India's Top Oil Refiner Plans 10,000 Electric Car Charging Stations
Indian Oil Corp (IOC) will set up 10,000 electric vehicle charging stations in the next three years and is drawing up plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions from its operations to aid the country's net-zero carbon target by 2070, its chairman said on Wednesday.Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced 2070 as the target for India to reach net zero, saying that by 2030 the share of renewables in India's energy mix would rise to 50% from 38% and projected emissions would be cut by a billion tonnes.IOC…
India Asks Refiners to Cut Reliance on Middle East Oil after OPEC+ Decision
India has asked state refiners to speed up the diversification of oil imports to gradually cut their dependence on the Middle East after OPEC+ decided last week to largely continue production cuts in April, two sources said.India, the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, imports about 84% of its overall crude needs with over 60% of that coming from Middle Eastern countries, which are typically cheaper than those from the West.Most of the OPEC+ producers, led by world's top exporter Saudi Arabia…
Angola Resisting Pressure to Taper Oil Output
Angola is resisting pressure by OPEC's de-facto leader Saudi Arabia for a steeper oil output cut to comply fully with record supply curbs, OPEC and industry sources said.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, have been cutting oil output since May by a record 9.7 million barrels per day after the coronavirus crisis destroyed a third of global demand.After July, the cuts are due to taper to 7.7 million bpd until December.Saudi Arabia has been pressing laggards such as Iraq…
India to End Federal Control of Gas prices, Lift LNG transport Use
India will gradually end federal controls on gas pricing as it seeks to attract foreign investment and technology to lift local output, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Friday.India, which is a large emitter of greenhouse gases and has multiple gas pricing regimes, aims to raise the share of gas in its energy mix to 15% by 2030, from 6.2%."This is an incentive we are giving to investors to come to India and take advantage of pricing and marketing freedom and produce more and invest more…
Asian LNG Prices Steady on Ample Supply despite U.S. Cargo Cancellations
Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices remained steady this week on a continued stream of spot supply even though traders continued to cancel cargoes loading from the United States due to poor economics. The average LNG price for August delivery into northeast Asia was estimated to be about $2.20 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), slightly lower than the previous week, trade sources said. Buyers of LNG are expected to cancel 40 to 45 cargoes for August-loading from the United States due to a slow recovery in Asian gas demand and record-high European gas stocks…
Refineries around Asia Join Chinese Peers in Increasing Production
Refineries from India to South Korea are expected to increase output from June, joining their Chinese counterparts as the easing of lockdown measures boosts demand for oil products, industry executives said.The average operating rate for refineries in Asia is expected to rise to 75.5% and 82.2% in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, from 72.4% in the second quarter out of total capacity of about 35 million barrels per day, according to energy consultancy FGE.Refineries in countries such as India…
India's April Crude Processing in Biggest Drop Since 2003
India's crude oil processing in April slumped by 28.8% from a year earlier, its biggest drop since at least 2003, as a nationwide lockdown weighed on fuel demand and forced refiners to cut production.Refiners processed about 14.75 million tonnes or 3.60 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil last month, government data showed.The lockdown and travel curbs aimed at stemming spread of COVID-19 since March 25 forced people to stay home, cutting India's fuel demand by 45.8% in April.Falling demand led Indian refiners and gas importers to declare force majeure on imports.Refiners…
India to Invite Foreign Investment in State-owned Oil Companies
International energy firms will be invited to participate in India's privatization of state-owned oil companies, the country's Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said late on Monday.Pradhan said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently met with the chief executives of energy firms in Houston, including those from Exxon Mobil Corp, BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell, Rosneft Oil Co, Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc).This is the first time Pradhan has signaled the government's intent bring foreign investment into the country's state-owned oil companies."We are inviting oil majors…
IOC Sells IMO2020-Compliant Marine Fuel in India
State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) said it has commenced delivery of Low Sulfur Furnace Oil (LSFO) for ships that is compliant with International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) mandate.The largest commercial oil company in India said in a press release that it commenced deliveries of LSFO with 0.5 per cent sulfur as marine fuel at ports in the country.The first such supply was made on 26th October 2019 to the LPG tanker Berlian Ekuator at Kandla port.ICO has made available LSFO 0.5% S grade marine fuel for immediate deliveries at Kandla and Kochi ports.
