GUJ GOVT AND INDUSTRILLISTS TO VISIT SASKATCHEWAN IN CANADA

After bagging exploration & production (E&P) blocks in Egypt, Yemen and Australia, the state-owned Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) is now looking at Canada's second largest oil-producing province of Saskatchewan. Currently only 15% of the more than 41 billion barrels (6.5 billion cubic metres) of oil initially in-place is recoverable based on current and expected conditions. With 85% of the oil remaining in the ground, there is excellent potential for the use of enhanced oil recovery methods and new technologies.

Moscow - Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom warned it could again cut supplies to Ukraine in early March over 400 million dollars in new debt, a Russian newspaper reported Thursday.

Kommersant daily said new cuts were discussed at a board of directors meeting this week after Ukraine failed to pay for February supplies, an unnamed participant told the paper.

"If 400 million dollars is not paid on March 7, then on March 8 we will again have to cut off the gas to Ukraine," the insider quoted the head of Gazprom's finance department, Andrei Kruglov, as saying at the meeting.

Karvy Stock Broking Limited has maintained ‘Buy’ rating on KS Oils stock to achieve a target of Rs 48 within 1-2 days.

According to Karvy, day traders can buy the stock above Rs 46 with a stop loss of Rs 44.50. If the stock market remains on positive track, the next target will be above Rs 47.  

Shares of the company, on Wednesday (Feb 25), closed at Rs 44.40 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The total volume of shares traded at the BSE was 922666. Current EPS & P/E ratio stood at 4.67 and 9.46 respectively. The share price has seen a 52-week high of Rs 101 and a low of Rs 30 on BSE.

JSW Energy, the power arm of the Sajjan Jindal-controlled JSW Group, is targeting a transmission lines network of over 1,000 circuit km (ckm) in the next three years.

S S Rao, chief executive officer, JSW Energy, said the company is betting big on its transmission lines business. "We will be spending close to Rs 2,000 crore in the next three years," he said. Rao said in the next few years, the company will bid for all major tenders for 400 kV and 765 kV transmission lines to achieve this target.

Jaigad PowerTransco Ltd (JPTL), a joint venture between JSW Energy and Maharashtra's transmission company MahaTransco, was recently awarded a licence for 400 kV transmission systems in the state.

recession will worsen supply-side constraints that pushed prices up, says energy expert

The world is breathing easy, now that oil prices are below $40 a barrel, down sharply from $147 a barrel in June. But, in fact, the current financial crisis and recession could accentuate the severe supply-side constraints that drove up prices last year to record highs, cautions Mikkal Herberg, research director of the energy security programme at the National Bureau of Asian Research in Washington and a veteran strategist in the oil industry.

Coastal Energen's 1,200-mw power plant at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu will see financial closure in two months, co-promoter Coal & Oil Group said.

Ahmed A R Buhari, founder president and chief executive officer of Coal & Oil Group, said a consortium of 19 banks, led by State Bank of India, has agreed to lend to the project. The first phase of the coal-fired thermal merchant power project, with a capacity of 1,200 mw, will need investments of Rs 4,500 crore, of which the debt component is Rs 3,450 crore. "The equity component of Rs 1,050 crore will come from accruals and investment from parent companies," Buhari said.