Gas

PNGRB expert panel calls for sweeping reform to unlock free gas market

A high-level expert committee set up by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has called for sweeping structural reforms to create a free, competitive natural gas market in India, arguing that market-driven pricing and open access are essential for the country's clean energy transition. In its report, Vision 2040 - Natural Gas Infrastructure in India, the panel led by former PNGRB chairperson D K Sarraf said a liberalised gas market would enhance transparency, spur investment, improve resource allocation and deepen liquidity. A competitive system, it said, would remove current market distortions and attract new players across exploration, pipelines, LNG terminals and city gas distribution. Natural gas, extracted from underground and offshore reservoirs, is used to generate power, produce fertiliser, turned into CNG to power vehicles, piped to household kitchens for cooking and serve as feedstock across several industries. Seen as a key transition fuel as India shift

Putin speaks on oil, gas, coal and nuclear at Russian Energy Week

Russia maintains its position as a leading oil producer, despite unfair competition being used against us, Putin said

Surviving Nord Stream gas pipeline can be reactivated quickly, says Kremlin

The Nord Stream system consists of two double pipelines, Nord Stream 1 (NS1) and Nord Stream 2 (NS2), running under the Baltic Sea to Germany

Blackstone to acquire Pennsylvania gas power plant in $1 billion deal

US power demand is projected to reach record levels in 2025, driven by data centers for AI and cryptocurrency technologies, as well as higher residential and commercial consumption

EU could quit Russian gas in a year with US LNG, says energy chief

The US is ramping up pressure on Europe to cut off energy revenue to Moscow, seeking to end the war in Ukraine. As Russia's most lucrative export, its fuel revenue has helped fund the war

EU plans legally binding ban on Russian gas imports by end of 2027

The proposals set out how the European Union plans to fix into law its vow to end decades-old energy relations with Europe's former top gas supplier, made after Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine

Govt trims gas-based power generation capacity to 20.13 GW as of April

The country has reduced gas-based power generation capacity by 20 per cent or 5 GW in the last three months to 20.13 gigawatt (GW) as of April. The development comes at a time when the government has issued a directive to use unutilised gas-based generation capacity to ensure uninterrupted power supply during the summer season, when projected demand is expected to hit 277 GW. According to Central Electricity Authority (CEA) data, India's overall installed power generation capacity was 472.468 GW in April, while the share of gas-based capacity was at 20.13 GW. In March, the total power generation was at 475.211 GW and the share of gas-based capacity was at 24.53 GW. India's overall installed power generation capacity was at 470.448 GW in February and the share of gas-based capacity was at 25.18 GW. The power ministry has decided to use unutilised gas-based electricity generation capacity to ensure uninterrupted power supply and maintain grid security amid an anticipated rise in the

Global energy firm BP bets on NEC-25 for gas surge, credits govt reforms

Global energy giant BP Plc, which produces one-third of India's natural gas, is targeting nearly 10 million cubic meters per day of additional output from the NEC-25 block in the Mahanadi basin, spurred by recent upstream reforms introduced by the Modi government. Its chief executive Murray Auchincloss said India's upstream oil and gas policy overhaul through a new legislation has made several improvements important for foreign investors and will help attract global players. BP and its partner Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) produce about 28 million standard cubic meters per day or almost a third of India's total gas output, from their Krishna Godavari basin deepsea block KG-DWN-98/3 (KG-D6) in the Bay of Bengal. The two are now looking to put into production discoveries in the Block NEC-OSN-97/2 (NEC-25) off the Odisha coast. "Block NEC 25 represents an opportunity to unlock the hydrocarbon potential of a new hub on India's East coast, with production potential of up to 9.9 mmscmd o

RIL receives $2.81 billion demand notice from govt over gas dispute

Also receives liquidated damages levy notice over battery PLI milestone delay

India must free gas pricing, unbundle marketing, transportation biz: IEA

International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday asked India to free up its pricing of natural gas and unbundling of marketing and transportation business to help increase usage of the fuel in the economy. IEA in the India Gas Market Report: Outlook to 2030 projected the country's gas consumption rising by 60 per cent to 103 billion cubic metres (bcm) annually by the end of the decade. As India targets raising the share of relatively cleaner natural gas in its energy basket to 15 per cent by 2030 from just above 6 per cent currently, IEA prescribed a set of policy reforms to usher in its greater use. Pricing of gas, which is used to generate electricity, make fertilisers and turned into CNG to power automobiles and piped to household kitchens for cooking, is skewed. Gas from legacy fields of state-owned firms like ONGC and Oil India Ltd is currently capped at USD 6.5 per million British thermal unit while there are limits also imposed on fuel from difficult and high costing fields lik

