Petroleum Sector

The Centre plans to monetise DSFs, storage assets, GAIL Gas equity and dark fibre leases to raise Rs 16,300 crore by FY30 as part of NMP 2.0, targeting both midstream and upstream segments

India's state-run oil companies have spent Rs 1.07 lakh crore - 81% of their FY26 capex target - by January, driven by aggressive investments in exploration, production and refinery expansion

Rising crude costs, reduced access to discounted Russian oil and heavy capex may pressure OMCs, though strong GRMs, demand growth and LPG subsidies support profits

New guidelines for CBG injection into pipelines and CGD networks aim to improve project viability, ensure safe integration and accelerate green fuel scale-up

India's strategic petroleum reserve can last 74 days to meet the demand arising out of any global turbulence, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday. Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, the minister said for any country like India, which is growing at a phenomenal pace, there must be a very viable and secure reserve, so that it is not in a vulnerable situation in the case of global turbulence. He said India has several refineries both in the West coast as well as the East. "According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), today we are the world's third largest consumer of crude oil. We have the world's fourth largest refining capacity - currently around 260 million metric tonne per annum going on to 320 million metric tonne per annum. And, we are also the world's fifth largest exporter of petroleum products. "The strategic petroleum reserve is designed to ensure that in case of total global turbulence, we must have enough stock left to

This despite West sanctions on Russian oil and Suez Canal hurdles

PNGRB has cut tariff zones to two and will apply the lower Zone-1 rate for CNG and domestic PNG nationwide, reducing delivered CNG prices by Rs 1.25-2.50 per kg and PNG by Rs 0.90-1.80 per SCM

The Centre has amended the Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules, 2025 to ease exploration and production operations, allow longer leases, speed up approvals and raise penalties for violations

Even as gems, jewellery, garments slump under tariff pressure, energy and telecom exports offset broader decline to the US

Earlier, safety regulations in this sector relied mainly on the Factories Act, 1948, which provided a limited, factory-centric approach to hazardous industries

Reliance halted Russian oil purchases last month after Russian producers Rosneft and Lukoil were sanctioned by the United States

The idea is to ensure the country's gas pipeline network is ready for Hydrogen integration, so as to send a clear signal to the industry that this future fuel can be transported to the market

The reduction in capex, to around $15-17 billion annually between 2027 and 2030, is part of a drive to save $7.5 billion

Major push in gas infra expansion being achieved through state policies, says PNGRB

State-owned fuel retailers reported bumper profits in the June quarter, as a freeze on retail prices boosted petrol and diesel margins, offsetting earlier inventory losses. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) reported a combined profit of Rs 16,184 crore in April-June, the first quarter of FY26 - more than two-and-a-half times higher year-on-year, according to regulatory filings by the companies. Among the three, BPCL led with a Rs 6,124 crore profit, surpassing IOC's Rs 5,689 crore, despite being nearly half its size. HPCL posted a net profit of Rs 4,371 crore in Q1. BPCL also fared well on refining margins, earning USD 4.88 in turning every barrel of crude oil into fuels like petrol and diesel. This was better than the USD 2.15 per barrel gross refining margin of IOC and the USD 3.08 of HPCL. Its refinery run rate at 118 per cent (of installed capacity) was higher than 107 per cent of IOC and 10.9 per

India Saturday forcefully rejected Washington's criticism that it is running a "profiteering scheme" by buying discounted Russian crude oil with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar asserting that New Delhi's procurement has been in national and global interest. Jaishankar emphatically said that India will continue to take decisions on the matter independently and suggested that the previous US administration was supportive of New Delhi's procurement of Russian energy as it stabilises the oil market. "It's funny to have people who work for a pro-business American administration accusing other people of doing business," Jaishankar said. "That's really curious. If you have a problem buying oil or refined products from India, don't buy it. Nobody forces you to buy it. But Europe buys, America buys, so you don't like it, don't buy it," he said. His comments at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum came when asked about US officials criticising India on its energy ties with ...

Refuting claims that E20 petrol affects fuel efficiency, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas highlighted E20 petrol's environmental benefits, improved engine performance

Announces two national tariff zones, new reserve fund to develop pipelines

Lower global crude prices reduced May petroleum export earnings to $3.3 billion even as outbound and import volumes rose and crude processing remained steady

Petrol consumption spiked by about 10 per cent in the first half of May as summer season travel led to a surge in demand for the fuel, according to provisional sales data of state-owned fuel retailers. Petrol consumption rose to 1.5 million tonne during May 1-15 from 1.37 million tonne sales a year back. Its demand was up 10.5 per cent over consumption of 1.36 million tonne in May 1-15, 2023 and nearly 46 per cent higher than Covid-marred first fortnight of May 2021. Diesel sales were up 2 per cent to 3.36 million tonne, the data of three state-owned fuel retailers, who control about 90 per cent of the fuel market, showed. The consumption of India's most used fuel has rebounded since last month. Diesel, the lifeline of transport and rural agri economy, saw just 2 per cent growth in demand in fiscal year ended March 31, 2025. In April, diesel consumption rose to 8.23 million tonne, up nearly 4 per cent over demand in the year-ago period. During May 1-15, diesel sales were 2 per cent