India's state-run upstream oil firms will bear nearly 40 percent of the 1.38 trillion rupee ($25 billion) cost of retail fuel subsidies for the 2011/12 year, a government source said on Monday.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), Oil India Ltd and GAIL (India) sell refined products and crude oil to state fuel retailers at a discount. Government also provides a cash subsidy to cover some of their losses.

State-run upstream firms will give a total discount of about 550 billion rupees to Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp, the source said.

State-owned ONGC cornered six blocks - four as operator and two as minority partner - out of the 16 areas that the government awarded for oil and gas exploration, but saw its bids rejected for eight areas, including five deep-sea blocks. Contracts for 16 out of the 33 oil and gas blocks that were bid for in the ninth round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) were signed today. The government had offered 34 areas - eight deepwater blocks, seven shallow water blocks, 11 on-land blocks, and 8 Type-S (or small) on-land blocks, in NELP-IX.

Gamesa Wind Turbines has bagged an order for a 5.95 MW project from the New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP).

Gamesa Wind is the Indian subsidiary of global wind power major Gamesa.

The project is being executed at Rekalakunta of Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh and is expected to be commissioned by March 31.

Gamesa said NREDCAP is the third public sector undertaking to have placed orders with the company, following the orders from GAIL and Oil India.

Empowered Committee of Secretaries clears 14 blocks to the first ranked/single bidder

A total of ten blocks offered under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) IX face the axe as the Empowered Committee of Secretaries (ECS) has recommended not to award them due to lower profit petroleum to the government. The ECS has also cleared 14 blocks to the first ranked/single bidder, even as some blocks continued to face Defence hurdles and legal complications.

With the Finance Ministry still to come out with a final formula on sharing the fuel subsidy burden, the government has asked upstream oil companies Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Oil India Limited (OIL) and GAIL India to give about Rs. 36,900 crore in fuel subsidy during April to December 2011.

GUWAHATI, Dec 16 – State Power Minister Pradyut Bordoloi today said that there has been a 24 per cent increase in the demand for power in the State from a time when per capita consumption was one of the lowest in the country and that Assam has initiated several initiatives and is planning several policy level interventions to boost the supply.

The government’s desperation to raise Rs 40,000 crore from disinvestment this year notwithstanding, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) follow-on issue is nowhere on the horizon.

Though the petroleum ministry has conveyed its approval for a follow-on issue of Oil India Ltd (OIL), meeting the target without ONGC’s issue appears difficult. Besides, the ministry has said in its approval the market should stabilise before the government goes for the OIL issue.

DIBRUGARH: Panic prevails in the Bordubi area in Tinsukia district following oozing out of natural gas from Oil India Limited’s well number 285 at Deosal Tea Estate under Bordubi police station from last 15 days. The situation turned worse when heavy emission of natural gas has been witnessed from 50 sq mtr area nearby OIL’s well in the night of Oct 18.

Jorhat, Sept. 28: Project Rupantar, an ongoing corporate social responsibility project of Oil India Limited, Duliajan, to develop and support self-help groups, has been selected as one of the 12 best case studies amongst corporate initiatives carried out in the global oil and gas industry.

The project will be showcased at the World Petroleum Conference Social Responsibility Global Village to be held as part of the World Petroleum Conference at Doha, Qatar, from December 4 to 8 this year.

The government proposes to offer gas for all power projects to be completed in the current Five Year Plan by creating a pool of domestic gas and imported re-gassified liquified natural gas (RLNG). The new mechanism will not only ensure that gas is available to meet around 80% of the requirement of these power plants, but also provide fuel to them at competitive rates as pooling will help moderate RLNG price.