Natural Gas Corp News

India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is struggling to find a vessel to ship 700,000 barrels of crude from Russia's Far East, in a growing sign that complex trades involving one of Moscow's biggest partners are being interrupted by Western sanctions, sources say.Several Indian companies including ONGC have stakes in Russian oil and gas assets, and India has been buying more Russian crude since Moscow invaded Ukraine, snapping up the popular Urals crude grade, while other buyers…

India's army and navy deployed ships and aircraft as they searched for 26 people still missing more than three days after a powerful cyclone sank a barge off the country's west coast, killing 49 people on board.Cyclone Tauktae, the most powerful storm to barrel into the west coast in two decades, has killed at least 46 others after wreaking havoc in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala."Ships and aircraft continue to search for the remaining crew," Navy…

Naval vessels and aircraft scoured the waters off India's west coast late on Wednesday after the most powerful cyclone in more than two decades battered the region, sinking an oilfield accommodation barge and killing 26 aboard, authorities said.Cyclone Tauktae unleashed waves of up to 25 feet (7.6 meters) offshore before it hit the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat over the past two days, leaving a trail of destruction that killed 62 others, authorities said.Naval ships and aircraft…

Fourteen people have died as a barge sank off India's west coast after a powerful cyclone barrelled into the country, authorities said on Wednesday, while Indian navy ships and aircraft scoured waters to locate scores of other missing personnel."We can confirm that 14 bodies have been recovered from the rescue operation of barge P305" that sank off the coast of Mumbai, Mehul Karnik, chief public relations officer, Western Naval Command told Reuters.Indian navy ships and aircraft…

Indian navy ships and aircraft scoured waters off the financial capital Mumbai on Wednesday for 77 workers missing from a barge that sank after a powerful cyclone barrelled into the country's west coast this week.Driving waves of up to 25 feet on the high seas, cyclone Tauktae rammed into the western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat over the past two days, killing at least 29 people and leaving a trail of destruction, authorities said.The storm smashed into the Bombay High oilfield near Mumbai…

The Indian Navy mounted a massive air and sea rescue mission on Tuesday for 81 missing oil workers and crew whose barge sank in heavy seas following a powerful cyclone that tore up the west coast of the country.Around 180 of those on board the barge were rescued from the water as it sank off Mumbai. Efforts had started to move crew stuck on a second barge that was driven aground by the storm, the navy said."There are waves of 20 to 25 feet, the winds are high and the visibility is low," said navy spokesman Vivek Madhwal.

Indian liquefied natural gas (LNG) importers have started to issue force majeure notices as domestic gas demand slumps and as port operations in the country get hit by a lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, sources told Reuters."Demand has reduced drastically and it is likely to go down further, a company source with Gail (India) said."Only fertilizer, power and refineries are running at parcel loads.

A cyclone barrelled into eastern India on Friday, bringing down trees and power lines and "extensively" damaging the tourist town of Puri, but there were no early reports of casualties with a million people evacuated before it made landfall.Tropical Cyclone Fani, the strongest to hit India in five years, spent days building up power in the northern reaches of the Bay of Bengal before it struck the coast of the state of Odisha at around 8 a.m., the state-run India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.Howling winds gusting up to 200 kph (124 mph) whipsawed trees, uprooting scores, and driving rain impacted visibility, while streets were deserted in the state capital Bhubaneswar and Puri."Damage in Puri is extensive…

A blast caused by a fire on a ship under repair at India's Cochin Shipyard Ltd killed five people on Tuesday, and injured around 11, a company spokeswoman said, prompting the government to call for a quick enquiry. The spokeswoman said smoke hampered rescue operations initially and that an investigation would be launched soon. The ship belongs to the country's top energy explorer, Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd, she added. An ONGC official said the ship was undergoing maintenance at state-run Cochin Shipyard on the country's southwest coast. The blast took place inside the water tank, said M.P. Dinesh, a senior police official in the southern state of Kerala where the shipyard is located.

Japan's leading shipper Mitsui OSK Lines aims to buy at least a 26 percent stake in a floating storage regassification unit (FSRU) in India, a company official said, to boost its exposure in the west coast project of Swan Energy. Swan Energy is building a 5 million tonnes a year FSRU and floating storage unit (FSU) at Jafrabad in western Gujarat state, with Mitsui awarded a long-term contract for operation and maintenance services. "We have until end-2019, by when the project will be completed, to buy at least 26 percent in Triumph Offshore," Senior Managing Executive Officer Takeshi told Reuters on Monday, referring to the Swan subsidiary that will control the $260 million FSRU. Swan aims to commission the project in the first quarter of 2020, he added.

Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd (TRIL) is taking 10 percent stake in a Rs. 5,900 crore ($867 mln) floating LNG import terminal being set up by Nikhil Merchant led Swan Energy in Gujarat. This will be the first investment by Tata Group in gas business. And this is the first investment decision since N Chandrasekaran named as the Tata Group chief. TRIL was established in 2007 to pursue opportunities in the real estate and infrastructure sectors. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group. According to a stock exchange filing made by Swan Energy, an Expression of Interest (EOI) has been filed by TRIL “showing its willingness to invest up to 10 per cent of the equity”.

Indian public sector oild giants Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)  and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) have booked 60 per cent of the capacity of Swan Energy Ltd. (SEL)'s upcoming floating Liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal off the Gujarat coast. ONGC, IOC and BPCL have agreed to take one million tonnes per annum capacity each on the 5 million tonnes a year floating LNG terminal planned at Jafrabad port in Gujarat, sources privy to the negotiations said. The upcoming Nikhil Merchant-led company's floating LNG terminal at Gujarat coast, would surge the demand for LNG in western & northern region of India. The project cost is pegged at  $837 million.

