July 29, 2021: Domestic natural gas scene continues to present a bright picture on account of the increased production by private parties. RIL-BP’s production from KG-D6 pushed up total domestic production, net availability and consumption despite the fall in ONGC production and lower import. Click column Gas Scene for details.

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July 28, 2021: Petroleum products consumption is back to normal according to official figures. Not exactly. High Speed Diesel consumption is still lagging behind and could not catch up with the level of last June. Motor Spirit consumption is already back to normal and has been registering growth but Diesel matters more in Indian economy. Click column Special Database for product-wise performance in June 2021.

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July 26, 2021 | India’s Business Ties With Saudi Arabia, UAE Call For A New Dimension: India was no more than a blip in the radars of Saudi Arabia and UAE. But things changed suddenly three years ago. What changed their perceptions about India? Their new-found interest in India had a lot to do with the anticipated surge in the country's demand for crude oil and natural gas with the estimates put at 2.5 times and 4.5 times respectively. The investments so far committed are confined to the downstream sector. The business ties call for a new dimension. Why can’t Saudi and UAE, the two leading oil producers, be persuaded to involve India in a significant way in their upstream and mid-stream activities? Saudi Arabia is not a major player in gas and is currently placed sixth in terms of gas reserves The Saudis will definitely go in for LNG production. Once, it starts to exploit its gas reserves, there will be scope to accommodate India in the project. But Riyadh should be convinced that such an arrangement will yield mutual benefits. After all, India needs a lot more gas than oil at this stage of its development. Click Free Access column Petro Intelligence for details.

Column Policy has a speculative report about the possibility of the Tatas acquiring Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd .The new petroleum minister faces several challenges of which the most serious is the surging retail prices of petrol and diesel. The mega refinery location in coastal Maharashtra cannot be at Nanar in the Ratnagiri district as it was this location which triggered the agitation led by the Shiv Sena. But the renewed efforts to identify a suitable location has led to a village very close to Nanar. These are among the five subjects in column Policy.