Page 10 - AsiaElec Week 02

AsiaElec EMISSIONS AsiaElec
Indian Oil, OIL team up on CCUS-EOR project
INDIA
INDIA’S largest oil refiner Indian Oil has teamed up with state-run developer Oil India Ltd (OIL) on a project to reinject refinery carbon emissions at a nearby mature oil project.
Indian Oil announced on January 10 that the two companies had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project in the north-eastern state of Assam.
Under the agreement, the companies intend to install a carbon capture, utilisation and stor- age (CCUS) system at Indian Oil’s refinery in the town of Digboi. The goal is to capture car- bon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the refin- ery’s hydrogen generation unit and gas-fired power plant and the deliver them for reinjection at OIL’s Nahorkatiya and Dikom oilfields, which lie around 50-60km from Digboi.
Indian Oil’s director of refineries, SM Vaidya, said: “Carbon capture for EOR extends the pro- ductivity of mature oilfields and is in line with our Prime Minister’s [Narendra Modi] clarion call for reducing crude oil imports. It is also a step in the direction of mitigating ‘climate emergency’ thatourplanetfaces.”
The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted on January 10 that India’s oil demand growth was set to overtake China by the middle of the decade. The agency said in its India 2020 Energy Policy Review that demand was expected to climb from 4.4mn barrels per day in 2017 to 6mn bpd by 2024, while domestic production would only expand marginally.
India’s oil production has been in steady decline for a number of years, which has prompted the government to implement a wave of upstream reforms that include improved gas pricing and marketing freedoms. However, it is likely to take a number of years before the benefits of these changes are felt. In November, crude production slipped by 5.98% year on year to 2.61mn tonnes (638,000 bpd), while produc- tion in the first eight months of financial year 2019-2020 shrank by 5.85% to 21.72mn tonnes (652,000 bpd.)
The IEA noted that a deepening dependency on foreign oil would leave the Indian economy “even more exposed to risks of supply disrup- tions, geopolitical uncertainties and the volatility of oil prices.”
Brent crude prices have topped $70 per barrel amid rising tensions in the Middle East, which saw Iran shoot down a Ukrainian passenger plane last week. India already imports more than 80% of its oil demand, with almost two thirds of that coming from the Middle East. As such, regional tensions have the South Asian country’s energyplannersworried.
Commenting on the impact of geopolitical instability at the release event of the IEA report, Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said: “Today, we are meeting in the backdrop of rising tensions in the Middle East and [their] impact on stability and security in the region. We remain deeply concerned about the crude oil price volatility.”™
POLICY
Mahathir considers breaking up big state firms
Malaysia is considering the merits of having the state control its biggest companies, after moves to break up their dominance in sectors from the internet to electricity led to declines in Asia’s worst major stock market.
The government needs to review on a case-by-case basis whether it needs to hold
on to its golden shares in state-linked firms,
as the 1MDB scandal proves it’s still needed, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said.
His administration has sought to make the companies more efficient to meet its campaign
NEWS IN BRIEF
promise of lowering living costs, a drive that analysts expect to benefit the economy in the long run.
Yet Mahathir walks a tightrope as he tries to overhaul state-linked firms that have stifled competition, without causing an earnings upheaval and spooking investors. The US- China trade war that triggered foreign stock outflows across Asia has not helped either – Malaysia’s benchmark index fell 6% last year, the most since 2008.
State operator Telekom Malaysia was the first hit when the country slashed broadband prices as part of an election pledge. That triggered a loss of almost $1bn in its market value since May 2018. Now, power firm Tenaga Nasional is bracing for new players as the government moves to open up the
retail electricity market. Its shares have slumped 18% since September 2018 when the government first mooted the plan.
HYDRO
Thailand to air concerns
with River Commission over
drought, Chinese dams in
Mekong
Thailand will raise concerns about its current drought during a Mekong River Commission
P10
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Week 02 15 •January•2020