Infrastructure and Energy Sector

[Sridhar]

Qatar to sell India 4 million tonnes more gas, but price remains an issue

22 March 2010


Qatar has agreed to supply an additional 4 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas a year to India by 2014 to meet its rising energy consumption, petroleum secretary S Sundareshan told newspersons in New Delhi on Saturday. Prices however have not been finalised.
The fuel may be supplied to Petronet LNG Ltd's terminal at Kochi and a terminal being built by Ratnagiri Gas & Power Pvt Ltd at Dabhol, Sundareshan said. Ratnagiri is controlled by GAIL India Ltd and the National Thermal Power Corp Ltd.
Qatar, the world's largest LNG exporter, will begin with one million tonnes of supplies in 2011 and ramp it up to 4 million tonnes by 2014. "These will be 15-20 year contracts," Qatar's energy minister Abdullah al-Attiyah told reporters after an hour-long meeting with petroleum minister Murli Deora.
"India is on top of my agenda. We are always committed to meeting India's needs," he said.

India currently imports 7.5 million tons of LNG every year from Qatar's RasGas under a long-term deal. The additional fuel would be imported at Petronet LNG Ltd's under-construction Kochi LNG terminal and almost ready Dabhol receiving facility on the western coast.
Qatar is seeking to sell its surplus LNG elsewhere after its principal importers, the US and Europe, cut imports. ''We are looking to divert conditional cargoes from the US and Europe to India if we get better deals,'' al-Attiyah said.
''The volumes have been agreed,'' Sundareshan said. ''Pricing has to be agreed to now and Rasgas is discussing that with Petronet and GAIL.''
The latest agreement is for India to receive an additional 300,000 tonnes a year in 2010, 500,000 tons in 2011, 2.5 million tons in 2012 and 4 million tonnes by 2014. Petronet LNG currently has contracts to purchase 7.5 million tonnes of the fuel a year until 2028.
Qatar is currently producing 62 million tonnes a year of LNG and may raise its output to 77 million tons by September after two more LNG trains start operations, al-Attiyah said.
However, there is reportedly a feeling among Indian officials that the price demanded by Qatar is too high – though al-Attiyah said Qatar was willing to meet any demand that New Delhi had, adding that "We came to the rescue when India faced shortage (in 2008 and 2009)."
But in this case, it is unlikely to be a 'sweetheart deal' as it was earlier; and there may be hard price negotiations ahead.

http://www.domainb.com/industry/oil_gas/20100322_tonnes_more_oneView.html

 

[Sridhar]

India to produce 35,000 MW nuclear power by 2020: Banerjee

22 March 2010


India is expected to produce 35,000 MW nuclear power by 2020, chairman of Atomic Energy Commission and secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Dr Srikumar Banerjee said in Mumbai on Sunday.

Dr Banerjee said that the total nuclear power generation was expected to reach 35,000 MW by 2020, while speaking on the sidelines of a function on nuclear power, hosted by the Mumbai Branch of the Jadavpur University Alumni Association.
He, howevwer, said that nuclear power would account for less than 10 per cent of the total demand in 2020, as by that time, demand for power would have reached 350,000-400,000 MW.
Dr Banerjee, who is also a director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), said that India's nuclear power generation programme needs support from the private sector as well.

He said that it was a wrong notion that only government was involved in nuclear power programme-related activities. We need the industry support also.

Dr Banerjee disclsed that Asia's leading IT firm TCS, a Tata Group company had been "our partner for decades.'' He, however, said that the private players can play only a minor role in power generation.
''The present Atomic Energy Act allows private parties to be only the minor stakeholders in generation of power. No private company can jump into the production, which does not have the expertise. A lot of safety and security concerns are there,'' he said.
He said now there are many joint ventures in the pipeline, including that of private-public partnership model, for nuclear power.
''NTPC has already signed an agreement with Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) for nuclear power generation. There are a lot of activities going on and companies like Nalco have also come forward for production of nuclear power,'' he pointed out.
Recently, L&T and NPCIL together announced a joint venture for equipment manufacturing, where L&T owns the controlling stake, he added.

http://www.domainb.com/industry/power/20100322_nuclear_power_oneView.html

 

[Sridhar]

GAIL-RIL JV looks at Qatar for petrochemical plant

22 March 2010


Looking to set up a $1.3-billion mega petrochemical plant in a petroleum-rich country, state-owned GAIL India Ltd along with Reliance Industries Ltd has sought assured natural gas supplies from Qatar to set up the plant.
"We are in discussions with Qatar for setting up a petrochemical plant. We need assured feedstock," GAIL chairman and managing director B C Tripathi told newspersons on the sidelines of the 6th Asia Gas Partnership Summit in New Delhi on Saturday.
GAIL had last year held preliminary discussions with Qatar Petrochemical Co (Qapco) and would now discuss the project in more detail. "So far, they have not committed anything," Tripathi said.
RIL and GAIL had on 4 December 2007 signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly set up a 1.9-million-tonne petrochemical plant. They had then zeroed in on Qatar, Iran, Algeria, Nigeria and Russia. The two are looking at countries that can provide natural gas as feedstock for the unit.

GAIL and Reliance intend to float a special purpose vehicle with equal stake to set up the overseas petrochemical plant.
The state-owned firm has also shown interest in setting up a petrochemical unit in Iran and would soon open up discussions with the National Petrochemical Company of Iran, Tripathi said.
Reliance and GAIL believe that there is a huge demand for petrochemical products worldwide. This would need new capacities, and hence they are exploring opportunities for setting up global size petrochemical complexes, preferably gas-based, in gas-rich countries.

http://www.domainb.com/industry/oil_gas/20100322_petrochemical)_plant.html

 

[Sridhar]

Gujarat plans Rs2,200 crore Ahmedabad-Bhavnagar expressway

20 March 2010


The Narendra Modi government in Gujarat is planning to build its first expressway, between Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar, at a cost of Rs2,200 crore. This will provide superfast road connectivity to the special investment regions (SIR) in the state.

The expressway that passes through Sarkhej-Pipali-Dholera will enable one to commute the 110 km distance between the two cities in just one and a half hour, roads and buildings minister Anandiben Patel informed the state assembly on Friday.
Speaking on the budgetary demands for roads and buildings department, the minister said the investment region, coming up enroute Dholera, an ancient port city in Gulf of Khambhat, would also get air connectivity through international airport.

