India restricts subsidised LPG connections for households with piped natural gas (PNG) to ensure equitable distribution and address global energy supply concerns, pushing for faster PNG adoption.
India has condemned the escalating attacks on commercial shipping in West Asia, particularly after a Thai-flagged vessel en route to India's Kandla Port was targeted in the Strait of Hormuz. The attacks have disrupted global oil and gas supplies, impacting India's energy imports.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discussed the West Asia conflict and its impact on energy supplies with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and EU's Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas.
The Indian government has directed oil refineries to increase LPG production to ensure a stable supply of domestic cooking gas, amidst concerns over potential disruptions from the escalating Middle East conflict and its impact on imports.
The government has slashed allocation of natural gas used for LPG production, and diverted the low-priced fuel to city gas retailers like Indraprastha Gas Ltd and Adani-Total Gas Ltd to meet a part of their requirement for CNG/piped cooking gas supplies, according an official order. The government had in October and November last year cut supplies of low-priced natural gas coming from old fields such as Mumbai High and Bassein fields in the Bay of Bengal, to city gas retailers by as much as 40 per cent in view of limited output.
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) expects a USD 10.3 billion revenue boost from increased oil and gas production, achieved through a partnership with UK's BP in the Mumbai High field.
While most analysts are expecting poor results from oil marketing companies (OMCs) in the first quarter of 2024-25 (Q1FY25) and even in the first half (H1) of FY25, GAIL (India) could be an outlier. Upstream producers, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India (OIL) could do well due to strong crude and gas prices, but refiners are likely to see weak margins and the impact of frozen prices during the election period will also be negative.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Thursday reported a 7.4 per cent rise in its December quarter net profit, as its retail business rebounded and telecom earnings rose. Its consolidated net profit of Rs 18,540 crore, or Rs 13.70 per share, in October-December - the third quarter of April 2024 to March 2025 fiscal (FY25) - compared to Rs 17,265 crore, or Rs 12.76 a share, in the same period a year back, according to a stock exchange filing by the company.
Reliance Industries' eastern offshore KG-D6 oil and gas fields have seen output further dipping to 44.5 million standard cubic metres per day this month.
Mahanagar Gas (MGL) has just hiked prices for compressed natural gas (CNG) and domestic piped natural gas (PNG) in the Mumbai Metro Area. The distributor raised prices by Rs 1.50 per kilogramme (kg) for CNG, bringing the price up to Rs 75 per kg, including taxes. Domestic PNG prices were hiked from Rs 1 per standard cubic meter (SCM) to Rs 48 per SCM, inclusive of taxes.
An empowered group of ministers headed by Defence Minister A K Antony is to consider an Oil Ministry proposal of abolishing the priority ranking later in the day, according to which natural gas is first given to urea manufacturing fertiliser plants, then to LPG units, followed by power plants, city gas, steel and refineries.
The government has slashed by up to 20 per cent the supplies of cheaper domestically produced natural gas to city retailers -- a move that may result in Rs 4-6 per kg hike in the price of CNG sold to automobiles, unless excise duty on the fuel is cut, sources said. Natural gas pumped from below the ground and from under the seabed from sites ranging from the Arabian Sea to Bay of Bengal within India is the raw material that is turned into CNG for sale to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households.
RIL now has the capacity to produce 60 mmscmd but is constrained to produce less as the government is yet to identify customers beyond the initial 40 mmscmd that had been allocated primarily to fertiliser and power producers in accordance with the Gas Utilisation Policy.
Gas output from KG-D6 in the week ended April 1 dropped to 33.89 mmscmd from 34.09 mmscmd in the previous week, according to a status report filed by the company with the Oil Ministry.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the nation's largest oil firm, has walked away with half of the natural gas that Reliance Industries Ltd and its partner bp of the UK offered in the latest auction of the fuel used to generate power, produce fertilizer, turned into CNG and used for cooking purposes. IOC got 2.5 million standard cubic meters per day out of the 5 mmscmd of gas auctioned last month, sources with knowledge of the matter said. The oil refining and marketing company, which was the top bidder even in the previous auction of gas from the eastern offshore KG-D6 block of Reliance-bp, bid the volumes on behalf of seven fertilizer plants.
The KG-D6 production is lower than 61.5 mmscmd rate achieved in March, 2010, as a drop in pressure in the wells and increased water ingress has led to a lower per-well gas output.
RIL produced a total of 14.83 mmscmd from Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1&D3) gas fields and MA oil and gas field in the KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6 block in Bay of Bengal in the week ended May 26, according to a status report of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons.
The output comprised 32.94 mmscmd from the D1 and D3 gas fields and 6.86 mmscmd from the MA oilfield.
State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Adani-Total Gas Ltd and Shell were among the 29 companies that bid and bought natural gas to be produced from the deepest field in the KG-D6 block of Reliance Industries Ltd and bp, sources said. IOC walked away with almost half of the 6 million standard cubic meters per day of gas sold in an e-auction on Wednesday while state-owned gas utility GAIL bought 0.7 mmscmd, Adani-Total Gas Ltd 0.4 mmscmd, Shell 0.5 mmscmd, GSPC 0.25 mmscmd and IGS another 0.5 mmscmd, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Reliance-bp on Wednesday held an e-auction for sale of gas from the MJ field in their eastern offshore KG-D6 block after incorporating the government's new marketing rules to give CNG-selling city gas companies first priority over supplies.
Previously, chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Haryana had written to the Centre seeking 7.5-8 million standard cubic metres per day each of RIL's KG-D6 field gas for power plants in their respective states immediately.
