Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) announced that it has decided to raise the capacity of its Mathura refinery to 11 million tonnes from the present eight million tonnes and was looking forward to early clearance at the Central government level.

While addressing reports, Mr. B N Bankapur, director of  Indian Oil Corporation remarked, “We have approached the Ministry of Environment and Forest for clearance to expand our Mathura refinery."

According to the sources, the addition in Mathura refinery has been hanging fire with the Ministry of Environment and Forest for authorization as fears have been expressed about the impact the project might have on the 17th-century monument Taj Mahal.

The Indian Oil Corp demands heavy discounts to buy up to 2 million tonnes of crude from Cairn India.

The director of the company, B N Bankapur said that the Rajasthan output utility of Cairn India is producing heavy and waxy crude oil. The company has to pay additional amount to refine it, which would not be economical for IOC without good amount of discount.

Nicosia, Sept 13: Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari on Friday has given a stern warning to Austrian energy firm OMV that unless it signs a deal on the Nabucco gas pipeline soon, Tehran will look for other partners.

The aim of the Nabucco pipeline is to transport at least 30 billion meters of natural gas per year from the Caspian Sea to Europe, bypassing Russia. OMV, the giant energy firm of Austria, is one of the six Nabucco partners.

Vienna - Falling 1.51 dollars on Thursday, the price for cru

Helsinki  - A planned underwater Baltic Sea gas pipeline from Russia to Germany does not pose a security threat to the region, German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said Thursday.

Jung, who visited Finland for talks with his Finnish counterpart Jyri Hakamies and other officials, told reporters the 1,200-kilometre pipeline instead had to be studied from an environmental and economic perspective, Finnish news agency STT reported.

The pipeline envisaged by the Nord Stream AG consortium was planned to run from Vyborg in Russia to Greifswald, Germany. The consortium has ruled out a land-based route.