In the wake of increasing industrial activities, the roads and buildings department intends to provide road connectivity to various special economic zones (SEZs), SIRs and industrial areas.
The work for 15 roads at a cost of Rs559 crore will begin soon, she informed the assembly, adding that nearly Rs2,000 crore would be spent on connecting Bharuch to Dahej and Rs75 crore for Morbi bypass to Navlakhi road project.
The government has approved road projects worth Rs411 crore and has completed construction of nine roads with expenditure of Rs167 crore in order to meet future growth needs of road traffic.

The state government had earlier, availed of a World Bank loan of Rs1,800 crore for upgradation of 1,856 km of roads and has completed the project as per World Bank stipulations.
The state government had also prepared a new plan of Rs2,100 crore and sent it to World Bank for financial assistance.
Considering the importance of road connectivity in the state, the government has increased allocation to roads and buildings department by 41.06 per cent or Rs852 crore to Rs2,927 crore in the state budget for 2010-11.
"In 2010-11, six-laning work will be taken up on 185 km at a cost of Rs1,584 crore and four laning of 646 km at a cost of Rs5,410 crore to provide improved road connectivity to the ports ringing the coastal areas of Okha, Navlakhi, Dahej, Jhakhau, Mundra, Sutrapada, Naliya, Jhakhau, Rajula and Jaffrabad," the minister added.

http://www.domainb.com/economy/infrastructure/roads/20100320_bhavnagar_expressway.html

 

[Sridhar]

Indian Oil may hike its £400 million unsolicited bid for Gulfsands Petroleum

20 March 2010


Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is likely to hike its takeover offer for Middle East-focused gas exploration and production company Gulfsands Petroleum Plc after the UK-based company today rejected IOC's £400 million (Rs2728 crore) unsolicited takeover offer.
Public sector oil marketing company IOC, India's largest commercial company by revenue, had made an £400 million unsolicited acquisition offer on 18 March for the London-based and AIM-listed independent oil and gas explorer Gulfsands Petroleum.
The board of Gulfsands, without naming the bidding company, today rejected an unsolicited takeover offer, saying that the £400 million offer ''Is wholly inadequate and materially undervalues the company.''
Citing a source close to the deal, The Financial Times, however said today that the mystery bidder was IOC and that the Indian oil major will consider its options over the weekend, and could raise its 350 pence a share offer.

Gulfsands said that it is not currently involved in any process to solicit offers and is confident of its strategy to become a pre-eminent exploration and production company in the Middle East and to continue to demonstrate tangible growth.
IOC, which is being advised by the UK-based financial advisory firm Seymour Pierce, has approached several of Gulfsands' large UK institutional shareholders, including Schroders, a £148.4 billion assets management company that holds 22 per cent stake in Gulfsands, before making its bid.
The board of Gulfsands', which is being advised by Royal Bank of Canada, is understood to be not willing to accept any offer below 400 pence, but may yield to shareholders pressure to enter into talks with IOC, said the paper.
Gulfsands owns a 50 per cent working interest and is operator of Block 26 covering approximately 8,250 square kilometres in North East Syria. This field is producing at an average gross production rate of approximately 17,000 barrels of oil per day. The current exploration license expires in August 2010 and is extendable for a further two years.
Gulfsands signed a Memorandum of Understanding in January 2005 with the Ministry of Oil in Iraq for the Maysan Gas Project in Southern Iraq, and is negotiating details of a definitive contract for this project.
The company owns interests in 44 blocks comprising approximately 138,000 gross acres offshore Texas and Louisiana, which include 30 producing oil and gas fields.
India currently produces 680,000 barrels of oil per day and spends close to $124 billion (Rs600,000 crore) to import 75 per cent of its crude oil requirement.
According to the Paris-based International Energy Agency, India's energy consumption is likely to more than double by 2030 to 833 million tons of oil equivalent, which would make the country's import bill soar to more than $248 billion if taken at an average price of $66 a barrel of crude.
The Indian government has recently given a mandate to the state-owned oil companies to make energy acquisitions overseas in order to meet the country's energy requirement in the future.
But in the past two years, Indian oil companies have repeatedly been out bid by sovereign fund-backed rival China for overseas energy acquisitions, despite India's foreign exchange reserves at a healthy $283.5 billion. ( See: ONGC, OVL pitted against Chinese sovereign funds for foreign acquisitions)

India is now mulling to set up a $20-billion sovereign fund to aid state-owned oil companies make much needed energy acquisitions overseas. (See: India mulls setting up sovereign wealth fund)

http://www.domainb.com/companies/co...ion/20100320_gulfsands_petroleum_oneView.html

 

[Sridhar]

Rolls-Royce wins second contract to power major gas pipeline in India

19 March 2010


Global power systems supplier Rolls-Royce yesterday won its second contract in two years from Gas Authority India Limited (GAIL) to supply power systems for a major gas pipeline project. The new contract is valued at $90 million.
This new order is for four Rolls-Royce RB211 packages, which will be used on the 500km Vijaipur-Dadri Bawana Pipeline (VDPL) running from Vijaipur to Dadri, part of the larger VDPL project. This follows a $130 million contract award in 2008 for six RB211 gas compressor sets for the 600km Dahej-Vijaipur (DVPL) pipeline that runs between Dahej in Gujrat to Vijaipur in Madhya Pradesh.
All 10 Rolls-Royce gas turbine packages will be used to increase the flow of gas on these key projects in India, which will support GAIL in contributing to the country's infrastructure requirement.
Tony Ruegger, Rolls-Royce, executive vice-president, oil and gas, said, ''GAIL is investing aggressively to expand their natural gas pipeline network, and we are especially pleased that once again they have selected Rolls-Royce compression equipment for this major infrastructure project.''

