August 19, 2022: The Joint Venture Indradhanush Gas Ltd, the gas grid for the north eastern region is progressing well. This Gas Grid is an important component of the government’s Hydrocarbon Vision for the North and is partnered by Oil and Gas PSUs. The project is 43 per cent complete. Click column Gas Scene for details.

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August 18, 2022: Originally, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) was a refinery in Joint Venture with a private player. Now a subsidiary of state-owned ONGC, emerging as an Oil Marketing Company, (OMC), smaller in size compared to IOC, BPCL and HPCL but has begun to make its presence felt as a petroleum products retailer. How aggressive it will be in coming years? It depends on ONGC leadership. Click column Special Database for details.

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August 10, 2022 | Crude imports: Risks of playing Russian Roulette | Russia’s share in India’s oil and gas requirement has never exceeded 2 per cent of its requirement. A recent Bloomberg report said Russia had replaced Saudi Arabia as the second largest supplier of crude oil in the month of June, largely because of the $19 per barrel discount it had offered in the previous month. However, this development does not move the needle by very much and experts believe that this blip will not make much of a difference in the immediate future. But there is one unpredictable factor in assessing the oil and gas market – and that is the ominous presence of Vladimir Putin. Fed up with the rash of economic sanctions against Russia, Putin acted swiftly to construct a natural gas pipeline to China. Experts do not rule out the possibility of Putin dangling a similar bait before India. After all, oil and gas is India’s Achilles heel. Indian companies can be accommodated in Russia’s expanding E&P sector whose fortunes have been buffeted by the spectacular exit of a couple of global oil giants. Indian public sector units have considerable investments in Russia’s upstream sector and have been scouting for more deals. Click Free Access Column Petro Intelligence to read a comprehensive piece on the subject.