Oil&Gas Eurasia Blog

UPA-II seems to have finally discovered a sense of humour, and a wicked one at that. With the Kirit Parikh report in place, the pink papers were busy speculating that the question was no longer “when” but by “how much” the prices of at least petrol and diesel would be raised.

The report, appearing just before the budget, made a strong case for moving end-user prices of petroleum products in line with international trends. With the marketing companies reporting under-recoveries Rs 3.10 on each litre of petrol, Rs 2.55 on diesel, Rs 17.30 on kerosene and Rs 241 on each cylinder of domestic LPG (all December prices) the bill for the year FY 2009-10 was estimated to be Rs 45,500 crore. Of this, the government itself will be providing a mere Rs 12,000 crore. “Upstream” companies — GAIL, ONGC, and OIL — will pitch in with about Rs 11,000 crore; the oil marketing companies will absorb the remaining Rs 23,000 crore.

Consequently, the Parikh Committee argued that the current pricing non-regime had decimated any cash surplus available with downstream as well as upstream companies. The latter were being forced to dole out ad hoc price discounts on crude supplied, thereby reducing funds for investment in domestic and overseas exploration. With a frightfully wilful compensation mechanism, the companies found it difficult to plan any investments. India is one of the few countries where the government neither provided for all the subsidy nor allowed end-prices to be passed on to consumers. It therefore had no option but to pass it on, or to provide for the under-recoveries of the state-owned marketing companies that, following the pricing non-regime, were the only ones left selling liquid fuels in the domestic market anyway.

The Finance Bill pulled a fast one. It cheekily left actual prices untouched but raised the excise duty on both petrol and diesel. It restored the customs duty on both products to June 2008 levels, making it 7.5 per cent instead of the existing 2.5 per cent and slapping on an additional Re 1 per litre excise duty for good measure. Simultaneously, it also imposed a 5 per cent duty on crude imports. What’s important is that even as it leaves the oil companies’ bleeding balance sheets unattended, this garners Rs 30,000 crore more for the government in FY 2010-11. Therefore the shadow boxing being done by UPA’s friends and foes for a rollback of “prices” actually lacks a killer punch — simply because what they are demanding is not so much a rollback of prices but one of taxes meant to collect revenues for the UPA’s flagship social sector schemes. So when the PM and the FM declare there is going to be no rollback, they can do so with a moral authority lacking on the other side. Had they actually raised prices that would have not been the case. So the UPA has the last laugh on this one.

What the additional Rs 30,000 crore also does is that it gives the government headroom to manoeuvre in case crude oil prices were to head north again. Duties can in that case be re-jigged without affecting end prices and oil companies just about kept afloat. With no allocation proposed, all it means is that the finance ministry will continue to make ad hoc cash allocations to partially finance under-recoveries. Pushed to the wall, it may yet go in for more oil bonds. So it is going to be business as usual for some more time.

For the sake of record, the finance minister has indeed said that a decision will be taken to implement the Kirit Parikh report in “due course”. Petroleum Minister Murli Deora also continues to indicate that a decision on the report will be taken soon. However, given the vociferous walk-out in Parliament and the allies’ histrionics, the government is unlikely to have the stomach to further mark-up petrol and diesel prices to the market — and increase the price of kerosene by Rs 6 a litre and LPG by Rs 100 as recommended by the Parikh Committee.

With no provision being made for “oil bonds” as a compensation mechanism and cash subsidies remaining at earlier levels, the policy message on the oil and gas front is clear: the government remains unconvinced by the Rangarajans, Chaturvedis and Parikhs. The allocation column under “Compensation to oil companies for under- recoveries on account of sale of sensitive petroleum products” in 2010-11 is marked “nil”. Reforms in the oil and gas sector are not the immediate priority. Oil companies, both public and private, should they have surpluses which remain uncollected, are advised to sequester them in war chests for better opportunities overseas.

Source: www.indianexpress.com

American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) has honored the Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) Nagothane petrochemical manufacturing unit ‘Excellence in Practice’ to achieve world-class safety in plant operation. Board of Directors of ASTD, which is the world’s largest association dedicated to workplace learning and performance professionals, will honor the team of Nagothane Manufacturing Division during its international conference and exposition on May 10, 2010.