The four new RB211-GT61 dry low emissions (DLE) units will be sited at two compressor stations, Kailaras and Chainsa, joining the other six to be located at Vijaipur and Jhabua.
All 10 sets will drive RFBB36 gas compressors designed and manufactured by Rolls-Royce. When all the units are installed they will increase the flow of gas along the lines to help to power industries such as fertiliser, steel and petrochemical in addition to many thousands of homes in the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Punjab.
The RB211 gas generators will be manufactured at the company's Montreal, Quebec, Canada facility while packaging of the units and the manufacture of the compressors will take place in Mount Vernon, Ohio. All the equipment for this latest contract is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2011.

http://www.domainb.com/companies/companies_r/Rolls_Royce/20100319_gas_pipeline.html

 

[Pintu]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...40p-more-from-April-1/articleshow/5714019.cms

Cleaner fuel will cost 40p more from April 1
TNN, Mar 23, 2010, 03.16am IST

NEW DELHI: Consumers will have to fork out up to 40 paise a litre more for motor fuels in 13 cities that will upgrade to Euro-IV quality. Petroleum secretary S Sundareshan on Monday confirmed that the government was considering a differential pricing for Euro-IV petrol and diesel but declined to say by how much the prices would be higher from Euro-III fuels being sold now.

Sources said an increase of 10-20 paisa would allow state-run oil firms to recover the investments made in creating facilities for making Euro-IV fuels. Another 14-18 paisa a litre increase would come from a revision in dealer margin, due from April as per the formula laid down by the oil ministry. Euro-IV fuels will be introduced in Delhi from March 24.

Thirteen major cities, including the four metros as well as Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad are to graduate to Euro-IV from April 1. The remaining cities will move to Euro-III, except some areas in east and south that will get the fuels in phases. Sundareshan said, "Supply of Euro-IV fuel is no problem... companies have already started supplying Euro-IV fuel in some places and from April 1, Euro-IV petrol and diesel will be sold in all the 13 cities."

State-run IndianOil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have together invested about Rs 40,000 crore in upgrading their refineries to produce Euro-III and Euro-IV fuels. Euro-IV standards specify a maximum of 50 parts per million of sulphur in petrol and diesel. Euro-III specifications allow a maximum of 350 parts per million of sulphur.

 

[ajtr]

The dragon and the elephant in a contest for oil

The elephant appears to be trailing the dragon through the jungles of the oil world.

The state-owned Indian Oil Corporation is in talks to acquire Gulfsands Petroleum, a UK company active in Syria. It was only last August that Sinochem, China’s fourth-largest oil company, bought Emerald Energy, Gulfsands’s partner in Syria.

Is this a battle India can win? Is it a battle India should even be fighting?China’s oil deals have attracted a lot of attention, particularly in Washington. Three of its leading players, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, PetroChina and Sinopec, have recently been buying assets in Argentina, Canada and West Africa, and featuring prominently in the Iraqi oil auctions.

China also took advantage of other countries’ financial struggles and a general shortage of capital to lend US$45 billion (Dh165.26bn) to Kazakhstan, Russia, Angola, Venezuela and Brazil in return for guaranteed future oil supplies.

By comparison, India has been much lower-key. The leading state company Oil and Natural Gas Corporation bought the UK-listed Imperial Energy for $2.1bn early last year to gain access to West Siberia. Otherwise, the Indian companies have mainly concentrated on picking up exploration acreage and negotiating with governments.

India has to be realistic about its ability to compete with China. In 2006, the two countries signed a deal to avoid competing for oil acquisitions. They sealed the pact with a joint purchase of Syrian assets. This came after deals in which Chinese companies outbid the Indians in Kazakhstan and Angola.New Delhi’s financial resources are much less than Beijing’s. The Chinese economy, almost four times the size of India’s, runs a large trade surplus, while India has a deficit. India needs large amounts of domestic capital to improve its inadequate infrastructure, while China has embarked on a huge construction programme and is in danger of over-investing at home. Chinese oil companies are much larger than their Indian counterparts and operate big domestic fields.

India cannot therefore beat China in a battle of the big wallets. But this does not mean Indians are doomed to run short of oil. Merely owning interests in foreign oilfields does not guarantee a supply of fuel. Oil is traded in world markets. Chinese oil production in Angola or Colombia does not entitle the Chinese to special prices. And Japan and South Korea have become wealthy without major oil investments.

If wars are ever fought over resources, as some gloomy futurists predict, having commercial stakes in oilfields will be useless. The control of that oil will be determined by military force. Dutch ownership of Indonesian fields did not stop the Japanese takeover in the Second World War.

In this regard, India is better placed than China. India is much closer to the Middle East, and the tanker route does not pass through the narrow waterways of South East Asia.

India is also well sited for overland routes from Central Asia and Iran. It is 3,000km from the main Kazakh fields to New Delhi, but more than 5,000km to Beijing. Yet the Chinese have succeeded in opening oil and gas pipelines from the Caspian to western China.

Meanwhile, Iranian controversy, Afghan instability and, above all, the troubled relationship with Pakistan have prevented India from capitalising on its geographic advantages. Reducing tensions with Pakistan could lay the foundation for greater Indian energy security.

As many as 6 million Indians live and work in the GCC. India also has a large Muslim population and long historic and cultural links with the Gulf. At a time when OPEC states are worrying about security of western demand, India can become a key partner.

As a democracy, India should build on its moral authority. Supporting unstable or unsavoury regimes, as China is often alleged to do in Sudan, Zimbabwe and Burma, should not be an option for India. Relying on pariah states is hardly a recipe for energy security, and in any case, without a UN Security Council veto, India has less to offer such countries diplomatically.

Less able than China to externalise its energy policy, India needs to look domestically. Recent encouragement of exploration has yielded big discoveries in Rajasthan and the eastern offshore. With pipelines from Turkmenistan and Iran less emphasised, India should continue to expand its purchases of liquefied natural gas.

Abundant coal resources can also yield gas, but India has made little progress on plants to convert coal to oil, unlike China and South Africa, or on trapping carbon dioxide emissions for underground disposal.

Progress in renewable energy, particularly wind, and the 2008 deal with the US on nuclear power opens up the prospect of clean, non-fossil-fuel energy.

The key actions, though, are less on energy supply and more on demand. The increase in fuel prices in the latest budget should be just the first step. There are better ways to protect the poor than wasteful oil subsidies.

India’s immense railway network and the excellent Delhi Metro show the way to extensive public transport. Compressed natural gas, cheaper and cleaner than oil, is popular for Delhi taxis and buses. Gas should become the fuel of choice in power generation and industry.

Above all, energy needs to be open to private-sector investment and to be freed of bureaucracy and waste.

