Page 14 - AsianOil Week 11

AsianOil
NEWS IN BRIEF
AsianOil
SOUTH ASIA
ONGC exudes confidence to withstand current volatility; declares 100% interim dividend
During the last few days due to sudden and sharp decline in crude oil prices, the share prices of oil sector entities have witnessed
a lot of volatility, and particularly the share prices of the upstream companies have been hit hard. In addition, due to failure of talks
of OPEC+ to arrive at an agreement on production cut, oil prices declined drastically. Key oil producers have since adopted a strategy of “Fight to Finish” and have besides announcing increase in production, have
also offered huge discounts to Asian Markets making capturing of markets as key priority at this juncture.
All these major developments bring
in some uncertainty for oil and gas sector
and specifically for oil and gas producing companies. While the decline in oil prices has affected the offtake of the exporting upstream companies, the companies operating in net importing countries like India have no such issues relating to offtake. Global oil markets are regulated by fundamentals and the prices cannot sustain at such levels for long, as being witnessed today.
Outbreak of Corona virus and its declaration as a pandemic by the UN has exacerbated the demand side and it is apprehended that for the first time over the last two decades oil demand may in fact go down in absolute terms. It is very difficult to
separately identify the extent to which the oil price decline is attributable to either of these factors.
ONGC is of firm belief that notwithstanding the recent developments and decline in the crude prices, the right level of prices at which the industry can operate and some sort of equilibrium can be achieved
will restore sooner than later. Historically,
in previous instances of sudden oil prices decline, the recoveries have also been sharp and in some cases V shaped.
ONGC, March 17, 2020
IndianOil inks MoU with Shriram Transport
IndianOil has signed an MoU with Shriram Transport Finance Company (STFC) today to extend the credit limit of STFC customers on purchase of fuel from IndianOil outlets.
This will enable STFC customers to efficiently purchase IndianOil fuel and lubricants through its wide network of IndianOil retail outlets.
Elaborating on the agreement, Mr. Vigyan Kumar, Executive Director (Retail Sales), IndianOil said, “The additional feature of credit facility through partnership with STFC will go a long way towards meeting the aspirations and requirements for small truck operators. This is the Year of Digitalization at IndianOil and this partnership would enable the customers to have card-less and cashless transactions.”
Speaking about IndianOil’s loyalty programme for fleet customers, he further said, “IndianOil has providing convenient, secure and rewarding fuel solutions through the XTRAPOWER loyalty programme
for fleet customers. The patronage of our customers has made XTRAPOWER the largest loyalty program in the country.”
This credit facility is an affordable low- cost working capital solution to monitor and control fuel expenses. The fuel finance service will be a cash/card-free transaction. Mr. Umesh Revankar, MD and CEO, STFC said, “STFC envisions filling the gap in providing end-to-end finance solutions to its customers. Hence, through this tie-up with IndianOil, we are serving the small road transport owner (SRTOs) and first time owner (FTOs) that form more than 70% of our customer base, with low-cost working capital.”
INDIANOIL, March 12, 2020
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Petronas evacuates
employees from Iraq amid
COVID-19 pandemic
In view of the COVID-19 pandemic and as a precautionary measure to ensure the health, safety and well-being of our employees, PETRONAS has safely evacuated all 80 of
our Malaysian employees from PETRONAS Carigali Iraq Holding B.V. (PCIHBV), located at the Garraf Contract Area, in the Thi Qar Province, Republic of Iraq.
This is certainly an unfortunate and unforeseeable event that is not within PCIHBV’s control. PCIHBV had accordingly issued the necessary notice in accordance
with the provisions of the Development and Production Service Contract and engaged with the host authority prior to the suspension of operations and evacuation of our employees. Operations at the Garraf Contract Area are now temporarily suspended until further notice.
We are also closely monitoring the situation.
PETRONAS, March 18, 2020
Petronas updates on business operations
The Government of Malaysia has announced “Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan” effective
18 March 2020 to 31 March 2020. These measures amongst others require the
closure of non-essential business and services. Petronas’ position is that oil and gas, production, refining, storage, supply and distribution of fuel and lubricants are considered essential services as per the announcement made by the YAB Prime
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Week 11 19•March•2020