November 16, 2018: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), India's largest crude oil refining and marketing company, has the most active and productive Research and Development (R&D) wing among all oil companies in the country. It active patents portfolio has 122 products in areas such as Lubes, refineries and others and continues to invest in a number of R&D areas. It commercialised quite a few products in recent months. Click column Special Database for IOC performance in R&D.

November 15, 2018: The 5 million ton per annum Mundra LNG regasification terminal has just been commissioned. With the government and the industry resolved to enhance the share of natural gas in the energy mix from the 6.2 per cent to 15 per cent by 2030, India will be importing significantly large quantities of LNG in coming years. This has brightened the prospects of quite a few planned LNG regasification terminals becoming a reality. Click column Gas Scene for details of India's regasification terminals, existing, under implementation and planned.

November 12, 2018 | India Needs Affordable LNG: The natural gas consumption in India is confined to the creamy layer of the domestic industry. The government decides gas allocation which is linked to the availability of pipelines. India is now striving to raise the share of gas in energy mix from 6.2 per cent to 15 per cent by 2030. In the absence of a transnational pipeline to supply gas, the country will have to depend on imported LNG. The originally negotiated LNG price with RasGas of Qatar, based on Petronet LNG Ltd’s tender specification, was around $4 /MMBTU. This got scuttled and ended up paying up to $14/MMBTU before it was re-negotiated. India cannot afford costly LNG. If the market is to be tapped to its full potential, the game will be price. LNG would catch fire and take off at or below $5/MMBTU. Experts say industrial houses such as Tatas, SharpoojiPallonji, Mahindra or Piramal should enter the scene. It can be done. Click Free Access column Petro Intelligence for details.