India is in the early stages of its growth, and it has the chance to build an energy-efficient economy from the bottom up. India should not imitate Chinese energy strategy, designed for a very different country and circumstances, and then fret that it is losing the race.

New Delhi also needs to be cautious about listening to empire-building chief executives and loud energy nationalists.

The Indian elephant ought to use its own strengths in the search for energy security.

Robin Mills is an energy economist based in Dubai and author of The Myth of the Oil Crisis

 

[NSG_Blackcats]

Infrastructure investment in 11th Plan to be close to $500 bn: Montek​

The Planning Commission on Monday said investment in the infrastructure sector in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-12) will be close to the target of $500 billion, thanks to a better-than-expected show by the telecom sector. “It does look as if we will achieve (investment in infrastructure sector) not fully, but very close to USD 500 billion.

This will be primarily because of over achievement in telecom,” Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said ahead of the government-sponsored meet on infrastructure, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Commission had set a $500 billion target of investment in the infrastructure sector during the Eleventh Plan Period.

GDP

Replying to questions on growth prospects during the Eleventh Plan, Mr. Ahluwalia said it was likely to be 8.5 per cent in the next fiscal 2010-11 and nine per cent during 2011-12, the last year of the Eleventh Plan. Following the global crisis, the growth rate during 2008-09 slipped to 6.7 per cent from over nine per cent during the three preceding years. It is estimated to be 7.2 per cent during the current fiscal.

The growth target for the plan period will be considered at a meeting of the full Planning Commission scheduled tomorrow evening chaired by the Prime Minister. For the Eleventh Plan, the Commission had set a growth target of 9 per cent, which is not likely to be achieved mainly because of the impact of the global crisis on the country’s growth.

Infrastructure

Referring to the developments in the infrastructure sector, Mr. Ahluwalia said telecom sector has been doing exceedingly well and the performance would overshoot the target, both in urban and rural areas. As far as the road sector is concerned, he said, the contracts for building 4,000 km would be awarded during the current fiscal, which would be twice the number of contracts given in the preceding two years.

Contracts for constructing 7,000 km roads are likely to be awarded during 2010-11, he said, adding the initial problems with regard to concession agreements have been sorted and the private investors have started showing interest in the sector. One area which has not been doing as well as the other sectors is the port, Mr. Ahluwalia added. The Plan panel chief further said the power sector, in terms of capacity addition, would do better than the Tenth Plan.

“We think we have a good chance to add 62,000 MW of capacity during the Eleventh Plan period, this could be more if very special efforts are made, but we are not taking credit for that,” Mr. Ahulwalia said. “We think 62,000 is definitely lower than the target of 78,000 MW, but it is almost three time of what was actually created (21,000 MW) in the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07),” he said.

He pointed out, “It is the private sector capacity addition which exceeds target. The capacity expansion in private sector would be 120 per cent of the target whereas it would below the target in the public sector.” The full Plan panel meeting tomorrow will also consider and approve the mid-term appraisal of the Eleventh Plan, the official sources said. The approval of the mid-term appraisal is significant as after the full Plan panel’s nod, it would go to the National Development Council. The Council is expected to meet next month, sources said.

Source - The Hindu

 

[ajtr]

India Gives Thumbs Up for $2B Carabobo Oil Investment

The Indian government Friday approved an investment of $2.18 billion during 2010-2015 by three state-run oil companies in Venezuela's Carabobo 1 oil block.

On Feb. 11, Oil & Natural Gas unit ONGC Videsh Ltd., Indian Oil Corp. and Oil India, in consortium with Spain's Repsol YPF SA and Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd., were awarded development rights for the Carabobo 1 block.

The three Indian companies hold an 18% stake in the project, with OVL holding 11% while IOC and Oil India holding 3.5% each. Spain's Repsol and Malaysia's Petronas hold an 11% stake each in the project. Venezuela's state-run oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, holds the remaining stake.

The consortium will enter into an arrangement with PDVSA on April 22. The consortium has paid a $1.05 billion signing bonus and will pay another $1.05 billion to PDVSA for financing.

While OVL is likely to invest $1.33 billion, IOC and Oil India are expected to invest $425 million each. The cabinet panel also approved their borrowing plan but without government guarantees, Chidambaram said.

 

[ajtr]

Oil India, Indian Oil Said to Consider Raising Gulfsands Offer

March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Oil India Ltd. and Indian Oil Corp. may raise their offer for Gulfsands Petroleum Plc after the U.K. company with assets in Syria and the Gulf of Mexico spurned an approach valuing it at about 380 million pounds ($570 million), a person familiar with the matter said.
The two state-owned Indian companies want more feedback from London-based Gulfsands and haven’t decided on their next step, said the person, who declined to be identified because the situation remains under discussion. Investment bank Seymour Pierce is advising the bidders, said the person.
The original approach was at 315 pence a share, said two people familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified because the figure hasn’t been publicly disclosed. Gulfsands termed the offer “wholly inadequate” on March 19.
Gulfsands’s largest shareholder, London-based Schroders Plc, would be willing to consider a higher offer, said Andy Brough, who manages Schroders funds that hold the stock.
“If someone’s offering more than the current share price, then why not speak to them,” Brough said yesterday. Schroders owns a 22 percent stake in Gulfsands.
Gulfsands rose 1.8 percent to 318 pence in London trading on March 19, taking the company’s market value to 382.4 million pounds. The stock had surged 20 percent the day before, when the company said it had received an approach, without specifying who had made it.
Bobby Morse, an external spokesman for Gulfsands, yesterday declined to identify any bidder or pricing.
Fuel for Growth
The Indian government is seeking to buy energy assets abroad to make up for declining production at home and to cater to an economy that is likely to grow more than 8 percent in the fiscal year starting April 1. State-run Oil & Natural Gas Corp. bought Imperial Energy Plc for 1.4 billion pounds last year in its largest acquisition.
Gulfsands owns a 50 percent stake in a block in Syria that is producing about 11,000 barrels a day of crude oil, according to the company’s Web site. It also owns interests in 44 blocks, including 30 producing blocks, off the coast of Texas and Louisiana.
Gulfsands was granted a 25-year production license in January from Syrian authorities to develop the Yousefieh oilfield. Production will start in April, with a target to produce 6,000 barrels a day from the field by 2012, the company said in a statement Jan. 26.
A report on the company’s audited reserves likely to be released by the end of this month may show they have increased over the last year.
Looking Abroad
“We are looking at various opportunities around the world,” Oil India Chairman N.M. Borah said by phone March 20. “We are in various stages of negotiations, and we hope something works out.” He declined to comment on whether the country’s second-largest state-run oil explorer is bidding for Gulfsands.
Brij Mohan Bansal, chairman of Mumbai-based Indian Oil, said March 20 he would “reserve comment” on whether his company, the nation’s second-biggest refiner, is bidding.
Oil India, based in Duliajan in Assam state, has a market value of 267 billion rupees ($5.9 billion). Indian Oil is valued at about $16 billion.
The Indian government has told ONGC and Oil India to acquire at least one big asset each in the year starting April 1, Oil Secretary S. Sundareshan, the most senior civil servant in the Oil Ministry, said March 18.
Cnooc Ltd., China’s biggest offshore oil explorer, on March 14 agreed to buy a 50 percent stake in Argentine oil producer Bridas Corp. for $3.1 billion as it seeks to add overseas reserves.

