NATURAL GAS NETWORK

Scorching heat drives India's gas-fired power use to multi-year highs in May

Sweltering heat and policy measures are driving a surge in gas-fired power use in India, with LNG imports set to sharply rise over the next two years. Gas-fired power generation doubled in April and May, impacting coal's share. India's LNG imports are forecasted to increase, driven by the power sector's growing demand for flexibility.

PNGRB withdraws notices to declare 54 city gas networks as common carrier

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has withdrawn notices to declare city gas networks in 54 licensed areas as common carriers, ending a legal tussle with affected city gas distributors.

Big electoral bond buyer Megha Engineering to sell city gas business

Megha City Gas Distribution (MCGDPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary, has decided to consolidate operations and reached out to state-run Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Indraprastha Gas, among other players. It ventured into city gas distribution under the brand name Megha Gas in 2015 and continued to operate as MEIL till FY22.

GAIL's 10 MW green hydrogen plant in Madhya Pradesh inaugurated

India's largest natural gas transmission and distribution firm, GAIL (India) Ltd, has commissioned its maiden green hydrogen plant in Vijaipur, Madhya Pradesh. The 10-megawatt proton exchange membrane electrolyser for the green-hydrogen producing unit at the Vijaipur complex has been imported from Canada.

National Grid to raise $9 bln in biggest UK rights issue since 2009

National Grid's 7 billion pounds rights issue for energy networks aligns with UK's decarbonisation goal. CEO John Pettigrew assures stable regulatory framework. Shares drop over 10% amid political risk concerns in the sector.

Railways stocks: Stay bullish, just hedge a bit to avoid mistake of selling in haste: 7 outperforming railways stocks across different segments

Even the best of the rational brain can make wrong decisions when there is too much noise which gets created due to a narrative. Now for the last few days a narrative has been created that due to polls, FPI are selling. These kinds of narratives tend to hit the sector and stocks which are sitting with big gains and are dependent on government policy push. Railways was among the last sectors to get re-rated due to the policy focus. Whether it was companies which are financing the expansion of railways or private sector companies which are making coaches, all of them have done extremely well. Given the fact the railways is likely to be the focus area, the long term story remains intact. Only thing is that one might end up selling the long term winner early because of the narrative. Rather than getting jittery, it would be better to create a hedge and stay with the stocks where there has been a big change in the fundamental ways things operate and the sector has a long runway.

Get your portfolio ready for election results: Hedge the re-rated oil and gas sector stocks

Right from power, railways, PSU banks, sectoral lenders to oil and gas there are many sectors which have made a comeback in the last 10 years. Comeback both in the real business sense, where the operating matrix and fundamentals of the sector have improved which has led to better performance. Also a comeback on valuation front, where the stocks which were quoting at a price earning multiple of single have been now consistently quoting in high double multiples. A number of them have seen this transformation due to a stable policy environment, policy push and policy cleanup which the government has undertaken in the last ten years. The consensus estimate of the street is that policy continuity is the most critical thing for the re-rating to continue. In this new series, we take a different sector and how much they are dependent on government policy and how investors can protect their portfolio from any sudden decline.

These 4 energy stocks can give more than 23% returns in one year

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Europe's economy shows signs of life with 0.3% growth in 1st quarter as inflation, energy woes ease

The economy had been held back by high inflation that has sapped consumer purchasing power, and by an energy price spike related to Russia cutting off most supplies of natural gas. Those headwinds have eased as energy prices have fallen and as inflation fell to 2.4% in April. But record high interest rates from the European Central Bank aimed at driving down inflation added another hurdle by raising the cost of credit for businesses and consumers.

IGX launches ssLNG contracts, to take gas availability beyond national grid

"The introduction of ssLNG contracts on IGX aims to address the growing gas demand from industries and CGD (City Gas Distribution) companies that do not have access to pipeline networks," IGX said in a statement.

