Page 3 - Oil

Understanding the unlikely Saudi Arabia push for lower oil prices

To appreciate Saudi oil policy, it always helps to focus on what the kingdom does, rather than on what it says - whether in public or private

US Prez Trump threatens sanction against those who purchase Iranian oil

President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened sanctions on anyone who buys Iranian oil, a warning that came after planned talks over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program were postponed. Trump wrote on social media that All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW! He said any country or person who buys those products from Iran will not be able to do business with the United States. The threat came after Oman announced planned nuclear negotiations for this coming weekend had been postponed. A message online from Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi made the announcement in a post on the social platform X. For logistical reasons we are rescheduling the US Iran meeting provisionally planned for Saturday May 3rd, he wrote. New dates will be announced when mutually agreed. Al-Busaidi, who has mediated the talks through three rounds so far, did not elaborate. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei issued a statement describing the talks as

BSE oil and gas index up 3%; check what put all these stocks on fire today

The BSE Oil & Gas index touched intraday high of 26,551.71, up 3.12 per cent from previous session's close of 25,746.71. HPCL, BPCL, IOC were among the top gainers in trade on April 29, data shows

Trump announces 25% tariff on nations buying Venezuelan oil and gas

Venezuelan crude has made up less than 1 per cent of all crude imports for India in FY25

No windfall tax on oil, gas companies after new law: Hardeep Singh Puri

Oil and gas companies will not face any new taxes like the windfall profits tax after the coming into effect of a new law that promises stability of fiscal regime, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said. Parliament has passed the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2024 that provides policy stability to investors, decriminalises provisions and promotes ease of doing business. "After this bill, it will be difficult to levy (new taxes like) windfall tax because somebody will sue us (for failing to keep the promise of fiscal stability)," he said at a reception he hosted to celebrate the passage of the bill. Investors looking to invest in finding and producing oil and gas want fiscal stability, and new taxes that seek to take away gains made when prices are high, without compensating for low or no margins when rates are low, are often a deterrent. India imposed a windfall profit tax on July 1, 2022 joining a growing number of nations that tax super normal profits of energy

EU extends Russia sanctions by 6 months after Hungary lifts veto threat

The European Union agreed a 6-month extension Monday for a raft of sanctions aimed at depriving Russia of funds to finance its war against Ukraine after Hungary lifted its objections to the move. The sanctions target trade, finance, energy, technology, industry, transport and luxury goods. They include a ban on the import or transfer of seaborne crude oil and certain petroleum products from Russia to the EU. They will now remain in place at least until July 31. Some measures were introduced in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, but the list grew significantly after Moscow's full-fledged invasion of its neighbour almost three years ago. On Friday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbn called on the EU to intervene in a gas dispute that his country has with Ukraine. He said Kyiv's decision to halt the transit of Russian gas into Central Europe had forced Hungary to turn to alternative routes, which raised energy prices. To satisfy Orbn's demand, the European ...

Best of BS Opinion: How much change and continuity can we expect this year?

The best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today, curated for you

US imposes sanctions on 35 entities, vessels for transporting Iranian oils

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on 35 entities and vessels, including two from India, for transporting Iranian oil to other countries. The two India-based entities are Vision Ship Management LLP that manages and operates the PHONIX, and Tightship Shipping Management (OPC) Private Limited. Entities and vessels from the United Arab Emirates, China, Liberia, China, Hong Kong among others have also been slapped with sanctions. In a statement, the Department of Treasury said this action imposes additional costs on Iran's petroleum sector following Iran's attack against Israel on October 1, as well as Iran's announced nuclear escalations, building upon the sanctions issued on October 11. Petroleum revenues provide the Iranian regime with the resources to fund its nuclear program, develop advanced drones and missiles, and provide ongoing financial and material support for the terrorist activities of its regional proxies, it said. Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and ..

Edible oil body SEA urges govt to lift ban on commodity futures trading

Edible oil industry SEA on Monday called on the government to lift a ban on futures trading in key agricultural commodities, including crude palm oil and soyabean, citing significant financial impact on its members. The ban, first implemented in December 2021 on seven agricultural commodities, has been extended multiple times with the current extension running through December 20, 2024. The Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) has appealed to five ministers, including Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, arguing that the absence of futures trading has hindered price risk management and market development. "The industry was hopeful that the suspension would be lifted to enable smoother operations, but the continuation of this restriction has further weakened an essential risk mitigation tool," SEA President Sanjeev Asthana said in a representation made to the ministers. SEA emphasised that studies have shown futures trading does not significantly