RIL’s Nagothane petrochemical manufacturing division had initiated the practice of ‘Empowering Employees with Knowledge, to attain the safety in plant operation. The practice initiated by the RIL’s Nagothane Manufacturing Division clearly attracted the ASTD, which has members from more than 100 countries who work in thousands of organizations of all sizes. The practice has been selected for the ASTD honour on account of clear demonstration and measurable results of achieving organizational goals, strong evaluation plan and appropriate design values.

The ASTD award is a testimony of demonstration of sincere efforts of RIL’s Nagothane manufacturing unit employees, in line with RIL’s mission of achieving excellence in workplace and its operations. Indirectly, the ASTD has recognised RIL’s practice of relating learning to workplace safety performance through enterprise-wide awareness.

It’s hardly news that Anil Ambani has a major D6 gas pricing dispute against his brother Mukesh awaiting judgement in India’s Supreme Court. But PETROWATCH learns the younger son of legendary Indian industrialist the late Dhirubhai Ambani - and the world’s third richest Indian after brother Mukesh and steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal - has thousands of legal cases pending against him.

On January 14, Anil’s telecommunications company Reliance Infratel filed a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the Indian stock market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), for its IPO. Seen by this report, the prospectus lists 1768 criminal, civil, taxation, consumer, anti-monopoly, labour and class action cases from across industry and the general public faced by Anil’s 11 telecommunications businesses. Most interesting are 17 criminal cases: four were filed by investors before the 2005 split of Reliance Industries, which Anil and Mukesh headed together before their acrimonious fallout.

Eight cases allege forgery and cheating by Anil’s Reliance Communications, and one ex-employee has even brought a case claiming his salary was ‘misappropriated’! Equally interesting are four election related cases, brought against Anil during his brief tenure as a Samajwadi (Socialist) Party MP in the Rajya Sabha (India’s upper house) from June 2004 to March 2006. Anil’s term as MP should have lasted till June 2010 but he quit early thanks to controversy over a perceived conflict of interest with his job at the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation, deemed an ‘office of profit’. To be fair, getting sued is an occupational hazard for the chairman and promoter of any company in India, given the convoluted legal system and the local propensity to take the slightest grievance to court. But Reliance’s stock market prospectus also reminds us that the group’s promoters and companies have themselves “from time to time initiated legal proceedings relating to their businesses and operations.”

Source: Petrowatch

More than a month after putting its biggest global assets up for sale, Reliance Communications has found few callers for a package that includes its prized FLAG undersea cable network.

Sources close to the deal said Reliance Comm had already extended an initial deadline of late-January for submissions once, but had still attracted little interest for the deal seeking $3 billion.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

One source said Singapore Technologies Telemedia - which owns stakes in Singapore’s StarHub and undersea cable operator Global Crossing — is contemplating a bid.

A spokeswoman for Singapore Technologies Telemedia, a fully-owned unit of state investor Temasek, declined comment.

The source added that another company said to have expressed interest was NTT Corp, though an NTT spokesman said the company was not considering a bid.

Sources said complaints surrounding the deal, being shopped by Deutsche Bank, include a dearth of financial information, concerns about debt and over-abundance of the kinds of assets and services being offered.

“It is no longer something which is in short supply,” said Arun Kejriwal of Mumbai-based investment advisory firm KRIS. “Earlier you thought you cannot do without a cable system of your own. But now it’s not the case. You can hire whatever you want.”
Reliance Comm previously denied it was trying to sell the assets, and had no immediate comment on any recent developments. Sources and documents obtained by Reuters show that the assets are up for sale.

In a statement previously, the company had said FLAG, the undersea cable network operator, spans 65,000 kilometres and described it as the world’s largest private undersea cable system.

Three of the main assets in the sale package are FLAG, which Reliance Comm bought for $207 million in 2003; Yipes, a California-based ethernet service provider purchased in $300 million in 2007; and Vanco, a British telecoms services provider purchased for $77 million in 2008.

All three were struggling when Reliance Comm bought them, with FLAG purchased directly out of bankruptcy and Yipes acquired from a third party that took it over out of bankruptcy.

RICH VALUATIONS

A source close to the deal said many potential buyers were scratching their heads at Reliance Comm’s asking price, said to be around $3 billion, for assets it collectively purchased over the last seven years for less than $600 million combined.