 

[ajtr]

UPDATE 1-Qatar to up LNG supply to India to 11.5 mln tonnes

* To boost to 11.5 mln tonnes/yr from 2014 vs 7.5 mln now

* Qatar hopes to send India 1 mln tonnes more in 2011

* Qatar to raise LNG output to 77 mln tonnes

(Adds quote, details)

NEW DELHI, March 21 (Reuters) - Qatar plans to raise its supply of Liquefied Natural Gas to India to 11.5 million tonnes from 2014, against the current 7.5 million tonnes a year, its oil minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said in New Delhi on Sunday.

He said Qatar currently produces 62 million tonnes of LNG and from October it will be raised to 77 million tonnes.

The entire 77 million tonnes has been sold already under long-term contracts but could be diverted if a higher price were to be offered by a new buyer, he said.

"We have some conditional cargoes that are available from the U.S. and Europe. We hope to bring those to India if pricing is right," he said.

Qatar hopes to supply India with an additional 1 million tonnes from 2011 and raise the added amount to four million by 2014, making a total of 11.5 million, he said.

The minister also said he hoped that Indian firms Petronet (PLNG.BO) and GAIL (GAIL.BO) would finalize a deal with Qatar's RasGas in the next few weeks, and which would span 15 to 20 years. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Matthias Williams and Hans Peters)

 

[ajtr]

Cairn India discovers more oil in Rajasthan block

[video]http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/videoshow/5714890.cms[/video]

NEW DELHI: Highly placed sources in the Petroleum Ministry have said that Cairn India has discovered new oil reserves in Rajasthan oilfields.


The company is likely to make an announcement shortly. New oil reserve will increase India's domestic oil production by about 23% in financial year 2011. This essentially means that these reserves are very big. ( Watch )

Rahul Dhir, the Chief Executive of Cairn India has met the Petroleum Minister Murli Deora who in turn has congratulated him and the company for the discovery. Cairn India extracts oil from the Barmer region of Rajasthan. Cairn started output from Mangala - the nation's largest onland oil find in more than two decades in late August 2009.

Cairn India said oil reserves in its Thar desert field in Rajasthan have increased to 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

Previously, discovered in place resources were pegged at 3.7 billion barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas, the company said in a press statement here.

"Resource base provides potential to produce 240,000 barrel of oil per day (as against previous estimate of 175,000 bpd)," it said.Cairn said it is on track to ramp up output from Rajasthan fields to 125,000 barrels per day in the second half of 2010. Current output is around 20,000 bpd.

The company has tied up sale of 143,000 bpd (over 7 million tonnes a year) of oil.

Cairn said production potential from Mangala, the largest field in the block, has increased to 150,000 bpd from previous 125,000 bpd.

 

[ajtr]

Cairn upgrades reserve estimates of Rajasthan oil fields

In a significant development, Cairn India on Tuesday raised its estimates for the reserves in its Rajasthan oilfields and said it can produce 37 per cent more oil than previously thought, a move that could help reduce the nation’s import dependence.

Peak output envisages from the Thar desert fields is now estimated at 2,40,000 barrels per day, equalling production from State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp’s prime Mumbai High fields in the western offshore. Mumbai High is the nation’s largest oilfield.

Cairn India CEO Rahul Dhir said the company has raised estimates of oil and gas in place in Barmer fields to four billion barrels of oil equivalent from 3.7 billion boe previously. Further, there could be another 2.5 billion boe yet to be discovered.

“We estimate that the fields have a potential to produce 240,000 barrels of oil per day (12 million tonnes per annum),” he told reporters. The company had earlier projected a peak output of 175,000 bpd.

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora congratulated Cairn for the achievement and said the increase in reserves augurs well for energy security of the country. “I am told that peak output from Rajasthan is now estimated at 240,000 bpd and this increased output will help reduce nation’s reliance on imported crude oil to meet its energy needs,” he said.

 

[ajtr]

India’s Woes Reflected in Bid to Restart Old Plant

VELDUR, India — “Wherever there is a lamp, there is darkness below it,” said Bava Bhalekar, a fisherman and local leader in this village roughly a hundred miles south of Mumbai. “The tragedy is that while our village has this project, we ourselves don’t have electricity.”“This project” is the power plant that Enron built.

A decade after Enron withdrew from the project, the Indian government and two Indian companies are promising to bring the plant to full capacity. The tragedy, as Mr. Bhalekar and his fellow villagers see it, is that even after the plant is fully operational, their daily blackouts — now from 3 to 7:30 p.m. — will still occur, with just slightly fewer hours without electricity.

State authorities promise to have the plant running at 100 percent by the end of the month. But, so far, this plant remains a monument not to the problems of Enron, but to India’s own corruption, cronyism and weak economic policies — some of the reasons that India remains a perpetual second fiddle to China, its increasingly powerful rival.

For all the progress India has made in information technology and service-sector jobs, the country is still unable to provide reliable power, water, roads and other basic infrastructure to most of its 1.2 billion people. For instance, about 40 percent of the country’s population is not connected to the electricity grid.

This energy deficit is also an impediment to development. Here in Maharashtra, India’s most industrialized state and the home of its commercial capital, Mumbai, formerly Bombay, the demand for electricity will exceed supply by about 30 percent this year, up from 4.5 percent in 1992.