Kerosene consumption falls sharply by 26 % CAGR during FY14-23, according to government data

The data showed that the consumption of kerosene has seen a steady decreasing trend with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of (-) 25.78 per cent from 2013-14 to 2022-23. The report stated that among all the petroleum products the HSDO (diesel), which has the highest share of consumption (38.52 per cent) during 2022-23, experienced a positive growth of 12.05 per cent over the last year.

Torrent Gas announces reduction in CNG prices by Rs 2.50 per kg across all locations

Torrent Gas reduces CNG prices by Rs 2.50/kg, following Mumbai and Delhi's price cuts. The reduction makes CNG up to 45% cheaper than petrol and up to 37% cheaper than diesel. Mahanagar Gas and Indraprastha Gas had earlier announced similar price cuts. The reductions are attributed to a softening in input gas prices. Torrent Gas, with 428 CNG stations and over 1 lakh piped cooking gas customers, expects the price cut to boost the adoption of CNG vehicles.

MGL's monopoly on Mumbai's city gas network has ended: PNGRB

The end of MGL's monopoly in Mumbai and VGL's exclusivity in Vadodara could increase competition and affordability for natural gas customers. City gas companies profit from CNG but the government wants to expand piped natural gas to households.

India sees Rs 41,000 crore investment for natural gas network in Kashmir, northeast

India aims to invest $4.95 billion in natural gas pipeline infrastructure in northeastern states and northern federal territories. Prime Minister Modi plans to increase natural gas share to 15% by 2030, reducing CO2 emissions. Licences awarded to supply gas to industries, automobiles, households in the region.

State oil cos power up capex machine

Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, GAIL, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation exceeded their capex targets, investing in projects such as the Barmer refinery, biofuel production, and gas marketing network.

Adani-Total Gas betting big on LNG to fuel growth

Adani Total Gas aims to boost the adoption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a primary fuel for long-haul commercial vehicles, replacing diesel. The company plans to establish 50 LNG dispensing stations along national highways in the next few years. ATGL is engaging with stakeholders, including auto ancillaries, OEMs, fleet operators, and retrofitment players, to overcome distribution challenges.

Explosions rock Iran's main gas pipeline; sabotage suspected

Indraprastha Gas Ltd plans to set up 19 compressed biogas plants

Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) announced plans to establish 19 compressed biogas (CBG) plants to integrate with its city gas distribution network. According to the company's statement, IGL has entered into preliminary agreements with two technology partners to set up these plants across Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

India's gas demand to rise 6% in 2024: IEA

India's primary gas supply rose by 5 per cent in 2023, with growth primarily driven by the petrochemical, power generation, refinery and industrial sectors. The natural gas demand had risen to 64 billion cubic meters in 2023.

Oil regulator PNGRB launches drive to increase piped gas adoption

While PNG has gained currency in the last few years after PNGRB expanded city gas networks to most parts of the country, sizable households continue to use either LPG or conventional fuels like firewood and cow dung for cooking. India is about 50 per cent dependent on imports to meet cooking gas LPG needs and use of conventional fuels is considered a health hazard.

ONGC Videsh raises $420 million from DBS and BoB banks

Both the banks are meeting prospective lenders in a bid to distribute the loan to a wider network of banks across Asia, people familiar with the transaction said. "This is a five-year loan raised at about 125 basis points above the corresponding benchmark secured overnight financing rate (SOFR) and is likely to be syndicated to other lenders in the region by next month," one of them said.

Domestic natural gas consumption surges owing to favorable international prices

Higher prices hurt India’s LNG imports and overall gas consumption last fiscal year. Demand recovered this fiscal year as prices normalized. LNG imports are up 14% year-on-year in the April-December period while total gas consumption in the country is higher by 9.4%. Imports account for 46% of total domestic gas consumption.

Plans afoot to build strategic natural gas reserve

After oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri recently gave a green signal to the idea of setting up the gas reserve, the oil ministry directed Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), Oil India and GAIL to jointly prepare a detailed feasibility report on the same, people said. The companies are expected to submit the report in three months.