“How could they possibly believe the thing is worth five times what it was four years earlier?” the source said.
Two other sources close to the deal said the company, controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani, has ruled out selling the assets to a local rival such as Bharti Airtel, due in part to the fierce rivalry among India’s top business families.

“The reason they don’t want to sell it to a Bharti is because if Bharti turns around the business and does a better job with it, it’s a big embarrassment for Reliance,” said one source.

Reliance Comm is looking to unload the business as revenue at its global division fell 12.5 percent in October-December from the previous quarter to 19.82 billion rupees ($428 million). Revenue at the unit rose 20 percent sequentially in the previous quarter.
With such figures hardly reassuring, some potential buyers have complained that Reliance Comm has been particularly parsimonious with the financial information it is willing to give out, and is being overly optimistic about its financial projections.

“They’re making you base your bids on supplying you with six or seven numbers,” said one of the sources. “They give you almost nothing to go on. No cash numbers. It’s very limited information.”

Source: http://indianbusinessnewsupdate.blogspot.com/2010/02/few-come-calling-for-reliance-comm.html

KG D-6’s gas has affected the LNG’s spot market. Power and Fertilizer company have diverted their attention towards KG D-6 for the gas supply. In last one month, in Hazira and Dahej terminals, not even a single cargo of LNG spot cargo has been arrived.

The spot market of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) is shrinking. This could well be estimated from the fact that the business has faced beating in last one month at the Hazira LNG terminal of Shell and Dahej terminal of Petronet LNG. KG D-6’s gas has affected the LNG’s spot market to a great extent during the recent times. Reliance Industries’ (RIL) prolific KG D-6 is now producing 60 million standard cubic metre of natural gas every day (mmscmd) and has almost replaced the spot LNG demand in the country.

Most of the power and fertilizer companies have diverted their attention from the spot market of LNG to KG D-6. Supply of KG D-6 gas has largely replaced the demand of spot LNG. This is evident from the fact that before the allocation of KG D-6 gas, RIL itself was consuming almost 4 cargoes of LNG every month. According to the government sources, in last one month, in Hazira and Dahej terminals, not even a single cargo of LNG spot cargo has come.

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Petronet Mr P Dasgupta said, “Today no one is making any LNG’s spot deal, the last LNG spot cargo was arrived in November 2009. The demand can only be there with advent of new energy and fertlizer companies. The present demand for the gas is being met by KG D-6 gas and the long term gas demand is being met by import of LNG by Petronet.”

According to the sources the future price of LNG is close to $8.2 per mmbtu, while KG D-6 gas is available at $4.20 per mmbtu. Till December last year even RIL was buying spot LNG from Hazira, every month for its Jamnagar Refinery. After it was allotted KG D-6 gas, no one is buying at spot LNG from Hazira. One of the officers of Shell India, also confirmed low spot LNG business, however, he refused to shares the figures.

Prior to KG D-6 gas supply, total gas supply in the country was staggering at around 110 mmscmd, including the long-term LNG sourced by PLL and Shell, as against the demand of about 175 mmscmd. Remaining gas demand was met through spot LNG. With the production of 60 mmscmd gas from KG D-6 field, the present demand of gas in the country is satisfied. However, the gas demand in the future is likely to rise again in the coming years as the domestic supply is unexpected to match the pace of growing energy demand of the nation.

Source: Contribution from Business Standard

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Company Overview:
LyondellBasell is one of the world’s largest polymers, petrochemicals and fuels companies. It is a global leader in polyolefins technology, production and marketing and pioneer in propylene oxide and derivatives. The company is a significant producer of fuels and refined products including biofuels. Headquartered in the Netherlands, LyondellBasell has combined annual sales of nearly $51bn with more than 15,000 employees worldwide.

History:

Lyondell:
Lyondell Chemical Company was the third largest independent chemical manufacturer in the US before it was acquired by the Basell in 2007. Lyondell was formed in 1985 from the integration of selected chemical and refining assets of the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO). In 1989, Lyondell was spun-off into a separate company and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1998, Lyondell gained a leading position in polymers and expanded geographically through the acquisition and integration of Arco Chemical.