And if industrial companies that set up here can get electricity, they will pay more for it than elsewhere in the world, according to the Prayas Energy Group, a research organization.

India’s slow progress on power has kept some foreign companies away and has led many of them to largely shun the electricity business, in particular. The failure of the Enron plant in 2001, then known as Dabhol Power, was a turning point.

No large power plants have started in Maharashtra since Dabhol.

“Our problem today is power,” Ashok Chavan, Maharashtra’s chief minister, the equivalent of an American state governor, said late last year when asked about the state’s biggest challenges. But he said that his administration would eliminate blackouts that afflict most of the state outside Mumbai within three years.

For villagers here in Veldur, the Enron-built plant’s revival — it has been running at below capacity for four years now — is bittersweet. While some people have been hired at the plant as it has ramped up, the lack of reliable electricity means that the ice that the fishermen in the village need to preserve their daily catch has to be trucked in from farther away.

Experts said Mr. Chavan’s goal was, like many promises made by Indian policy makers, high rhetoric that is not backed up by real action. State and federal governments reduced red tape in 2003 to help add more generation capacity, but many of those reforms have not been fully put in place.

“These problems, which we have been talking about for the last 10, 15 years, there is no real solution to them,” said Madhav Godbole, a retired civil servant who led a committee that studied the problems of Dabhol. “It’s the political will that is wanting.”

Many of India’s utilities, for instance, are financially frail because policy makers look the other way as power is stolen, or because politicians dole out subsidized power to win the votes of farmers. Power plants typically operate below their capacity because the government bureaucracy allocates coal and natural gas, the fuel of power plants, to favored companies. Furthermore, cronyism often dictates who receives permission to build plants because laws requiring competitive bids are not enforced.

As with other projects, the success of the expanded plant here, now known as Ratnagiri Gas and Power, will depend on whether the government sees fit to allocate more natural gas to it from domestic fields to the plant. The plant will be competing with other power, fertilizer and chemical companies that also want and need more gas.

It was with an eye to solving India’s power problem that the country turned to Enron and several other foreign companies like AES, based in Virginia, and EDF of Paris in the early 1990s. The country pursued eight so-called fast-track projects to jolt the economy out of its long socialist-economy slumber.

All but one of the projects ran into trouble. The Enron Dabhol project was the most spectacular failure of all.In 1992, Enron agreed to build a state-of-the-art power plant and liquefied natural gas terminal on the Arabian Sea. In return, the Maharashtra state promised to buy all the power the plant produced and to even pay for electricity it had no use for. To persuade banks to lend money for the $3 billion project, India’s federal government promised to make payments if the state defaulted.As envisioned, the project was supposed to meet about 3 percent of the country’s energy needs.

The agreement was negotiated secretly, because policy makers and company officials said it would be faster that way. The deal promised the company a guaranteed rate of return in dollars, which meant that the price of power to India would most likely rise because the government was depreciating the rupee against the dollar.

To make the project’s math work, the state would have to jack up retail power prices and crack down on theft of power; neither of which happened. Maharashtra ended up paying Enron 4.67 rupees for each unit of power, even though it was collecting only 1.89 rupees from its customers.

“This was a classic case of what should never be done,” said Suresh Prabhu, who was India’s power minister when Enron shut down the plant in 2001 after Maharashtra and the company fought about what they owed each other.

The plant was closed for five years as negotiations dragged on between bankers; the Indian government; the American agency Overseas Private Investment Corporation, which had guaranteed some of the loans; and Enron’s partners in the deal, General Electric and Bechtel. (Enron sold its stake to G.E. and Bechtel after declaring bankruptcy in 2001.)

Dabhol reopened as Ratnagiri Gas and Power in 2006 under the tutelage of two Indian government-owned firms: NTPC, the country’s largest power producer, and GAIL, an operator of gas pipelines.

But the revival proved difficult. The drawings and documents needed to restart the plant were missing. G.E.’s power equipment had three catastrophic breakdowns, requiring expensive, months-long repairs in Singapore. (G.E. Energy India declined to discuss what caused the breakdowns, but said that the repairs “will help to ensure reliability in the future.”)

“Frankly, when we took over the plant, I never thought this was possible,” said Chandan Roy, chairman of Ratnagiri Gas and Power and a director at NTPC, referring to getting it up to 100 percent.

The plant is even planning an expansion that will start in the coming weeks.

One way it hopes to do better this time is with its fuel supply. The plant, when first restarted, was running on expensive gas imported from the Middle East. Since October it has received cheaper offshore Indian gas thanks to an allocation from the fields being developed by Reliance. But if the project here cannot receive more Indian gas for the expansion, power will be too expensive and the project will be in the same situation as Enron once was: charging the state more than the state can recoup from customers.

Surya Sethi, a former World Bank official who turned down a request to finance the Dabhol project, said recently that India had learned many lessons from that debacle. But he added that it would take the country a while to deal with the numerous other challenges that bedevil the power sector.

“You can’t suddenly make India a China,” he said.

 

[Pintu]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...-may-go-up-by-40p-26p/articleshow/5721076.cms

Euro-IV petrol, diesel may go up by 40p & 26p
25 Mar 2010, 0515 hrs IST, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: Consumers in 13 cities may have to pay additional Rs 0.41 a litre on petrol and Rs 0.26 a litre on diesel from April 1 for cleaner Euro-IV fuel, a senior government official said.

Oil minister Murli Deora confirmed that the government was considering a proposal in this regard. But he declined to comment on the pricing issue.

As per oil secretary S Sundareshan, “The Euro-IV grade petrol and diesel would result in additional under-recoveries of Rs 0.41 a litre on petrol and Rs 0.26 a litre on diesel.”

“Oil companies are set to roll out higher grade (Euro-IV) auto fuel in 13 cities from next month,” Mr Deora said while launching environment friendly Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV or Euro-IV) auto fuel in Delhi on Wednesday.

Other 12 cities to have Euro-IV fuel are Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Surat, Ahmedabad, Pune and Sholapur. From April 1, rest of the country is also expected to shift from Euro-II to Euro-III fuel. The shift may raise cost of fuel in these towns marginally. But oil ministry says that government is yet to quantify it.

