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Oil & Gas Round Up - December 19 to December 23, 2011

  • Cairn India Ltd has said that post the sale of majority shareholding by Cairn UK Holdings Limited to the Vedanta Group, the Vedanta Group Companies, i.e. Twin Star Mauritius Holdings Limited, Sesa Goa Limited and Sesa Resources Limited are the new Promoters of the Company.

RIL join hands with Bill Gates: reports

  • Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) has reportedly joined hands with Bill Gates, Vinod Khosla and Nathan Myrvhold - the former Microsoft tech honcho, and master French chef - to fund the development of a nuclear reactor.RIL has reportedly bought a minority stake in Terra Power, a US-based nuclear-technology design and engineering company, through one of its subsidiaries. "This is one of our series of investments in the broader energy sector," a company spokesman was quoted as saying.Terra Power LLC, based in Washington, has been founded by Myrvhold's Intellectual Ventures. Gates is the primary investor and chairman in the company, and Khosla and Charles River Ventures are investors, said the reports.There are reports that Terra Power is developing an ultra-modern reactor using the 'traveling wave' technology. Terra Power, if successful, will enable RIL to understand and get access to fourth-generation nuclear reactor technology, reports added.

Domestic News

  • Cairn India names Navin Agarwal as new Chairman ‎
  • Cairn India Ltd has said that post the sale of majority shareholding by Cairn UK Holdings Limited to the Vedanta Group, the Vedanta Group Companies, i.e. Twin Star Mauritius Holdings Limited, Sesa Goa Limited and Sesa Resources Limited are the new Promoters of the Company.Consequent to this change, the Board of Directors ('the Board') has on December 16, 2011 appointed Mr. Navin Agarwal, Mr. Tarun Jain and Ms, Priya Agarwal, as Additional Directors on the Board of Cairn India Limited. Mr. Navin Agarwal has also been appointed as the Chairman of the Board. Additionally, the Board has also accepted the resignations of Sir Bill Gammell and Ms. Jann Brown, nominee Directors of Cairn UK Holdings Limited, from the Board.
  • All the existing independent Directors and Mr. Rahul Dhir, Managing Director &.CEO will continue to be Directors of the Company. Vedanta may set up refinery for Rajasthan crudeVedanta Resources may reportedly set up a refinery to process its own crude and to benefit from a future demand for value-added petro products as older refineries in the US and Europe shut shop or refiners divest to enter upstream oil production.According to reports, the company may first look at returns from their investments on Cairn’s E&P (exploration and production) business before entering refining. Vedanta could, however decide to value-add to the crude from Cairn’s Rajasthan fields, and sell globally.
  • The company's focus is on energy security and will concentrate on exploration. A 10-million tonne per annum (mtpa) refinery would need an investment of Rs. 200bn, added reports. ONGC to buy Cairn India's 10% stake in KG block  SK Barua, OP Bhatt, Sushama Nath join ONGC Board  ONGC unveils Rs. 310bn capex for FY13  Network 18 clarifies reports on RIL acquisition plan  

International News

  • Oil rises 3% as dollar declines: reports
  • Crude-oil futures has reportedly finished more than 3% higher finding support from a decline in the U.S. dollar as upbeat economic data from the U.S.and Germany helped brighten the outlook for oil demand. According to reports, a bigger-than-expected decline in last week’s U.S. crude-oil inventories reported by the American Petroleum Institute propelled oil futures prices even higher in electronic trading after the close of the regular session. For the regular session, the January contract for light, sweet crude oil  climbed $3.34, or 3.6%, to settle at $97.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, reports added.

Glossary

  • API gravity is a measure of the specific gravity of the petroleum fraction relative to water. API gravity bears a relationship to true specific gravity but is more convenient to work with than the decimal fractions that would result if petroleum were expressed in specific gravity. Aquifers are water reservoirs that are conditioned to hold the gas. Natural gas must be brought in to "condition" the site and it takes four years before the site can be used.
  • Aromatics are a group of hydrocarbon fractions that form the basis of most organic chemicals so far synthesized. The name 'aromatics' is derived from their rather pleasant odor. The unique ring structure of their carbon atoms makes it possible to transform aromatics into an almost endless number of chemicals.Artificial lift is a way of bringing oil to the surface when the reservoir pressure has declined. The method involves pumping oil well with a rod, tubing, or bottom-hole centrifugal pump. Asphalt is a solid hydrocarbon that is dark brown or black in color. Asphalt may be found as as a deposit, but is more typically produced from vacuum residua in the refinery.Auto-refrigeration is the process in which LNG is kept at its boiling point, so that any added heat is countered by energy lost from boil off.

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