Latest news with #Hydrocarbons
Mint
12-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Norms for transfer of participating interest among partners in oil, gas eased
New Delhi: In a move aimed at improving operational flexibility and ease of doing business in India's upstream oil and gas sector, the Union government has approved a long-pending recommendation to allow transfer of participating interest (PI) among existing partners without requiring government consent—as long as there is no change in operatorship. Participating interest means, in respect of each party constituting the contractor, the undivided share expressed as a percentage of such party's participation in the rights and obligations under the contract. Under the current contractual provisions of production sharing contracts (PSC), revenue sharing contracts (RSCs), discovered small fields (DSF) and coal bed methane (CBM), any participating interest or stake transfer within the existing parties requires prior written consent from the government. This move is part of the government's efforts to boost investors' interest and reduce energy import dependency. India aims to explore 2.5 lakh square km in the 10th round of auctions under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy. 'The Management Committee may be empowered to approve Participating Interest transfer cases where the contractor intends to transfer the PI within the existing parties of the contract, subject to no change in operatorship," said the report of the joint working group in April. A letter dated 10 July to the Director General of Hydrocarbons noted that the recommendation has been 'approved." The changes should come into effect at the earliest, as the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons has been asked to take necessary actions based on the ministry's approval. However, no specific timelines were mentioned. Noting that under the existing contractual provisions of all contracts, participating interest transfer within the existing parties of the contractor requires prior written consent from the government, the joint working group in June had recommended: 'However, this process involves a comprehensive technical, financial, and legal due diligence for each case." Expediting approval It added that in such cases, as the participating interest holders have already undergone verification during the contract award stage, evaluation for any change in the participating interest among existing parties of the contract may be foregone. 'Further, in many cases it has been observed that internal transfer approval can take up to six months, leading to significant project delays," the working group had said in its report on issues related to ease of doing business in the Indian upstream sector. The recommendation aims to expedite the approval process and reduce project delays, thereby promoting transparency and ease of doing business. 'PI holders should be required to comply with all the existing conditions of the contract," the recommendations said. Although the transfer of participating interest does not require the government's nod, it would need the signature of a government representative. This move is part of the government's efforts to boost investor interest. Under the 10th round of auction under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy, the government aims to explore 250,000 sq. km and reduce oil import dependence. The Draft Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules, 2025, for which stakeholders need to give their feedback by 17 July, also aim to modernise India's upstream oil and gas framework with several major reforms. Key among them is the introduction of an investor-friendly stabilisation clause, designed to protect lessees from adverse impacts of future legal or fiscal changes, such as increases in taxes, royalties or other levies, by allowing compensation or deductions. The Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act, 1948, was amended in March 2025, which is also expected to boost investor interest in the oil and gas exploration and production sector. Data sharing in India During his visit to Vienna this week for the 9th Opec International Seminar, the minister for petroleum and natural gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, met several stakeholders in the oil and gas space, including Wael Sawan, chief executive officer (CEO) of Shell; Murray Auchincloss, CEO of bp; and Russel Hardy, Group CEO of Vitol, and spoke of opportunities to invest in the country's oil and gas sector. Among other recommendations, minister Puri approved open sharing of data from the National Data Repository at zero charge to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), startups and academic institutions. "NDR data may be integrated with the repositories of the National Oil Companies (NOCs), such as ONGC and OIL, and other ministries such as ministry of mines, ministry of coal, ministry of earth sciences, Central Ground Water Board, etc. ensuring seamless access to comprehensive datasets, including seismic, well, and other geological information," the recommendations said. The move aims to promote knowledge sharing, collaborative ventures, and technological advancements through enhanced data accessibility, thereby encouraging innovations in the oil and gas industry.
Bloomberg
10-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Congo Minister on OPEC+ Decision, Production Increase
Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons Bruno Jean Richard Itoua discusses OPEC+'s latest super-sized supply hike. He also talks about Congo's plan to increase production. "The target is to double the production in five years," Itoua tells Bloomberg's Joumanna Bercetche in Vienna, Austria. (Source: Bloomberg)
Zawya
07-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Qatar set to clock fastest growth rate next year since 2015: Emirates NBD
Qatar's broad economy is in good shape, with 'positive' annual growth across all components of GDP in the first quarter, according to Emirates NBD. PICTURE: Shaji Kayamkulam Qatar's broad economy is in good shape, with 'positive' annual growth across all components of GDP in the first quarter (Q1), according to Emirates NBD. Indications are that growth has been maintained in the second quarter, with the Qatar Financial Centre PMI survey remaining above the neutral 50.0 level in April and May, the Dubai-based banking group has said in a report. While Qatar saw a record first quarter in terms of LNG exports, hitting 22mn tonnes amid high demand from northeast Asia, there was only a modest 1.5% y-o-y rise in the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas industrial production index. The second quarter also appears to have got off to a fairly weak start, with the index's April print down 3.8% year-on-year (y-o-y). 'We have pencilled in a 2.0% expansion in the hydrocarbons side of the economy this year. In 2026, however, we project a much more robust 8.0% growth rate given the expected start of operations at the North Field East expansion project in the middle of next year. 'This will drive headline GDP growth up to 4.8% next year according to our projections, which if realised would be the fastest growth rate since 2015,' Emirates NBD said. The researcher's non-hydrocarbons growth forecast for Qatar this year is 3.0%, which would represent a modest slowdown from the 3.4% seen last year. Although the Q1 growth print does offer some upside risk to this projection there has been a slowdown in quarterly growth, which if maintained would see softer annual growth through the remainder of the year. Qatar's real GDP growth rate slowed to 3.7% y-o-y in Q1, down from 6.1% in Q4-2024. This still marked a strong performance, however, coming in well above the 2.5% averaged over the previous four years. On a quarterly basis, growth was 0.3%, from 0.4% in Q4. The slowdown in annual growth was driven primarily by a drop in 'mining and quarrying', mainly from the hydrocarbons sector, where growth fell to 1.0% y-o-y, from 6.3% the previous quarter. There was also a more modest slowdown in non-hydrocarbon GDP, which maintained a robust growth rate of 5.3%, compared with 6.2% previously. 'We forecast headline GDP growth of 2.6% this year, compared with 2.4% in 2024,' Emirates NBD said. Notable growth drivers in Q1 include wholesale and retail trade, which expanded 14.6% y-o-y and accounted for 8.4% of GDP, and manufacturing, which made up 7.4% of the total and grew 5.6% y-o-y, compared with a 0.2% decline in Q4-2024. Building and construction saw growth of 4.4% and the outlook for the rest of the year is positive given high levels of project spending in the pipeline. As of June, MEED Projects data gives $52.8bn worth of projects budgeted in Qatar. The bulk of this is in construction, closely followed by transport with investment going into the New Doha International Airport and the Doha Metro network. Transport and storage saw growth of 4.1%, maintaining the healthy pace set over the previous three years. While visitor arrivals in Q1 were down 7% to 1.5mn, the ongoing expansion of Qatar Airways and the development of Doha International as a regional and global hub likely provided support to the sector – in 2024 passenger volumes through Hamad International Airport expanded by 15% to reach 52.7mn passengers, Emirates NBD said. © Gulf Times Newspaper 2022 Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
