Planners in oil marketing companies may need to keep a close watch on mobility trends in the aftermath of COVID-19
8These trends already evident in areas already impacted badly by COVID may bring about changes in consumption patterns of petrol, diesel and CNG
Click on Reports for more. Details

8Vendors are going through a step-by-step approach to fighting ONGC's revised price bid norms
 Find out more Details

8Why are vendors being extra careful while dealing with the JV of Afcons Infrastructure Ltd and Sapura Energy Berhard which is working on a Central Processing Platform ordered by ONGC for the KG-DWN-98/2 block?
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8Get a full insight into the LNG cargoes coming into India next week
8Who is getting what
Click on Reports for more Details

Cairn India has been severely impacted by the lockdown and low prices
8Customers are not picking up cargoes, forcing wells to close
8There were 7000 workers on site
8Find out how many are left now, and what is next. Details

The Mozambique LNG terminal in which the Indian trio of ONGC, OIL and BPCL are heavily invested, is in again in the news for the wrong reasons
8With worries mounting, the focus is now on the gas contracts which were served up to ensure FID in June, 2019
Find out more Details

ONGC has started a fresh price bidding format in sync with the current times
8The idea, rightfully perhaps, seems to be to extract a lower price
8But vendors are upset Details

8Here is a public sector oil & gas major which has not reported a single virus case
8There is 100% office attendance five days a week, but for private contractors life is less than rosy
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8ONGC had a big offshore coronavirus scare
8Find out how the company dealt with it quickly. Details

Public sector oil & gas companies are under pressure to make available work fronts
8Lack of labour seems to be one big constraint for contractors working on oil & gas sites
8But there is another more worrying problem
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What is the latest update on the much anticipated Daman Upside project
8Is a tender likely soon? Details

LNG imports were dramatically down in April, find out by how much.
8Also, what was the cost of these imports?
Click on Details for more Details

Indianpetroplus.com spoke to Shekhar R. Balvalli, an IIT alumni and Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing of TechnipFMC India, on the recent grant of an LOA as the "Managing  PMC" for the Rs 22,000 crore Expansion of the Numaligarh refinery from 3 to 9 MMTPA. He was excited about the award, and was looking forward to working again in India's North East. Balvalli, who has nearly 40 years of work experience, spoke on a range of subjects, from the award of LOA from NRL to the outlook for the refinery sector and the impact of COVID-19 on the industry.
 
Tell us about the Numaligarh LOA. What will the job entail? 

 We have received  the LOA for the Numaligarh Refinery Expansion Project.
 One of our role is to perform basicdesign of open art units, including the 6 MMTPA CDU/VDU, the Amine Regeneration unit and Sour Water Stripper units as well as for utilities and offsites including tankages, bullets, pumps and loading as well as blending systems, power, raw water, cooling water, nitrogen unit, DM plant, natural gas distribution, fire fighting etc.
 We have the role as the Project Management Consultant (PMC), managing EPC contractors for the 6 MMTPA CDU/VDU, 3.55 MMTPA DHDT – a licensed unit and a Sulfur Recovery Block including ARU/SWS with 2*240 TPD SRU/TGTU as licensed units. 
 We will also perform the EPCM role (Detailed Engineering, Procurement Services and Construction Management services) for the licensed LPG Treatment Unit as well as utilities and offsite systems. Additionally, we will also be managing a BOO contractor to build the hydrogen plant and would also be coordinating and integrating with other EPCM contractors for two other packages.
 Thus as the Managing PMC we will work as an integrator of the entire complex.
 We are quite excited about this work, not just because we have won against tough competition but also because it will significantly add to the economic strength of the North East, providing jobs and opportunities to the local populace. 

The North East is one corner of India, will it be difficult for you to work there? 

 We are not new to the North East. I had camped in Guwahati while working on a CDU/CVU and Delayed Coker revamp for IOC’s refinery there. We were also the EPC contractor for the Guwahati’s refinery's Hydrogen and Diesel hydrotreater plants. We are currently in the last stages of commissioning  the Prime G unit in Bongaingaon and have executed a Hydrogen Reformer unit in Digboi refinery and  Hydrocracker heaters in NRL in the past.
 The current NRL job is bigger in scope, it is spread over about four years of execution and more than 3000 man months of construction supervision.
 Also, the government prioritized the Oil & Gas sector in the North East through its Vision 2030 statement and the NRL expansion project is an example of it. The NRL management has been very procative. Decision making has been very fast, and there is a determination from all sides to forge ahead. I believe this expansion is going to bring about an all-round development in the region.

Going beyond Numaligarh, how do you think COVID-19 is impacting your business? 

 It is a new situation and our first priority is to keep people safe, not just our own employees but everyone connected with us. And then of course there are business repercussions as well. We are discussing the repercussions of work stoppages, and of migrant labour who have moved out. Even if we took care of labour working at our sites, they perhaps felt stranded, and wanted to go back to the safety of their families.
 We have resumed at all the sites i.e Bongaigaon , Haldia, Barauni, Sindri, Vizag and Panipat although at slower pace due to limited availability of workers and “new working norms”. We expect more clarity once the restrictions are lifted  on movement of people and we will have more clarity pertaining to completion of projects. We are restarting work at the Halida refinery, where we are mobilizing local people in the stage of commissioning of the DHDT Unit. In Vizag refinery expansion, where we are the EPC and have completed the EPCC 5 and are in the tail end of construction of the HGU (Hydrogen Generation Unit) and NIU (Naphtha Isomerisation Unit); whichever fronts are being made available, we are working on them. Wherever we could work, we have restarted work. There are places, where we are yet to begin work due to shortage of material supply, such as steel and cement
 With regard to New business opportunities, I think all our clients are moving ahead with their proposed projects and we are actively participating in the bidding process even during the period of lockdown.