While most refineries have completed and commissioned the fuel quality upgradation projects for both BS-IV (Euro-IV) and BS-III (Euro-III) petrol and diesel, the remaining ones are in the final stages of completion, Mr Deora said. Mr Deora said, oil marketing companies (OMCs) are still losing Rs 6 a litre on sale of petrol, Rs 4 a litre on diesel, Rs 267 per cylinder on cooking gas and Rs 17 a litre on kerosene. The total revenue loss of three state-owned OMCs will be around Rs 48,000 crore in 2009-10 for selling the four fuel below cost, he said.

“Government have kept these prices under check to help the ‘aam adami’ despite high volatility of the crude oil prices in international market, he said. The government controls retail prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene and cooking gas.

Speaking at the launch, Mr Sundareshan said, the government needs to take “hard decisions” to prevent revenue loss on auto and cooking fuels from rising to Rs 70,000 crore in 2010-11 from Rs 47,960 crore this financial year.

“Under-recoveries (revenue losses) will rise if we do not take very, very hard decisions soon,” he said. Three state-owned OMCs — Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) currently lose Rs 250 crore per day on sale of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene.

 

[NSG_Blackcats]

Govt lines up hydro projects worth Rs. 84,000 cr​

A file photo of constructing work of the dam in Subansiri River. Subansiri (2,000 MW) and Kameng (900 MW) projects are under construction, the official said, adding that in the next six years these power plants would be ready. Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar​

The government has firmed up an investment of over Rs. 84,000 crore for setting up hydel projects in the northeastern region of the country by 2020, which will produce 14,000 MW of electricity. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the techno-economic clearance body, is likely to give its approval to about 3,000-MW projects in the region in next two months.

CEA concurrence has already been given to projects with about 8,000 MW capacity and the detailed project reports (DPRs) of those that can produce 3,000 MW are under examination, a senior CEA official told PTI. These projects with 8,000 MW capacity are likely to come up during the XIIth Plan Period (2012-17).

Once commissioned, they would add 14,000 MW electricity to the National Grid. In order to tap the huge hydro-electric potential in the north-eastern region, various public sector companies like NHPC and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) have shown keen interest in setting up power projects.

NHPC is constructing a 2,000-MW project on the Subansiri river in Assam, while the NEEPCO is constructing the 600-MW Kameng hydel project. The region, according to government data, has a hydro power potential of 58,000 MW and offers great opportunity to both PSUs and the private sector to harness this.

NEEPCO is also building the 1,500 MW Tipaimukh, one of the largest hydro-electric power projects in the country, for which the DPR has been prepared and the project would go on stream soon. Subansiri (2,000 MW) and Kameng (900 MW) projects are under construction, the official said, adding that in the next six years these power plants would be ready.

Besides hydroelectricity, the region is also likely to get power through other sources of energy like coal and gas. State-run BHEL and ONGC along with the Tripura government are executing the 700-MW thermal power project at Palatana in the State. The country’s largest power producer NTPC is also constructing a 750-MW thermal project at Bongaigaon in Assam, which is scheduled for commissioning in 2012.

The total installed capacity of the north-eastern region is 2,285 MW, out of which hydropower generation contributes more than half i.e. 1,110 MW and gas-based 766 MW, according to CEA data

Source - The Hindu

 

[ajtr]

India surprises with big new coal ports

LONDON/NEW DELHI: The speed with which large, private, fully-mechanised ports are springing up in India is making coal producers and traders

think again.

Suppliers had until recently doubted India could import the coal it will need because most of its ports were small and shallow, and government port expansions were running late.

The international perception of India's coal ports has been of a collection of mostly small, old, terminals which cannot take standard coal 150,000 tonne capesize vessels but are mostly limited to 50,000-75,000 tonne panamaxes or handysizes.

These small ports can take up to a week to discharge, are plagued by delays and have poor road and rail links to end-users.

But the slew of private ports under construction or expansion and their sheer size has taken the international coal market by surprise.

"We're going to have to revise our projections for Indian coal imports and look at the impact of the ports being built," said John Kearsey, head of research at ship brokers Simon Spence & Young.

India will need more imported coal to make up for its domestic shortfall for the next 20 years. In 2010-2011 India will import 81 million tonnes.

"Indian and Chinese coal demand is a significant driver behind our forecast for dry bulk demand growth over the next few years," said Will Fray, shipping analyst with London-based consultants Maritime Strategies International (MSI).

"Together we expect them to account for over 50 percent of global incremental seaborne coal imports over this period."

India is fully geared up to handle its coal import requirements by 2012, said a spokesman for the Adani Group, India's largest coal importers.

"Adani Group itself will have fully-mechanised capacity to handle close to 90 million tonnes of coal at various ports, including its Mundra terminal which will take 60 million tonnes alone," the spokesman said.

"Wow, if that's how much they're gearing up for imports we have to look at that market," a European utility source said.

Krishnapatnam Port in Andhra Pradesh is one of the new state-of-the art cape ports and will be able to take in more coal than South Africa's total 2009 exports by end-2011.

Gangavaram, also on the east coast, is already taking capes and will soon be able to import 35 million tonnes coal.

"The long-held dream of capesize discharging at India has now become a reality and volumes will continue to increase," said Stuart Frost of ship brokers Lorentzen & Stemoco.

NEW POWER PLANTS

"It's astonishing. Breathtaking. We went to Gangavaram in March and just could not believe it. They can already discharge capes and will eventually take in 35 million tonnes of coal a year -- just one port," one South African producer said.

These are two on a long list of ports being built by private firms in partnership with government, which will dramatically speed up India's ability to import coal open up the market to suppliers who need efficient logistics on the demand side.

"All the Indian ports are getting a facelift but there are a lot of excellent new ports such as Mundra, Reva, Gangavaram and Krishnapatnam which have worked their logistical connections right," said ports consultant Poul Jensen.

"Nobody believed they would do it but it's one of the reasons I think the coal market should be looking more at India and China - India needs coal, it's not just arbitrage," said one European economist and coal expert.

 

[ajtr]

RIL, Cairn to help raise oil output 11% in FY10: Survey

Private sector oil companies Reliance Industries and Cairn India will help push up India's crude oil production by 11 per cent to 36.7 million tonnes during the current fiscal, the Economic Survey said today.

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For a nation that is 75 per cent reliant on imports to meet its crude oil needs, the Krishna-Godavari basin deep-sea oil find by RIL, and Rajasthan's Barmer desert discovery by Cairn will for the first time in five years raise the domestic output.

