Global crude oil price of Indian Basket was US$ 66.98 per bbl on 05.12.2014

Global crude oil price of Indian Basket was US$ 66.98 per bbl on 05.12.2014

The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 66.98 per barrel (bbl) on 05.12.2014. This was lower than the price of US$ 67.98 per bbl on previous publishing day of 04.12.2014.

In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket decreased to Rs 4142.71 per bbl on 05.12.2014 as compared to Rs 4206.60 per bbl on 04.12.2014. Rupee closed stronger at Rs 61.85 per US$ on 05.12.2014 as against Rs 61.88 per US$ on 04.12.2014.

The table below gives details in this regard:

Particulars	Unit	Price on Dec 05, 2014 (Previous trading day i.e. 04.12.2014)	Pricing Fortnight for 01.12.2014 (Nov 13 to Nov 26, 2014)
Crude Oil (Indian Basket)	($/bbl)	66.98              (67.98)	76.43
	(Rs/bbl	4142.71           (4206.60)	4723.37
Exchange Rate	(Rs/$)	61.85               (61.88)	61.80

***

Crude Oil Production

The Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply today that Reliance Industries Limited is the operator of the KG D6 block. The details of crude oil produced in KG-D6 during the last three years (2011-12 to 2013-14)  and the current year  (2014-15),  is as under:

Block	Operator	Unit	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15 ( April-October, 2014)
KG-DWN-98/3  (KG-D6)	(Reliance Industries Ltd.)	MMT	0.681	0.394	0.274	0.160

MMT- Million Metric Tonnes

The price of crude oil produced is fixed between buyers and sellers and is benchmarked to prices of a basket of international crude oil prices.

The under-recoveries incurred by the Public Sector Oil marketing Companies (OMCs) on sale of regulated petroleum products, are compensated by the Government through budgetary assistance to the OMCs and by the upstream companies through discount on crude oil sold to the OMCs. The details of under-recovery and subsidy provided by Government during last 3 years and current year is given below:

 (In Rs. Crores)

Year	Total Under-recovery	Budgetary assistance by Government	Discount by Upstream Oil companies
	Amount	Amount	Amount
2011-12	138541	83500	55000
2012-13	161029	100000	60000
2013-14	139869	70772	67021
2014-15 (H1)	51110	17000	31926

***

Gail Manufacturing Unit

The Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply today that GAIL has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited (RCF), Coal India Limited (CIL) and Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited (FCIL) for revival of FCIL Talcher on 05.9.2013 for:

(i) Formation of a Joint Venture Company for upstream coal and gas purification complex to produce Ammonia Synthesis Gas.

(ii) Formation of a Joint Venture Company for downstream fertilizer cum – Ammonium Nitrate Complex and Off-sites to produce urea utilizing the Ammonia Synthesis Gas.

GAIL is primarily focusing on upstream and has issued an Expression of Interest for selecting Licensors for coal gasification technology for production of Ammonia Synthesis Gas. The Licensors for coal gasification technology is likely to be finalized by January 2015 and the investment decision shall be made by 31.12.2015.

*****

Shale Oil and Gas Reserves

The Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply today that so far there has been no significant exploration in our country for locating the resources of shale gas. However based on the geo-scientific data collected during exploration of conventional oil and gas assessments have been made by various agencies regarding the likely potential of shale gas and oil resource in the Indian sedimentary basins.

The Government has, on 14.10.2013, notified the policy guidelines for exploration and exploitation of shale gas and oil by National Oil Companies (NOCs) in their onland PEL (Petroleum Exploration Lease) /PML (Petroleum Mining Lease) blocks awarded under the nomination regimes. Under the first phase of assessment (3 years) 55 PEL/PML blocks (ONGC 50, and OIL – 5) have been awarded to NOCs. These blocks are located in the states of Assam (6 blocks), Arunachal Pradesh (1 block), Gujarat (28 blocks), Rajasthan (1 block), Andhra Pradesh (10 blocks) and Tamil Nadu (9 blocks).

ONGC has drilled one well and spudded another well in Cambay Basin, Gujarat for assessment of shale gas/shale oil potential where coring has been completed. In addition, ONGC has collected cores from another 8 wells.

IOC has acquired 10% Participating Interest in shale gas in the Pacific North West integrated LNG project, located in British Columbia, Canada with effect from 1.1.2013. The other partners in the project are progress Energy Canada Ltd. (62% & operator), Sinopec (15%), Japex (10%), PetroleumBrunei (3%). The approved investment commitment for the project is of CAD 3.907 billion.

A total of 383 wells have been drilled out of which 313 are shale gas/oil producers. The present gross oil and gas production from the project is 85,700 boe/d(IOC’s share 10%). Total reserves of 16.88 TCF equivalents have been established. The cumulative investment made in the project as on 31.10.2014 is CAD 1244.24 million.

*****

Trans-National Pipeline Projects

The Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply today that there is no ongoing transnational gas pipeline projects in the country, at present. However, a few transnational pipeline projects, including TAPI (Turkmenistan- Afghanistan- Pakistan-India) are under discussion

Discussions with the Government of Nepal on the Petroleum Product Pipeline from Raxaul to Amlekhganj are under way. The project is to be executed in two phases. The main facilities in the first phase include a 38 km long pipeline from Raxaul, India to Amlekhgunj, Nepal and retrofitting of Amlekhganj Depot. Indian Oil has agreed to bear the cost towards the pipeline system and retrofitting of Amlekhganj Depot at a cost of INR 150 crore.

No agreement has yet been signed between Nepal Oil Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation Limited.

*****

Allocation of Gas to FCI

The Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply today that a request for allocation of 3 MMSCMD of natural gas for the fertilizer plant of FCI at Ramagundam was received at the time of formation of the State of Telangana. The coal-based fertilizer plant of FCI at Ramagundam is proposed to be revived by a joint venture of National Fertilizer Ltd. (NFL), Engineers India Ltd. (EIL) and Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd. (FCI) and converted to a gas-based fertilizer plant. Request for allocation of 3 MMSCMD of natural gas to this fertilizer plant will be considered at the appropriate time.

*****