Are you invoking the Force Majeure clause with your clients during the lockdown period? 

 Yes, we have had to invoked Force majeure clause in our contracts with clients, in some contracts the client itself has invoked the same. The government too has declared COVID -19 pandemic a force majeure event and it has proposed extension of time for infra projects such as ours. Although, we will be able to start work on all active projects but we face issues such as payment of wages to stranded labour at the project sites through the lock down period and now even after lock down is lifted partially in some project areas, force majeure continues as there is lack of transport to reach project sites and labour is wanting to return to their home towns. Then we have to abide by social distancing norms for executing the works which will impact productivity for quite some time. All these issues have been presented to our clients for resolution. We are hopeful that we will arrive at amicable solutions. Nevertheless, we will ensure our projects are completed with no compromise on quality. 

What about your own employees, will you retain all of them, as many companies are already issuing pink slips? 

  We have a very skilled and committed workforce totaling up to 3000+ people and we have no intention of letting anyone of them go. They do work on domestic projects as well as for our international requirements where we support our Group. Two years ago, around 30% of the work was done for domestic clients and the rest were global jobs, but last year, the ratio reversed, and this year less than half the workload is due to local projects. Our workforce remains occupied if not on local clients then on our international ones. Details

8Get complete vessel-wise data of US exports of LNG here
8Also for contractors, find out which CGD work fronts are in red, orange and green zones
Click on Reports for more Details

8Get complete vessel-wise data of US exports of LNG here
8As well price data
Click on Reports for more Details

The cash back for US LNG terminals remains negative on forward prices for LNG deliveries right through till September or more
8Many non-US LNG suppliers can live with this level of pricing at least for the short term but not offtakers of LNG from US terminals
8In this context, what happens to GAIL cargoes to be lifted off the US terminals? GAIL needs to lift 5.8 MMTPA of LNG every year from the US
8A well placed GAIL source spoke to this website and clarified where GAIL is placed in this context.
Click on Details for more Details

For reference purposes the website carries here the following tenders:
8Procurement of Low Density Ammonium Nitrate Details
8Supply of Nucleonic Level Instruments Details
8Supply of BPCL make Pump Spares Details
8Annual Rate Contract for Supply of Mass Spectrometer Spares Details
8Transportation of Product Sample Containers from Vadodara Terminal to Ahmedabad TML Details
8Supply and installation of Pre-fabricated office buildings with associated electrical works at refinery Details
8Retail Outlet Automation - CAMC for existing ORPAK/ GVR outlets for one year with an option of extension for 1 more year Details
You can also click on Tenders for more
For reference purposes the website carries here the following Newsclips:
8Repos Energy plans producing over 3,000 mobile petrol pumps in FY21 Details
8Odisha ready for next level of industrial growth in post- COVID scenario: Pradhan Details
8IL&FS invites EoI to sell its 26 per cent stake in OTPC Details
8Moody's revises outlook on Adani Abbot Point Terminal's rating to stable, affirms Ba2 rating Details
8India's April crude processing in biggest drop in at least nearly two decades Details
8NGT appoints panel to probe into ammonia leak in Manali Details
8Oil climbs as suppliers stick to output cuts, coronavirus lockdowns ease Details
8Higher margins to help offset volume dip for city gas companies Details
8Oil, gas giants may get tax sop as govt works on lifeline Details
8City gas operators seek tax relief, loan restructuring to deal with lockdown impact Details
8China's 'hermit' investors fill doubled oil storage with crude bet Details
8Qatar ready to discuss India’s demand to cut long-term LNG prices Details
You can also click on Newsclips for more   Details

On a Rs 10,000 crore work front involving building process facilities, L&T seems to be have run headlong into trouble in the aftermath of COVID-19
8Completion times lines will now have to be extended by at least six months if not more.
8Around 5 mmscmd of gas supply will be stranded as a result
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PLL has backed out of the Tellurian LNG terminal
8Did the Indian LNG major miss out on a good opportunity, even in the post-COVID aftermath?
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City gas distribution companies did not pass on the entire reduction in APM gas prices (from USD3.23/mmbtu to USD2.39/mmbtu) starting 1st Apr’20 to end customers.
8So, these are now favourties of punters as the economy revives
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India is meant to be gas resilient economy, with a high gas price elasticity to demand.
8Even under the crisis, global gas demand is expected to go up not down in 2019 in comparison to 2020
8But, according to latest estimates by a reputable institute, why is it a different story in India?
8Also, how will global gas prices behave through 2020?
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Indian retail outlet prices should ordinarily have gone done but they will go up despite crude prices being down
8Not just that refineries will also be in a spot in more ways than one
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An extraordinary inter-regional project is in the offing which looks at eliminating plastic waste by replacing 20% of coal usage by the cement industry
8This will mean that these companies will co-process the plastic waste
8The model can be replicated in other energy-intensive industries
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Shell Hazira terminal seems to be busy all of this week
8Four cargoes are transacting at the terminal
8This clearly means that the terminal is not under tank top conditions
8Cargoes are coming in for Shell, RIL as well as GAIL
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ONGC has completed crew change not just in its offshore installation but across its onland assets
8The protocols are very strict and private contractors will also have to fall in line
8"It is vital that we keep the virus out from out installations," a top ONGC official told this website.
Click on Details for more Details