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After imposing a windfall tax on fuel exports, India has moved to cap refinery margins in a bid to offset losses on domestic fuel sales, sources said. The war in West Asia has had two prolonged impacts - spike in international oil prices that has led to record losses on petrol and diesel sales as retail rates have not changed in tandem. Secondly, it has given bumper margins to refineries, who irrespective of retail price freeze, price their products at imported cost. The government last month imposed a Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) on exports of diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF), as part of efforts to curb windfall gains by refiners and boost domestic fuel availability amid tight global markets. Alongside, refining margins have been capped at USD 15 per barrel, with any earnings above that threshold treated as a discount on fuel sold to state-run marketing companies, effectively transferring excess gains to offset retail losses, sources said. The oil marketing companie
The reimposed windfall export taxes on diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) will not apply to Reliance Industries Ltd's SEZ refinery due to judicial rulings, a senior official said on Thursday. Effective March 26, the government revised fuel levies, reintroducing export duties of Rs 21.50 per litre on diesel and Rs 29.50 per litre on ATF, while keeping petrol exports exempt. The move coincided with a Rs 10 per litre cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel. Initially, it was not clear if exports from Reliance's special economic zone (SEZ) refinery - one of the largest contributors to India's refined product exports - would retain exemptions similar to those under the 2022 windfall tax regime. "As per judicial prouncements on this issue, the special additional excise duty and additional excise duty are not applicable on SEZ refineries," Jainendra Singh Kandhari, Joint Secretary in the Tax Research Unit (TRU-1) of the Department of Revenue, said at a media briefing. The government .
A large explosion at an oil refinery near the Texas coast on Monday shot plumes of smoke into the air and forced nearby residents to shelter in place, according to officials. No one was injured in the explosion at the Valero refinery in Port Arthur, about 145 kilometres east of Houston, Mayor Charlotte M. Moses said. She urged residents in parts of the west side of the city to stay put, saying fire fighters had arrived. "There's been an explosion, yes, but we're OK; everybody's OK," she said. "They're trying to put the fire out as quickly as possible." The explosion comes amid a spike in gas prices driven by uncertainty over the global oil supply because of the Iran war. The refinery has about 770 employees and can process about 435,000 barrels of oil per day, according to Valero's website. The plant refines heavy sour crude oil into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, according to the website. Images and video posted online show a large plume of smoke and flames billowing out from the
Kuwait said Friday its Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refinery again came under attack by Iranian drones, which sparked a fire at several of its units. The refinery had been hit Thursday, sparking fires. Kuwait said firefighters on Friday were trying to control the blazes and there were no immediate injuries from the attack. The Iranian attack came as Kuwait marked Eid al-Fitr, the celebration marking the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The attack Friday comes as Iran increasingly targets energy sites in Gulf Arab states after Israel on Wednesday bombed Iran's massive South Pars offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf.
Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura oil refinery came under attack on Monday from drones, the kingdom's defense ministry said, with authorities downing the incoming aircraft. A Saudi military spokesman made the announcement on the state-run Saudi Press Agency. Online videos from the site appeared to show thick black smoke rising after the attack. Even successfully intercepted drones cause debris that can spark fires and injure those on the ground. Ras Tanura, near Dammam, has a capacity over half a million barrels of crude oil a day.
In a strategic move to boost offshore energy exploration and operational efficiency, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) and Reliance Industries Ltd have signed an agreement to share resources such as supply vessels used in finding and producing oil and gas. The two firms signed an MoU for resource-sharing collaboration on the sidelines of India Energy Week (IEW), ONGC Director (Production) Pankaj Kumar said. The pact aims to enhance operational efficiency, enable faster execution of offshore projects, and create stronger synergies between India's largest oil and gas producer and the nation's biggest and most valuable company who have adjacent fields and operations particularly off the east coast, he said. It seeks to explore opportunities to jointly utilise resources, infrastructure, and technical capabilities across offshore energy activities so as to reduce duplication of efforts, optimise capital deployment, and support timely development of offshore assets, which are ...
State-owned Engineers India Ltd (EIL) has secured a contract worth over USD 350 million to act as Project Management Consultant (PMC) and EPCM Consultant for the expansion of the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Complex in Nigeria, reinforcing its role in one of the world's largest energy projects. EIL was the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) consultant for Dangote Group when it first built an oil refinery. Now the firm has been re-hired for the expansion, the state-owned firm said in a statement. The Dangote Group, Nigeria's leading multinational conglomerate headquartered in Lagos, plans to expand the refinery's capacity from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day under Train 2, with production of Euro VI-grade fuels. The expansion will also scale up polypropylene capacity from 830 kilo tonnes per annum (kTPA) to 2.4 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) through revamping of the existing polypropylene unit and installation of an ...