TotalEnergies, Oil India sign pact on methane emissions detection

French energy giant TotalEnergies and state-owned Oil India Ltd (OIL) signed a cooperation agreement to carry out methane emissions detection and measurement campaigns at the Indian firm's sites. The two will use TotalEnergies' pioneer AUSEA technology, the French firm said in a statement. OIL recently joined the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC), a global industry initiative launched at COP28, co-chaired by TotalEnergies' CEO. The OGDC's ambition is to work towards net-zero operations by 2050, as well as near-zero upstream methane emissions and zero routine flaring by 2030. Moreover, OGDC members are committed to measuring and publicly reporting progress. "In line with the OGDC's principle of sharing good practices, TotalEnergies makes this technology available to other operators among the signatories, as an effective and recognized tool to detect, measure and eventually abate methane emissions on their own assets," the statement said. Mounted on a drone, the AUSEA gas .

India's diesel consumption expected to rise 3%-4% in FY25: IOC Chairman

The arrival of the monsoon in July caused diesel demand to drop due to heavy rains in various parts of India

Crude oil can hit low $60s by 2025-end despite geopolitical conflict

Oil price outlook: Given the low level of oil inventories, there could be a sustained geopolitical premium in crude price until the conflict is resolved in the short-term

Reliance-bp team up with ONGC as OALP-IX bid round attracts four bidders

India's biggest oil and gas bid round attracted four bidders that included state-owned ONGC and OIL and private sector Vedanta Ltd, with most blocks getting just two bids, according to Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). The OALP-IX bid round, where 28 blocks or areas spread over 1.36 lakh square kilometre were offered for finding and producing oil and gas, for the first time saw Reliance Industries Ltd-bp plc combine bidding together with ONGC for one block in Gujarat offshore. Reliance and its supermajor partner bp plc had bid in just two of the past eight oil and gas bid rounds since 2017. Reliance-bp combine had bid and won the two blocks they had bid for in the previous rounds and this is the first time they have teamed up with ONGC to bid for a shallow water block in the Gujarat-Saurashtra basin. In the previous eighth round of Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP-VIII), state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) had not bid for the ultra deepsea Krishna Godavari

BPCL planning to setup refining-cum-petrochemical complex in 5-7 years

State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) is exploring setting up an oil refining and petrochemical complex over the next 5-7 years as it steps up capacity to meet India's rising energy demand, chairman G Krishnakumar told shareholders on Friday. BPCL, which lost one of its four oil refineries to Oil India Ltd in the aborted privatisation plan, has lined up Rs 1.7 lakh crore of investment for expanding its core oil refining and fuel retailing business as well as in new energy ventures. "To meet the anticipated demand beyond our planned expansions in Bina and Kochi (refineries), we are actively evaluating options for setting up additional integrated refining and petrochemical capacities within the next 5-7 years," he said. BPCL had to give up its Numaligarh refinery in Assam to OIL when the government was attempting to privatise the company. The transfer was to keep the Numaligarh unit within public sector to honour Assam accord. But BPCL privatisation was aborted due to la

Four sedimentary basins likely to hold 22 billion barrels of oil: S&P

Andaman Sea a focal point for oil exploration, S&P Global Commodity Insights said

Saudi Arabia to sell shares worth $12 billion of oil major Aramco

The deal will test global investors' appetite for the world's biggest oil exporter amid questions about climate change and the future of fossil fuels

Tripura government imposes restrictions on sale of petrol and diesel

A massive landslide in Assam's Jatinga region has disrupted the goods train movement to Tripura

ONGC, Oil India dip 4% on profit booking after hike in windfall tax

Shares of ONGC dipped 4 per cent to Rs 265.40, while Oil India was down 3.5 per cent to Rs 613 on the BSE in intra-day trade

Oil an option to recoup $600 million from Venezuela dividend: ONGC Videsh

Indian refiners have resumed purchase of Venezuelan oil following the easing of US sanctions on the South American country last year

India sees 25% fall in vegetable oils import to to 1.1 MT in Nov: SEA

The country's vegetable oils import declined by 25 per cent to 11.60 lakh tonne in November, the first month of the 2023-24 oil year, compared to 15.45 lakh tonne in the year-ago period, industry body SEA said on Friday. Of the total vegetable oil imports, edible oils were 11.48 lakh tonnes and non-edible oils 12,498 tonnes during November 2023. India, the world's leading vegetable oil buyer, imports refined and crude vegetable oils in the edible oil category. Oil year runs from November to October. According to the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA), the country's crude vegetable oils declined by 26.34 per cent to 9.77 lakh tonnes in November this year as against 13.26 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period. Similarly, refined vegetable oils import declined by 15.41 per cent to 1,71,069 tonnes in November this year from 2,02,248 tonnes in the year-ago period. Among crude vegetable oils, although the import of RBD palmolein declined in November 2023 to 1.71 lakh tonnes from