New Delhi: Kicking-off work on the long discussed US-backed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, India and its new energy partners on Wednesday signed agreements that will pave way for laying of the 1,680-km line. Turkmenistan — which holds more than 4% of the world’s natural gas reserves signed agreements to sell gas to India and Pakistan through the $ 7.6 billion pipeline at the Caspian Sea resort of Avaza.

Coal India Ltd (CIL) has said its focus, for now, would be on raising output, not on diversification.

The government-owned company, the country’s near-monopoly producer, had diversification plans on coal liquefaction (CTL) and gasification. Last year, Partha S Bhattacharya, former chairman and managing director (CMD), had indicated CIL might foray into production of shale gas.

Britain's drive to create a low-carbon economy is stalling, because the government is too reliant on voluntary action and the Treasury appears to regard the environment as an obstacle to economic growth, a parliamentary group warned on Monday.

Without a clear policy, Britain is unlikely to attract the billions of pounds of investment needed to develop cleaner energy sources and reduce its reliance on imported fossil fuels, the Environmental Audit Committee, a cross-party group of Members of Parliament, said.

EGoM fixed the price for 5 years and it needs to decide on RIL’s revision demand, says Vahanvati

The government’s top law officer has said deciding on revising the price of gas from the D6 field of the Krishna-Godavari (KG-D6) basin before April 2014 is a matter of policy, not law. In his advice to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who chairs the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on the subject, Attorney General G E Vahanvati has said one cannot ignore the fact that the price has been fixed and the fixation is effective up to April 2014.

Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India to finalise agreement on transit fee next week. In an important decision, the Union Cabinet this evening gave its nod to sign a pricing agreement with Turkmenistan for the US-backed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline Project. The pipeline will terminate at Fazilka in Punjab.

NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries has reported that natural gas production from its eastern offshore KG-D6 fields has dropped to about 32.66 million standard cubic meters per day. Gas output from KG-D6 in the week ended May 6 dropped to 32.66 mmscmd from 33.89 mmscmd in April, according to a status report filed by the company with the Oil Ministry.

KG-D6, where water and sand ingress coupled with drop in pressure has led a drastic fall in per-well output, had produced 34.62 mmscmd in the beginning of March.

New Delhi In an attempt to de-risk its exploration business, state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) plans to foray into gas retailing business through a new subsidiary -- ONGC Gas Ltd.

ONGC would use the new subsidiary for its foray into city gas distribution business and sale of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), company officials said here. The new unit may be aimed at making amends to the company letting go lucrative opportunities to enter gas business.

Vermont will be the first state to outlaw a controversial oil and gas drilling method known as fracking when Governor Peter Shumlin signs a bill banning the practice, a largely symbolic move given the state's apparent lack of energy reserves.

Hydraulic fracturing has helped companies tap potentially decades of gas supply and huge amounts of oil from previously inaccessible shale formations dotted across the United States in recent years.

The chairman of the environment agency for England and Wales voiced support for shale gas extraction - which critics say can pollute ground water and cause earth tremors - and he backed government plans to expand nuclear power generation.

Shale gas is extracted using a technology called hydraulic fracturing or fracking, which involves pumping large amounts of water and chemicals underground.

The Czech Environment Ministry is planning to put up to a two-year moratorium on granting licenses for shale gas exploration until new legislation is put in place, the ministry said.

During the moratorium, the ministry would look at preparing geological and mining legislation that is clear for potential exploration companies.

"Existing Czech legislation is not prepared for such technically complicated research like there is in the case of shale gas," the ministry said on its website.