"During 2009-10, the projected production for crude oil is 36.7 million tonnes, which is about 11 per cent higher than the actual crude oil production of 33.5 million tonnes in 2008-09," the pre-Budget statement on health of the economy said.

Domestic crude oil production has remained around 34 million tonnes and natural gas at about 32 billion cubic meters during the past five years.

ALSO READ:
Highlights of Economic Survey 2009-10

"This (rise in output this fiscal) is primarily due to increase in crude oil production from Rajasthan (2.4 million tonnes) and the KG deepwater (0.8 million tonnes)," it said.

RIL's predominantly gas rich KG-D6 block, off the east coast, has also helped boost availability of the environment friendly fuel in the country.

"The projected production for natural gas for 2009-10 is 50.2 bcm which is 52.8 per cent higher than the actual production of 32.8 bcm in 2008-09," the Survey said.

RIL's 60 million standard cubic meters a day of gas sales from D6 has helped it overtake state-owned ONGC as the largest natural gas seller in the country.

"With 15 new oil and gas discoveries during 2009-10, the domestic availability is expected to improve," the Survey said.

Gas production from KG-D6 began on April 1, 2009, and it was expected that output would be ramped up to 80 mmscmd by the end of 2009-10.

"An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGOM) constituted to decide commercial utilisation of gas has allocated 61.611 mmscmd of gas produced from KG-D6 on firm basis (mostly to power and fertiliser plants) and 30 mmscmd on fall-back basis to various priority sectors," it said.

Crude oil production from Cairn's Rajasthan fields started from August 29, 2009, and current output is around 20,000 barrels per day. "Production from this block, which is of very high quality, is likely to increase during 2009 through 2011 ... The production expected from this block during 2009-10 is 2.4 million tonnes."

The government has designated Indian Oil, Mangalore Refinery and Hindustan Petroleum for lifting part of the crude oil produced from this block.

ONGC is facing decline in output from old and matured fields. To check fall in output and to raise production, ONGC is implementing improved oil recovery and enhanced oil recovery projects in 14 ageing oil and gas fields.

"18 new IOR and EOR schemes have been approved to increase the recovery factor from 14 ageing oil and gas fields at a cost of Rs 14,150 crore," the Survey said.

To boost domestic oil and gas production, the government in 1999 launched the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) aimed at intensifying exploration and an investment of $11.9 billion has already been made in 203 blocks or areas.

Since January 1999, 72 oil and gas discoveries have been made in 21 blocks given out under NELP. "Under the NELP, more than 600 million tonnes of oil equivalent hydrocarbon reserves have been added," the pre-Budget Survey said.

Besides, concerted efforts have been made to put new and marginal fields in production. "Out of 165 marginal fields, ONGC has already monetised 56. Of the remaining 109 fields, 68 are being monetised by ONGC, 20 through service contracts and 21 are likely to be offered (to private firms)," it said.

Balance recoverable crude oil and gas reserves in the country are 736.45 MT and 1,119.55 bcm respectively.

The government is also encouraging national oil firms to aggressively acquire oil properties abroad. ONGC Videsh Ltd produced about 8.75 MT of oil and equivalent gas in 2008-09 from its assets in Sudan, Vietnam, Venezuela, Russia, Syria and Colombia.

In 2008-09, OVL has acquired seven blocks in Brazil, Columbia, Myanmar, Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago. The joint venture of Oil India and Indian Oil Corp has acquired on block in Timor Leste and two blocks in Egypt.

India's total installed refining capacity increased to 177.97 MT as on April 1, 2009 and new units at Bhatinda, Paradip and Bina would help increase it to 240.96 MT by 2012.

 

[Sridhar]

Essar Group buys Indonesian coal mine for Rs909 crore

26 March 2010


Ruia family-controlled Essar Group yesterday signed a definitive agreement to buy Aries coal mines in Indonesia as part of the company's strategy to acquire global raw material resources to meet the growing needs of its steel and power sectors.
The acquisition will give Essar an estimated resource base of 100 million tonnes of thermal coal and mineable reserves of 64 million tonnes, a statement said.
Although financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed, analysts estimate the value of the deal at around $200 million (Rs908.6 crore).
The Aries coal mines are located in the Kutai region in the Kalimantan province on the eastern part of Borneo Island. The coal deposit contains high-quality bituminous coal with a calorific value of 6,000 and low-ash, low-moisture content, making it suitable for use in power plants.

Mumbai-based Essar Group is a large Indian business corporation with interests in sectors like steel, energy, power, communications, shipping ports and logistics, and construction. Its operations are spread over more than 20 countries across five continents with annual revenue of around $15 billion.
Essar Power is the country's second largest power generation company in the private sector, with a total capacity of 1,220 megawatts (MW).
The company is currently building six power projects in India, that will expand its power generating capacity to 6,100 MW by 2012.

The Group's director Anshuman Ruia said: ''We are a vertically integrated power producer, with ownership and access to the raw materials needed to run the business. The Indonesia mines are an excellent addition to our growing portfolio of coal assets.''
''This acquisition adds another 100 million tonnes to our existing thermal coal resource base of about 275 million tonnes in India,'' Ruia added. In addition, the mine has 64 million tonnes of mineable reserves.
The $15-billion Essar expects to close the transaction by April 2010, subject to customary and regulatory approvals. Coal production from the Aries mines is expected to begin within a year.
''This is a major step forward in Essar's strategy of securing long-term fuel linkages and capturing the complete value chain in all its businesses,'' Ruia said.
Earlier this month, Essar Group acquired the US-based Trinity Coal from private equity firm Denham Capital Management for $600 million, securing its access to around 200 million tonnes of metallurgical and thermal coal.
Trinity operates coal mines in the Appalachian region in West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. (See: Essar Global in talks to acquire US coal miner Trinity Coal for $600 million)
Separately, another group company Essar Oil said yesterday that it intends to raise up to $1.7 billion (Rs7723.7 crore) to fund the company's expansion plans, based on a 2007 resolution to raise up to $2 billion through issue of securities in the global markets. The company had already gathered $300 million through issue of global depository shares.

http://www.domainb.com/companies/companies_e/Essar_group/20100326_indonesian_coal_mine_oneView.html