In November 2004, Lyondell acquired Millennium Chemicals Inc. in a stock-for-stock business combination. The merger of Lyondell and Millennium Chemicals became official on December 1, 2004. Following the December 1, 2004 transaction, both Millennium and Equistar were wholly owned subsidiaries of Lyondell. In the new organization, Lyondell, Equistar and Millennium remained as a separate legal entity and kept its own separate debt structures.

In August, 2006, Lyondell acquired Citgo’s interest in the Lyondell-Citgo Refinery for $2.1 billion, and renamed the facility Houston Refining.

Basell:
On the other hand, Basell was formed in September 2000 when BASF and Shell Chemicals combined their respective polypropylene businesses with their then-existing polyethylene joint venture. Access Industries, a privately held, U.S. based industrial group, subsequently acquired Basell in August 2005.

On December 20, 2007, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Basell merged with and into Lyondell, with Basell indirectly acquiring all of the outstanding shares of Lyondell’s common stock at $48.00 per share. The total purchase price, including assumed and refinanced debt, was $20.9 billion. Basell was renamed LyondellBasell Industries AF S.C.A. As a result, Lyondell is now an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of LyondellBasell Industries.

On February, 2008, LyondellBasell Industries acquired Solvay Engineered Polymers, Inc. (“SEP”), a leading supplier of polypropylene compounds in North America. On April 1, 2008, LyondellBasell Industries acquired a refinery at Berre l’Etang and related businesses in France from Société des Pétroles Shell.

LyondellBassell: Business Segments
LyondellBasell operates into four business segments, Fuels, Chemicals, Polymers and Technology and Research & Development.

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Fuels:
LyondellBasell owns two refineries, one at Houston Ship Channel in Houston, Texas while the other at Berre I’Etang in France. The Houstan-based refinery is capable of processing 268,000 barrels per day (bpd) of heavy crude with high sulfur contents (16-18 degree API) with Nelson Complexity Index of 11.4. The Refinery’s clean products include gasoline (including blendstocks for oxygenate blending), jet fuel and ultra-low sulfur diesel. The Refinery’s products also include heating oil, lube oils (industrial lubricants, white oils and process oils), carbon black oil, refinery-grade propylene, petrochemical feedstocks, sulfur, residual fuel, petroleum coke and aromatics.

The second refinery based at France was bought by LyondellBasell for $700 mn Shell on April 1, 2008. The refinery can process 105,000 barrels of crude every day which scores 6.7 on Nelson Complexity Index.

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Chemicals and Polymers:
LyondellBasell is one of the largest producers of chemicals and polymers in the world with the company ranking in the top in olefins and polymer productions. The Rotterdam-based company is the leading producers of polypropylene and propylene oxide in the world and is ranked among the largest in ethylene production.

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Technology and R&D:
LyondellBasell is a leading licensor of polyethylene, polypropylene and polyolefin process technology and catalysts. Approximately 40% of the world’s installed polypropylene capacity and 11% of the world’s installed polyethylene capacity used LyondellBasell Industries’ licensed process technologies. Besides, LyondellBasell Industries is the world’s largest manufacturer and supplier of polypropylene catalysts, with approximately one-third of global polypropylene catalyst production.

Global Presence:
LyondellBasell has a global footprint with manufacturing facilities spreading across the world. Manufacturing units of LyondellBasell are present in North & South America, various countries of Europe, Africa and Asia and in Australia.

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What does acquisition of LyondellBasell mean for RIL?

Ethylene Manufacturing- : will become 3rd largest producer
LoyondellBasell is presently the fourth largest ethylene manufacturer in the world. With the acquisition of LyondellBasell, the combined capacity of RIL and LyondellBasell will be ranked third among global ethylene producers, marginally behind the second ranked Sabic.

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Polyolefin production: total capacity will be 15 MMTPA
LyondellBasell is currently the largest manufacturer of polymers/polyolefins in the world with installed capacity of approximately 11 MMTPA, whereas RIL is placed at 11th spot with manufacturing capacity of about 3.75 MMTPA. Acquisition of LyondellBasell will make the RIL world’s largest manufacturer of polyolefin/polymers with total capacity of nearly 15 MMTPA, far ahead of its competitors.