Indian Gas Exchange seeks approval to launch 3-6 month gas contracts

The Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) has sought regulatory approvals to launch 3-6 month gas contracts benchmarked to international gas prices, its chief executive Rajesh Kumar Mediratta said. IGX currently allows gas suppliers to sell the fuel on the exchange for durations ranging from daily, weekly, fortnightly and monthly. It also offers intraday trading at a fixed price. Mediratta said the exchange has applied to the regulator, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), for permission to launch three-month and six-month delivery contracts indexed to gas benchmarks such as FIXI and Platts JKM, WIM and Dated Brent. "We are awaiting a clearance from PNGRB," he said. The new long-duration contracts will have a payment cycle of a fortnight compared to the current system of payments being made in 2-3 days after delivery. Also, IGX is looking to introduce green certificates for trading, he said, as the government looks to make the usage of 1 per cent compressed biogas (CBG) mandato

Moldova declares energy state of emergency fearing Russian gas shortage

Moldova's parliament on Friday voted in favour of imposing a state of emergency in the energy sector over fears that Russia could leave the European Union candidate country without sufficient natural gas supplies this winter. A majority in Moldova's 101-seat legislature voted to pass the state of emergency, which will start on December 16 and last 60 days. A special commission will urgently adopt measures to manage imminent risks if Moscow fails to supply gas to the Kuciurgan power plant, the country's largest, which is situated in the separatist pro-Russian Transnistria region. Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said his country faces an exceptional situation in which Moscow could deliberately weaponise energy flows to destabilise the country, and potentially leave people in the middle of winter without heat and electricity. Russian energy giant Gazprom supplies the gas-operated Kuciurgan plant, which generates electricity that powers a significant portion of Moldova proper. The

Quantum Capital to buy US power producer Cogentrix Energy for $3 bn

Cogentrix, which was bought by Carlyle from Goldman Sachs in 2012, operates more than 70 gas, coal, solar and other renewable assets

ONGC to intensify gas production in Tripura to feed power plants: Official

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has intensified operations to increase gas production in Tripura to feed power generation plants in the northeastern state, an official said on Monday. The decision comes amid reports of a reduction in gas supply to various gas-based power generation plants in the state. ONGC produced 1,527 million standard cubic metres (MMSCM) of gas in Tripura in the 2023-24 fiscal, while it has set a target of extracting 1,675 MMSCM gas in the current fiscal. "ONGC has been working to increase gas production so that sufficient gas is supplied to the gas-based power plants in Tripura. We have already set a target of extracting 1,675 MMSCM of gas during the current fiscal year (2024-25) while the production was 1,527 MMSCM in 2023-24," ONGC's Tripura Asset Manager Krishna Kumar told PTI. He said that ONGC will dig as many as 20 new wells for gas exploration in the financial year 2024-25 and one more rig will be added shortly to boost the exploration drive. At

India's clean air target at risk as gas plan caught in regulatory minefield

New Delhi's ambitious targets to clean its air by decarbonising energy sector will be underpinned by its success in building nascent natural gas segment

ONGC gets govt clearance for clean energy projects, gas business unit

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will set up a new unit to house its gas business and clean energy projects such as green hydrogen, as it looks to fast-track foray into new areas. In a stock exchange filing, the firm said it last month received approval of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for formation of a wholly-owned subsidiary company for gas business and clean energy projects. "The proposed name of the company is 'ONGC Green Limited' subject to approval of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India," it said, adding the company board at its meeting on Tuesday approved the formation of the wholly-owned subsidiary for green energy and gas business. The wholly-owned subsidiary company will be for value-chains of energy business such as green hydrogen, hydrogen blending, renewable energy (solar, wind and hybrid), biofuels/ biogas business and LNG, ONGC said. The nation's largest oil and gas producer plans to spend Rs 1 lakh crore on installin

Gas firms seek price deregulation as city distribution targets fall behind

International gas prices, typically one-sixth of oil prices, have risen since late 2021, touching $100 per barrel

ONGC to cut gas flaring, use green power at oil wells: Chairman Arun Singh

State-controlled Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) plans to wheel green electricity to its installations in the Arabian Sea to replace natural gas it uses in operation of oil wells as part of its ambitious decarbonisation programme, its Chairman Arun Kumar Singh said. India's top oil and gas producer has substantially cut gas flaring -- burning of methane gas is produced when oil is extracted from below surface -- and would look to bring it down to nil as part of its environmental commitments, he said while speaking at the 28th UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai, called COP28. Singh said ONGC uses a lot of gas to generate electricity as well as meet compression and other process needs of an oil and gas field. By 2028, this gas is intended to be replaced with green power wheeled to installations as far as 160 km from the west coast. The gas thus freed will be sold to industries like fertiliser and power plants. Companies around the globe have pledged to slash down methane ...

OPEC defends 'vilified' oil-and-gas industry on eve of climate meeting

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said that the IEA has "unjustly vilified" the industry over its role in the climate crisis

Hope diplomatic row with Qatar will not hurt LNG import deals: Petronet CEO

The government in New Delhi said last week it was "deeply shocked" by a decision by a Qatar court to impose the death penalty on eight Indians arrested in the country last year