Follow coronavirus prevention rules or face action, DGCA tells airlines

Two Iranian carriers were earlier suspended; regulator’s ire directed at airlines that aren’t making self-declaration forms available

Directorate General of Civil Aviation has cautioned remote carriers of severe activity including conceivable suspension of calendar in the event that they neglect to hold fast to government guidelines on coronavirus counteraction. General screening of all showing up travelers was presented from last Thursday. Aircrafts have been approached to disperse self-presentation structures to travelers and make on board declarations right now.

“We have discovered that a few worldwide aircrafts are not holding fast to the standards. Inability to hold fast to rules will involve severe activity,” said Director General of Civil Aviation Arun Kumar. He didn’t unveil name of carriers. Air terminals have been entrusted to print the structures and give them in adequate amount to the aircrafts, Kumar included. “It has come to information that a few aircrafts are not guaranteeing accessibility of self-statement structures prompting long lines at appearance focuses. This has been seen intensely by this office,” delegate chief general Sunil Kumar said in a roundabout to all aircrafts.

Earlier, DGCA temporarily suspended two Iranian carriers, Iran Air and Mahan Air, from operating to India in view of the coronavirus outbreak. Around 200 Iranians stranded in India following route suspension have returned to their country on a relief flight and Indian Air Force has flown 58 Indians from Iran.

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Mukesh Ambani’s RIL beats BP to make elite club of 6 global energy giants

Reliance has increased 35% this year, compared with BP’s 1.2% gain as it works on cutting high debt levels

Reliance Industries Ltd., run by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, has eclipsed BP Plc to break into an elite club of energy supermajors.

The Indian conglomerate’s market capitalization was about $133 billion, overtaking the British energy giant’s $132 billion value at the close of trading on Tuesday. Reliance’s shares have increased at three times the pace of India’s benchmark index this year after its billionaire owner in August announced plans to cut the company’s net debt to zero in 18 months through measures including a stake sale in the oil-to-chemicals business to Saudi Aramco. The surge in shares gives Mukesh Ambani a net worth of $56 billion, making him Asia’s richest person, above Alibaba Group’s Jack Ma, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Reliance’s market value briefly surpassed BP for the first time at the end of last month, and it has now regained the lead over the British company after its shares ended at a record high in Mumbai. It also narrowing the gap with PetroChina Co., currently Asia’s biggest oil company by market cap.

Reliance has increased 35% this year, compared with BP’s 1.2% gain as it works on cutting high debt levels. Oil companies have struggled because of swings in crude prices and as uncertainty persists over future energy demand.

Reliance, meanwhile, has benefited in a number of ways. It operates the world’s biggest oil-refining complex in western India, which can process low-quality crude and turn it into higher-grade fuels, partly protecting it from volatility in prices...

India’s diversified crude and product basket was one reason that helped India in avoiding the Saudi Aramco crisis.

Concerns over the price and supply of oil, sparked by the recent terror strikes on Saudi Aramco’s oil infrastructure, have now subsided, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Thursday. Oil marketing companies will now see the price of petrol and diesel coming down soon.

On Thursday, petrol price dropped by 10 paise to Rs 74.51 a litre and diesel by 6 paisa to Rs 67.43 a litre in Delhi, the first reduction since September 8. “At present, there are no concerns. The world has averted a big crisis,” Pradhan said on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit. Sanjiv Singh, IndianOil Corporation chairman, said, “The price in India has started coming down from today. After the attacks on Saudi facilities, product prices were also affected. Gasoline (petrol) and diesel price had gone up.”

India’s diversified crude and product basket was one reason that helped India in avoiding the Saudi Aramco crisis. Because of the shortfall in supply from Saudi Aramco, India was staring at a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply crisis in states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab and Goa.

Saudi Arabia to invest $100 billion in India, eyes long-term partnership

Vision 2030 of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will also result in significant expansion of trade and business between India and Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, is looking at investing $100 billion in India in areas of petrochemicals, infrastructure and mining among others, considering the country’s growth potential. Saudi Ambassador Dr Saud bin Mohammed Al Sati has said India is an an attractive investment destination for Saudi Arabia and it is eyeing long-term partnerships with New Delhi in key sectors such as oil, gas and mining.

“Saudi Arabia is looking at making investments in India potentially worth $100 billion in the areas of energy, refining, petrochemicals, infrastructure, agriculture, minerals and mining,” Al Sati told PTI in an interview. He said Saudi Arabia‘s biggest oil giant Aramco’s proposed partnership with Reliance Industries Ltd reflected the strategic nature of the growing energy ties between the two countries.

The envoy said investing in India’s value chain from oil supply, marketing, refining to petrochemicals and lubricants is a key part of Aramco’s global downstream strategy. “In this backdrop, Saudi Aramco’s proposed investments in India’s energy sector such as the $44 billion West Coast refinery and petrochemical project in Maharashtra and long term partnership with Reliance represent strategic milestones in our bilateral relationship,” he said….

Saudi drone strikes: Oil price surges, but govt plays down supply concerns

No supply disruption, says Pradhan; OMCs see margin impact if situation persists

Even as oil prices soared on Monday following the drone attack at Saudi Arabia’s fuel-producing infrastructure at Abqaia and Khurais over the weekend, the Indian government said the country was insulated from any supply shortage.