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All Chemicals and Polymers:
RIL has significant presence in polyolefin production. Besides this, company does not have considerable presence in olefins and chemicals segment. Acquisition of LyondellBasell will provide the company leverage to a range of products in both these product lines. Table below provides the details of various product lines and products wherein RIL will score highly on global scale after the acquisition of LyondellBasell-

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Fuels:
At present, RIL is ranked at 13th position among the world’s largest refining companies with total processing capacity of 1.24 million barrels per day 9mbpd (mbpd). Acquisition of LyondellBasell, which has two refineries with aggregate refining capacity of 0.37 mbpd, will place the RIL at 12th spot among largest refining company globally with combined capacity of 1.61 mbpd, just marginally behind the National Iranian Oil Company with total refining capacity of 1.66 mbpd. With the acquisition of LyondellBasell, RIL will own about 2% of the total refining capacity in the world.

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RIL to bring synergy to LyondellBasell’s operations:
RIL is likely to bring synergy to different business segments of LyondellBasell with its expertise and experience and will also provide new venues and markets to LyondellBassell’s products.

Fuel Segment:
RIL owns and operates world’s largest refining complex in the world with combined processing capacity of the two units at 1.24 mbpd. Nelson Complexity Index of one of the unit is 14 and the other is 11.7. Highly complex refineries allow the RIL to process one of the heaviest crude available in the world, which are available at cheapest rates. Despite processing high-sulfur crude, RIL produces ultra-clean fuels, which are high in demand in environmentally concerned world and can qualify the most stringent norms in any market. Processing of heavy crude has helped RIL consistently outperform the global benchmarks for refinery margin. RIL is supply majority of its products in U.S., European and Middle East markets.

With its expertise in commissioning complex refineries, RIL can upgrade the LyondellBasell’s France Refinery. LyondellBasell’s Houstan-based refinery has higher complexity index and it processes heavy crude and produces clean fuel. This is in-sync with RIL’s refining business plan. Acquisition of LyondellBasell’s refinery by RIL will provide these refineries greater access to various markets world over. RIL has extensive petro-retail network in India and has also acquired Gulf Africa Petroleum Corporation, which has distribution network in several East African countries. This provides opportunity for the LyondellBasell’s two refineries to directly supply their products. If acquire, RIL can direct the output of the Franc-based refinery to African and Indian market, which do not have so-high environmental norms compared to western countries.

LyondellBasell sources majority of its crude requirement from PDVSA Oil on market price. Heavy-reliance on one source poses deep threat of crude supply to the company as the PDVSA on several occasions has declared itself in force majure situation resulting in reduced availability or supply cut. Integration with RIL will allow LyondellBasell’s two refineries to diversify its risk. At the same time, RIL can negotiate for better price of crude, subsequently reducing the cost of raw material and enabling the company (and the two refineries) to better its margins.

Apart from selling products from its own refineries, LyondellBasell also sells refined products purchased from other parties to meet the customer’s requirements. With the acquisition, RIL can supply the required quantity of products to LyondellBasell’s customers from its refineries. Moreover, RIL will have way in to many of LyondellBasell’s customers for its refinery products.

Other refinery products like MTBE, ETBE and alkylate are gasoline blending components, which are produced at various facilities of LyondellBasell in US and Europe and sold in the respective markets. However, in recent times all the refiners and blenders have discontinued the use of MTBE in the US primarily due to US Government’s decision to encourage the use of bio-ethanol in gasoline and guidelines to ban the use of MTBE. This has resulted in consumption issue for LyondellBasell’s MTBE output. Acquisition by RIL will open the door to Indian and other growing markets where use of MTBE is very much prevalent.

Chemicals & Polymers:
LyondellBasell is currently the fourth largest manufacturer of ethylene in the world. Acquisition of LyondellBasell by RIL will make the combined entity the third largest producer of the ethylene globally. Natural gas and naphtha are two major feedstocks for ethylene manufacturing. LyondellBasell uses natural gas or NGL (natural gas liquid) primarily at US facilities and naphtha majorly at Europe facilities for ethylene production. RIL, being an integrated oil & gas company has access to US natural gas producers and thus, can help LyondellBasell’s US-based facilities source the natural gas or NGL at cheaper rates subsequently resulting in lower cost of production and increased margin. Similarly, RIL, which produces naphtha at its refineries at cheaper rates due to use of heavy crude oil, can supply the heavy-liquid to LyondellBasell’s manufacturing facilities based in Europe and other regions at reasonable prices. This will help the combined entity to better its margins.