IOC: 5-year Tender on Scrubber-fitted Tankers
Indian Oil Corp (IOC) issued a global tender to charter scrubber-fitted oil tankers for at least five years to import Iraqi oil, a tender document seen by Reuters showed.The tender says Indian shippers will be given first right of refusal for the contract as the nation seeks to boost its shipping industry. It is seeking bids from vessels that are less than 10-years old.A scrubber is a product that strips out sulphur emissions and, in doing so, can allow shippers to use dirtier fuel…
Israel Exploring Eastern Mediterranean
Israel will tender off 19 new offshore blocks to oil and gas companies, its energy ministry said on Sunday, hoping to rebound from a disappointing bidding round a year ago.Israel discovered in 2009 that it had large reserves of natural gas off its Mediterranean coast.It will publish details of the tender by the end of the month and, about half a year later, choose the winning companies, said Udi Adiri, the ministry's director general.Last year's auction elicited bids from only two groups of companies…
How Refiners Plan to Grapple With Fuel Oil Output After 2020
High-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO), essentially the leftovers of an oil refiner's output, will still flow from refineries around the world even after new rules start up in 2020 curtailing its use in the global shipping fleet, a Reuters survey showed.Sixty percent of the 33 refineries contacted by Reuters in a global survey will still produce HSFO in 2020 although the supply will tighten as 70 percent of these refiners plan to reduce their output.Starting that year, ships will have to use marine fuel…
Indian Oil Sees No Impact from U.S. Sanctions on Refinery JV Investment with Iran
Indian Oil Corp.'s planned $5.10 billion expansion of its unit Chennai Petroleum , partly owned by Iran, is not expected to be hit by U.S. sanctions against Tehran, Chairman Sanjiv Singh said on Monday.Chennai Petroleum plans to invest up to 356.98 billion rupees to replace its 20,000 barrel per day (bpd) Nagapattinam refinery in Southern Tamil Nadu state with a 180,000 bpd plant, it informed stock exchanges last year.Naftiran Intertrade, the Swiss subsidiary of National Iranian Oil Company…
US Oil Exports to India Soar Ahead of Iran Sanctions
U.S. crude oil exports to India hit a record in June and so far this year are almost double last year's total as the Asian nation's refiners move to replace supplies from Iran and Venezuela in a win for the Trump administration.U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has been pressuring its allies to cut imports of Iranian goods to zero by November and India's shift advances the U.S. administration efforts to use energy to further its political goals.The United States has become a major crude exporter…
Indian Oil to Turn to Traditional Suppliers to Meet Iran Oil Shortfall
Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the country's top refiner, will turn to its traditional oil suppliers, mostly in the Middle East, if U.S. sanctions against Iran result in supply disruptions, its head of finance said.U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month pulled out of a 2015 international nuclear pact with Iran, and said he would impose sanctions on Tehran - and companies that continue to work with it - unless it curbed its influence in the Middle East.Other signatories of the pact - France…
U.S. Crude Liftings for Asia to Hit New High in July
Asia's U.S. crude imports hit all-time high in May as WTI discount to Brent falls to widest in three years. The volume of U.S. crude oil arriving in Asia is expected to hit a new high in July as Asian refiners sought arbitrage supplies to replace Middle Eastern crude after prices for Gulf grades rose, traders said on Wednesday. U.S. crude arriving in Asia hit an all-time high of close to 25 million barrels in May with cargoes discharging in China, South Korea, Singapore, India and Malaysia, according to trade flows data on Eikon.
ADNOC to Supply First Oil Cargo for Indian Emergency Reserve
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) will supply the first oil cargo for India's strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) over the weekend, an Indian government statement said, becoming the first foreign company to lease storage in the country.India, hedging against energy security risks as it imports most of its oil needs, is building emergency storage in underground caverns to hold 36.87 million barrels of crude.ADNOC chief executive Sultan Al-Jaber and Indian oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan…
India's Oil Imports Reach Record High in January
India imported a record 4.93 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) in January to feed its expanded refining capacity and meet rising demand, ship tracking data obtained from sources and data compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research & Forecasts showed. The world's third-biggest oil importer shipped in 13.6 percent more oil in January than a year earlier and about 12.5 percent more than the previous month, the data showed. Imports in January were high as state-run refiners, which operate two-third of India's nearly 5 million bpd capacity…
Indian Oil to Boost Panipat Refinery Capacity
Indian Oil Corp Ltd plans to increase the capacity of its Panipat refinery by two thirds to 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) at a cost of 231.16 billion rupees rupees ($3.64 billion), the country's largest refiner said on Wednesday. India is increasing refining capacity to keep pace with the expected growth in fuel demand as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks to boost the manufacturing sector. The energy-hungry nation's refinery capacity has more-than-doubled since the start of the millennium to about 5 million bpd.
Asian LNG Spot Prices Jump after European Gas Outages
Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) spot prices jumped this week in reaction to volatile price spikes on European gas markets and ongoing demand from the region's major consumers. Spot prices for January delivery hit $10.50 per mmBtu, 40 cents above last week, with February prices seeing similar levels. In a tumultuous week, European gas prices gyrated wildly following a flurry of major pipeline and production outages coinciding with high demand and freezing weather. The rally began…
