “With completion of the twin acquisitions, NTPC Group has added nearly 13% capacity in the current financial year that ends on March 31. At the end of March 2019, NTPC’s total capacity stood at 55,126 MW”. The company added that the overall hydro portfolio of NTPC Ltd has reached 3,425 MW.
The government said it is working to ensure critical coal supplies during the lockdown on account of coronavirus outbreak. Coal stocks at power plants stand at 41.8 million tonnes (MT) equivalent to 24 days consumption as of March 26, 2020.
Stocks at power plants have touched 42.5 million tonnes, enough for generating power for 25 days, while at pitheads its is 64.5 million tonnes, good for almost 38 days.
"Due to the lockdown, consumers are unable to pay their dues to the distribution companies. This has affected the liquidity position of the Discoms thereby impairing their ability to pay to the generating and transmission companies," the statement said.
The peak demand met was down mainly due to lower demand from industry and state power distribution companies (discoms) across the country due to the lockdown. The power demand met further fell sharply by over 7 GW to 120.31 GW on Thursday indicating continuous slump in demand.
Reliance, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has offered various grades of Middle East crude for sale in Asia's spot market, including grades such as Abu Dhabi's Murban crude and Qatar's al-Shaheen crude, four sources said.
National electricity demand fell to 2.78 billion units on March 25, the first day of the three-week total shutdown called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi late on Tuesday. That was nearly 20% below the average of 3.45 billion units per day in the first three weeks of March, a Reuters analysis of government data showed.
Storages at refineries are overflowing with refined products as motorists go off the roads, planes disappear from the skies and factories shut, forcing refiners to cut utilisation. Indian Oil has cut run rate by 30%. Other refiners too have sharply slowed, forcing some to look for new places to store their products.
"Power generation (including renewable power generation) is an essential service for securing smooth and uninterrupted power flow across and within states ," the ministry said in a notification addressed to concerned authorities of all states. There is a need to ensure uninterrupted power supply in the current scenario of Covid-19 outbreak and nationwide lockdown, it said.
Over 8 crore Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries will be entitled to a total of three 14.2-kg LPG cylinders for free between April to June, a move that will cost the government an estimated Rs 13,000 crore.
It is reiterated that adequate stocks of LPG are available in Kolkata & across the state and there is no need for panic-booking . Indane delivery personnel are working with all heart and soul despite all the current hardships and customers are requested to stick to safety advisories and not resort to panic purchase of cylinders.
In actual terms, the power demand has come down by about 35 GW on Wednesday in a week's time. The peak demand met was down mainly due to lower industry and state power distribution utilities demand across the county as industrial and commercial establishments are completely shut under the lockdown. In view of COVID-19 outbreak, the government has imposed lockdown for 21-days.
The price discovered on the IEX Day Ahead Market for delivery on Wednesday was at ₹1.95 per unit. The spot power price hit a low of ₹1.90 per unit in June 2017 due to excessive rainfall. Sources said the closure of offices and factories, reduced buying by state distribution utilities and the Indian Railways stopping passenger services resulted in the slump.
"Upliftment of finished products from them in the last one week has helped up country bulk storage locations of the Corporation build up their stocks for future-readiness once the countrywide lockdown is lifted and the demand picks up again. The Corporation is keeping a close watch on global cues and the changing market scenario and initiating actions accordingly," Indian Oil said.
Russian oil giant Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy wants the government to let it store its surplus crude in the country’s half-empty strategic petroleum reserve and excess refined products in state refiners’ storage facilities
With the unprecedented nationwide lockdown shutting down factories, ONGC has been forced to cut natural gas production by up to one-tenth as customers refused to take supplies because of business disruption.
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) reported a 4.64 per cent rise in production at 1.67 million tonnes as output from its offshore fields saw a pick-up. However, fields operated by the private sector firms reported a 32.6 per cent drop with those in Rajasthan seeing a sharp 32.3 per cent lower production.
With the acquisition of East North Interconnection (ENICL) from Sterlite Power, IndiGrid's assets under management (AUM) will increase by 10 per cent to USD 1.6 billion, the company said in a statement. The acquisition has been funded by internal accruals, proceeds from the preference issue done in May last year and new debt, the company said.
Recovery of electricity dues by state discoms takes place in a big way in March. “Recoveries have been significantly impacted due to precautions being taken for Covid-19. State governments are also refraining from taking any coercive measures for recoveries and the situation is not likely to improve in the near future,” said an executive in a power company.
Trading on electronic platforms would be done every alternate 30 minutes for electricity to be wheeled after 1 hour 15 minutes. For the first time, any generator, including renewable power companies, would be allowed to sell power through the platform.
Total demand in the second and third week of March fell almost 3% year-on-year, according to data collated by the National Load Despatch Centre. Demand had risen in January and February.
The board of CG Power and Industrial Solutions removed its founder chairman Gautam Thapar last August amid pressure from investors and lenders after a probe revealed financial and governance irregularities in the company.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman moved an amendment to the Finance Bill, 2020, to raise the limit up to which the government can raise special excise duty on petrol and diesel to Rs 18 per litre and Rs 12, respectively.
The Petroleum Ministry has received several complaints of alleged corruption and irregularities against the CEO and other officials of Petronet LNG Ltd, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday.
"Recently we divested some of our projects to marquee developers and investors, which reflects the high quality of assets in our portfolio. We remain committed to sustainable execution of our projects which contribute to the expansion of the energy transmission system of Brazil," Pratik Agarwal, managing director, said in a statement.
As per the government directives, the company's offices at various locations in India are also closed, KPTL said in a BSE filing.
The agreement was arrived with the intervention of Union power ministry at a meeting held on Friday in New Delhi by power secretary Sanjiv Sahai between the states and the company, an official said.
The state government in a late-night order on Saturday announced a hike in the VAT rate on petrol from 30 per cent to 34 per cent and from 22 per cent to 26 per cent on diesel. The effective rate of petrol and diesel in Jaipur will now be Rs 75.57 per litre and Rs 69.26 per litre.
State-owned oil firms cut aviation turbine fuel price by Rs 6,687.75 per kilolitre or 11.76%, to Rs 50,171.26 per kl - the lowest since September 2017. This is the third straight reduction in jet fuel rates since February, which make up for as much as 40 per cent of an airline's running cost. In all, rates have fallen by Rs 14,152.5 per kl or 22%.
India is the world's fastest-growing energy market with fuel consumption rising at 4-5 per cent annually. It also relies on imports to meet its 83 per cent of oil needs. Saudi Arabia is its second-biggest oil supplier, exporting close to a fifth of India's oil sourced from abroad.