Reliance Industries Ltd, India's most valuable company, on Friday reported a 5 per cent drop in its June quarter net profit as lower fuel cracks and petrochemical margins outdid gains in telecom and retail businesses. The oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate's consolidated net profit was at Rs 15,138 crore, or Rs 22.37 per share, in April-June -- the first quarter of the current 2023-24 fiscal year -- compared to Rs 16,011 crore, or Rs 23.66 a share, earnings a year back, according to a company's statement.
Upstream majors ONGC and Oil India (OIL) results for the January-March quarter (Q4) of FY24 suggest better production in future. But OIL missed its own production targets although it delivered higher volumes and it disappointed the market in terms of Ebitda. ONGC reported standalone Ebitda of Rs 17,400 crore (up 7 per cent year-on-year or Y-o-Y) in Q4FY24, slightly below estimates due to other higher expenses.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported an 11 per cent drop in its June quarter net profit largely due to weak oil-to-chemical (O2C) vertical and higher interest and depreciation cost. Net profit was Rs 16,011 crore, or Rs 23.66 per share, in April-June - the first quarter of current 2023-24 fiscal year - compared with Rs 17,955 crore, or Rs 26.54 a share, earning a year back, according to a company's stock exchange filing.
India's natural gas production is projected to jump by 52 per cent to 122 million standard cubic metres per day by 2024 as state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Reliance Industries Ltd-BP combine raise output from the KG basin fields. Natural gas production in 2019-20 was 85 mmscmd, which is estimated to have fallen to 80 mmscmd in the following year, HDFC Securities said in a report. The output is projected to rise in the current fiscal that started on April 1 to 93 mmscmd, 107 mmscmd in the following year and 122 mmscmd in 2023-24, the brokerage estimated.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 27 per cent jump in its September quarter net profit as earnings from the oil and gas business rebounded, and a pick-up in fashion and grocery helped boost retail revenues. The oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate's consolidated net profit of Rs 17,394 crore, or Rs 25.71 per share, in July-September - the second quarter of the current 2023-24 fiscal - was 27.3 per cent higher than Rs 13,656 crore, or Rs 19.92 a share, earning a year back, the company said in a statement. The net profit was also higher quarter-on-quarter compared to Rs 16,011 crore earnings in the preceding three months ended June 30.
Despite a massive underperformance at the bourses since the last six months, analysts are turning optimistic on Reliance Industries (RIL). Those at Jefferies, for instance, say that the company is a proxy play for India's consumption growth story. The key catalysts for the stock, according to a Jeffries note, include faster-than-expected market share gain in retail, oil-to-chemicals (O2C) stake sale, recovery in gross refining margins (GRM), potential public listing of Jio and even a possible banking licence going ahead. That apart, analysts feel any tariff hike in Reliance Jio (RJio) - its telecom venture - will also aid performance. With balance sheet adequately de-levered, proceeds from a strategic stake sale in the O2C business will create a sizeable war chest for the company, analysts say.
GAIL (India) Ltd has pre-poned the supply of gas from the US and is looking to contract more LNG next year as it doubles down efforts to secure affordable energy supplies to meet the needs of Asia's third-largest economy, chairman Manoj Jain said. India's No.1 gas transporting and marketing firm has long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply contracts from the US to Australia and with Russia, supplementing domestic gas supplies. "In 3Q (October-December 2021) we preponed a couple of cargoes (LNG shiploads) from supplies that we were to receive next year and we did it again in the current quarter," Jain told PTI. This is because US LNG costs one-third of the price of gas available in the spot or current market.
The length of the main trunk pipeline is 1,385 km from Kakinada to Bharuch and 75 km is the length of the spur lines.
Majority of PLL's long-term deals are linked to crude, which faces price challenge from other fuels. Spot LNG is moving away from this linkage, which puts a question mark on crude linked contracts.
RIL produced a total of 13.58 mmscmd of gas from Dhirubhai-1 and 3 gas fields and MA oil and gas field in the KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6 block in Bay of Bengal in the first week of February, which rose to 13.63 mmscmd in the following week.
Reliance Industries Ltd has sought a minimum supply of 3.6 million standard cubic meters per day of gas for its petrochemical plants from the Panna/Mukta and Tapti fields, from which gas has been diverted by the government to state-run GAIL India. Reliance along with state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and BG Group of UK are the operators of the PMT fields lying in Mumbai offshore and till last month marketed gas from the fields in proportion to their shareholding.
The newer gas finds will help turn the tide for ONGC, which has seen oil and gas output stagnating in recent times.
RIL and its partners BP plc of UK and Canada's Niko Resources have spud the seventh well on the MA oil and gas field in the KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6 block in Krishna Godavari basin.
RIL and its partners BP Plc of UK and Canada's Niko Resources had last month spud the seventh well on the MA oil and gas field in the KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6 block in the Krishna Godavari basin.
The projected output will come from satellite fields in the eastern offshore KG-D6 block as well as North East Coast block NEC-25, off the West Bengal coast.
In a report released at the VI Asia Gas Partnership Summit, Mckinsey said the current demand of 166 mmscmd -- made up of nearly 132 mmscmd supplies from domestic fields and the rest from imported LNG -- is likely to rise to at least a minimum of 230 mmscmd and a maximum of 320 mmscmd by 2015.
The Petroleum Ministry in an order on Wednesday said it has revised guidelines for allocation/supply of domestic natural gas to city gas distribution entities for CNG and piped cooking gas sector.
Reliance Industries' eastern offshore KG D-6 field's gas production will double to around 90 million standard cubic meters per day by next fiscal, government's background material for the Economic Editor's Conference said.
Pipeline will carry 90 mmscmd gas for 30 years; India, Pak to get 38 mmscmd each, 14 mmscmd to go to Afghanistan
The project is currently generating 240 MW against its total capacity of 1,967 MW.