Swiber Offshore Construction, part of troubled Singapore oilfield services firm Swiber Holdings, has received an interim court order to halt payment of bank guarantees for projects it was involved in, a stock exchange filing showed. Parent company Swiber Holdings last month applied to place itself under judicial management, after initially filing for liquidation, becoming the largest local company to fall victim to the slump in oil prices. Judicial management allows for a company to be nursed back to health under the supervision of the Singapore Court.

Indian Petroleum Minister Minister Dharmendra Pradhan says India has expressed interest in setting up an LNG terminal at Chahabar port in Iran to ship back home natural gas from Persian Gulf nation, reports PTI. India is ready to invest $20 billion in the development of Iran’s Chabahar port and has requested it to allocate adequate land in the Chabahar Special Economic Zone (SEZ), state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) said in a statement. "Dharmendra Pradhan conveyed to the Iranian side that Indian companies could invest upto $20 billion and were interested in setting up petrochemical and fertiliser plants, including in the Chabahar SEZ, either through joint venture between Indian and Iranian public sector companies or with private sector partners," the statement said.

The state-run China Daily says that India's plans to conduct oil exploration off Vietnam coast in the South China Sea is "illegal and is an "unwise move" that may "sabotage" positive momentum in ties. "India's intention to once again explore for oil in the disputed waters of the South China Sea is an unwise move, as it will further complicate the maritime disputes and do a disservice to maintaining the positive momentum that has been achieved in China-India ties," the China Daily said in an editorial. Titled 'India should rethink its oil exploration plans', the editorial said according to reports India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation plans to restart exploration activities in the waters off Vietnam's coastline which are "also claimed by China".

Cairn India Ltd has invited initial bids for exports of its oil from the desert state of Rajasthan, according to a copy of the tender notice seen by Reuters, despite a government ban on overseas sales of locally-produced crude. A government official said there had been no change in the ban and that Cairn India might simply be trying to establish a price for its oil via the tender process ahead of negotiations to sell it to local buyers. Cairn India, backed by billionaire Anil Agarwal, did not respond to telephone calls and an email seeking comment about the export notice. India is the world's fourth-biggest oil consumer and imports about 80 percent of its oil needs, leading it to place restrictions on the export of locally-produced oil.

India will use an upcoming visit by Barack Obama to press the United States to remove Indian oil companies from a list naming firms doing business in Iran, and to seek priority access to U.S. LNG exports, sources in the Oil Ministry said. The U.S. president will arrive in New Delhi on Jan. 25 and hold discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited Washington in September. An official agenda has not been released. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) listed three Indian companies as having commercial activity in Iran's energy sector in a report this week, potentially making it difficult for them to do business with other countries, mainly the United States.

India will sell part of the government's stake in some state-run companies in the next two to three months, Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram said on Saturday, without naming any company. The government has set a target of $10.5 billion from asset sales during the current fiscal year to March 2015 to help plug its deficit. The finance ministry this week short-listed banks to manage share sales in top energy explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp and hydroelectric power generator NHPC Ltd, according to sources with direct knowledge. (Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Writing by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Asia petrochemicals firms are building tanks and retooling plants to store and process liquefied petroleum gas imported from the United States, counting on a flood of supply from the shale boom to replace costlier naphtha as a raw material. Samsung Total Petrochemical, LG Chem and Royal Vopak are among a number of companies in Asia expanding import terminals or retrofitting plants over the next one to two years as they buy more LPG. The gas is used by petrochemicals firms to make a broad range of consumer and industrial plastics. Asian petrochemicals firms have traditionally used naphtha as a raw material. They are now switching to LPG because rising U.S. supplies have pushed prices below those of both naphtha and LPG from their main supplier, the Middle East.

According to a March 19 report from The Wall Street Journal, India approved oil exploration contracts for Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), the nation’s biggest energy explorer, and BHP Billiton Ltd as it sought to cut dependence on imports. The South Asian nation approved the award of 33 blocks, home minister P. Chidambaram told reporters in New Delhi after a cabinet meeting. (Source: The Wall Street Journal)

According to a June 25 report on livemint.com, India’s biggest oil exploration company, the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC), is expected to name within a week the winner of a tender to build 12 ships that will support its oil drilling operations. It was reported that Pipavav Shipyard Ltd, India’s newest private sector shipbuilder, has submitted the lowest bid. However, the winner will not be named ahead of a formal announcement by ONGC. (Source: livemint.com)

Drilling-rig operator Hercules Offshore Inc said Indian state-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd awarded three-year contracts for two jackup rigs for drilling operations in offshore India. Houston-based Hercules Offshore expects revenue of about $121m for jackup rig Hercules 258 and about $156.6 million for Hercules 260, which excludes payment to the company of reimbursable expenses and a total of about $6.5 million for mobilization of both rigs.

The Colombian government Tuesday granted exploration and production rights on nine offshore areas on the Caribbean coast to five different companies in an effort to boost the country's oil reserves. In Tuesday's auction, Colombian state-owned oil company Ecopetrol SA, India's state-run oil company Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (500312.BY), Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR), U.K.-based BP PlC (BP) and Hess Corp. (HES) won the rights separately or in partnership to explore the nine blocks. Four blocks didn't attract bidders. The Colombian government is trying to attract oil companies to the country to boost oil reserves and output in a bid to remain oil self-sufficient. If current consumption and production trends continue, the country will become a net oil importer in 2014.