Oil prices surged the most on record on Monday, with Brent crude oil rising by as much as 19.5 per cent to $71.95 per barrel — the biggest gain in dollar terms since futures started trading in 1988. It later came down to $67.7 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures climbed 15.5 per cent to $63.34, the biggest intra-day percentage gain since June 1998. Increasing dependence on Saudi Arabia for crude supply, as India cuts imports from Iran, could be cause for concern.

“Following the attacks on the oil stabilisation centres of Saudi Aramco, top executives of Aramco have been contacted. We have reviewed our overall crude oil supplies for… September with our OMCs (oil-marketing companies),” tweeted Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday. “We are confident there would be no supply disruption to India. We are closely monitoring the evolving situation.”

The attack has knocked out over half of Saudi Arabia’s production as it cut 5.7 million barrels per day or over 5 per cent of the world’s supply. India imports 83 per cent of its oil needs. Saudi Arabia is its second-biggest supplier, providing 40.3 metric tonnes (MT), after Iraq (46.6 MT). Iran is the third-biggest supplier, with 23.9 MT of oil…

Saudi, Gulf stocks fall in first session after attacks on Aramco oil plants

Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC), the kingdom’s biggest petrochemicals firm, was down 2.4%

Saudi stocks fell sharply on Sunday, after attacks on two plants at the heart of the kingdom’s oil industry a day earlier knocked out more than half of Saudi crude output. Sunday’s decline extended a losing spree for Saudi stocks, which in recent weeks have been hit by expensive valuations, weak oil prices and concerns about the economic outlook.

The drone attacks were carried out by Yemen’s Houthi group, its military spokesman said on Al Masirah TV. The index opened down 2.3% but later pared some losses. At 0914 GMT, the Saudi market was down 1.3%. The index has lost all its gains this year and is down about 18% from its 2019 high of 9,403 points seen in early May. The index’s earlier gains were fueled by Saudi Arabia‘s entry into the MSCI and FTSE Russell’s emerging market indices, but analysts said that effect had faded in recent weeks.

Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC), the kingdom’s biggest petrochemicals firm, was down 2.4% after it said it had curtailed feedback supplies by about 49% following the attacks. Aramco has agreed to buy a 70% stake in SABIC from the state Public Investment Fund in a $69.1 billion deal that is awaiting regulatory approvals. Other petrochemical companies such as Yanbu National Petrochemicals Co and Kayan also announced significant reductions in feedstock supplies…

Saudi Aramco remains world’s most profitable company even as oil falls

Aramco plans to buy a stake in the refining and chemicals business of Reliance Industries Ltd as it seeks buyers for its crude and diversification downstream.

International News: Saudi Aramco showed Monday it’s still the world’s most profitable company — and paid out almost all its net income in dividends — despite the dwindling price of oil.

Profit slid 12% to $46.9 billion in the first six months of 2019, the state-owned energy giant said in its first-ever half-year earnings report. That easily outstripped corporate titans such as Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and other big oil producers, many of which suffered larger declines in profit as output and crude prices fell.

“We have some of the largest and most productive reservoirs on Earth,” Khalid Al-Dabbagh, senior vice president for finance, strategy and development, said in an interview. The company’s “unrivaled financial results” amid lower oil prices are “a testament to our resilience.”

Saudi Aramco paid out $46.4 billion in dividends in the first half. That included a $20 billion special payout to its owner — the Saudi government — which compares with a $6 billion payout last year. That’s of particular interest to potential investors ahead of an initial public offering planned for 2020 or 2021, though it may not be maintained, according to money manager T Rowe Price Group Inc….

Saudi Aramco eyes joint venture deal in India by next year, says CEO Nasser

Like other major oil producers, Aramco wants to tap rising demand growth opportunities and invest in the world's third-biggest consumer

Oil giant Saudi Aramco, which has launched a new Indian venture in Gurgaon, is in talks with several Indian refiners and hopes to land a joint venture deal by next year, the company's chief executive told Reuters on Sunday.

Aramco, like other major oil producers, wants to tap rising demand growth opportunities and invest in the world's third-biggest consumer. "We are hoping to land on a JV sometime," Aramco's CEO Amin Nasser said at India Energy Forum by Cera Week in New Delhi.

Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who jointly inaugurated the local unit with Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser, said the setting up of the Gurgaon unit would help pave the way for "a strategic partnership in the hydrocarbon sector" between the two nations.

Asked if a deal could be finalised next year, Nasser said: "We hope so. We are in serious discussions."

Aramco wants to buy a stake in the planned 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) refinery in India's west coast, India's oil minister said in June.

The world's biggest oil producer is investing in refineries abroad to help lock in demand for its crude and expand its market share ahead of its initial public offering next year.

Aramco plans to float up to 5 percent of its shares in 2018 in what could be the world's largest IPO, raising as much as $100 billion.

Nasser said Aramco is interested in investing in India's downstream sector - refining, petrochemicals and fuel retailing including lubricants.

Saudi Arabia is competing with Iraq to be India's top oil supplier, with Iraq displacing it for a fifth month in a row in August, data compiled by Reuters showed.

Earlier this year Saudi Arabia pledged billions of dollars of investment in projects in Indonesia and Malaysia to ensure long-term oil supply deals.

The International Energy Agency estimates India's refining capacity will lag fuel demand going forward, requiring investment in new plants.

Saudi Aramco earlier on Sunday launched a new office in New Delhi as it aims to expands its presence in India....READ MORE