Ethylene is used as the raw material for producing polymers. LyondellBasell’s ethylene production is majorly consumed at its polymer manufacturing units. Yet, substantial quantity of ethylene is supplied to customers through pipelines. As the acquisition of LyondellBasell by RIL will make the combined entity world’s largest polymer producer, the ethylene produced from LyondelBasell’s facilities could be entirely consumed at LyondelBasell and RIL’s polymer production plants. The ethylene which is sold to customers can be directed to RIL’s petrochemical plants in India.

Demand for other by-products of ethylene has shrunk in recent years, particularly in western markets. RIL’s acquisition will provide the opportunity for LyondellBasell ethylene by-products access to growing markets like India, where demand is rising, despite the economic downturn globally, at reasonably good pace.

As the acquisition will of LyondellBasell will make the combine the largest producer of polymers in the world, miles ahead of its competitors, the company can rewrite the rules in polymer business.

By integrating the business (as both the companies have sizable presence in polymer market), the company can also cut down its production cost and increase the margin. Reduced cost of production will give the company an edge over its competitors. The reduced cost will help the combined entity focus on markets where demand for polymers is growing at higher rate and the penetration is low.

Conclusion:
With the above stated facts, it is clearly evident that, if RIL successfully completes the acquisition of LyondellBasell, it will bring plenty of synergy to the latter’s operations. It can rekindle the LyondellBasell’s refining business, whereas can provide a market for its array of chemicals and polymers. Acquisition of LyondellBasell will make the RIL one of the largest players in chemical and polymer business worldwide, whereas in refining business too it will leapfrog various global players. Hence, it could be safely stated that RIL, as a buyer, is the right choice for LyondellBasell which can ably give a face-lift to its operations and financial health that are continually running on a declining path.

Higher natural gas production from the KG D6 fields off the eastern coast of India is likely to buoy revenues of Reliance Industries Ltd, or RIL, in the December quarter though lower margins on petrochemicals and oil refining are expected to temper profit growth, according to analysts tracking India’s most valuable company.

RIL is scheduled to announce its quarterly results on Friday.

A Mint poll of six domestic and foreign brokerages forecast an expected average net profit of Rs3,921 crore for the October-December quarter, an increase of 12% over the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, and average revenue of Rs51,577.2 crore, a jump of 63.4%.

The poll also pegged RIL’s gross refining margins (GRMs)—or earnings from turning crude oil into a number of high value fuels and products—at nearly $5.7 (Rs260.49) per barrel, way short of the $10 a barrel levels in the same quarter last year.

In a 6 January note to their clients, Mumbai-based Edelweiss Securities Ltd’s analysts Niraj Mansingka, Ruchi Vora and Abhishek Agarwal wrote: “RIL’s earnings will benefit from the ramp-up of KG D6 gas volumes. However, muted refining margin expectations and decline in petrochemical margins will limit results.”

Pointing to the possibility of the Mukesh Ambani-led company reporting the “lowest ever GRMs in the past several quarters” owing to a weak refining environment, Rohit Nagraj, sector analyst for Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt Ltd, wrote in his report the same day: “Petrochemical prices remained stable during the quarter. However, the feedstock prices moved up slightly. Hence, (these) margins are anticipated to be a tad lower sequentially (compared with July-September quarter).”

According to Nagraj, average Krishna-Godavari basin gas volumes, an estimated 45 million cu. m a day (mscmd) this quarter, will add heft to RIL’s profits.

Another analyst with the Indian arm of a foreign brokerage said one of the key things to watch out for was whether RIL’s new 580,000 barrels a day Jamnagar refinery has stabilized its operations or not. “KG D6 gas and the new refinery are assets that are contributing to revenues this year. Not only were these revenue taps not turned on last year, the corresponding quarter last year was also affected by adverse demand conditions in the aftermath of the global meltdown, leading to a base effect.” Base effect refers to an unusual spike or drop in a company’s financials in one quarter due to extraordinary reasons. Year-on-year comparisons in such cases appear much better or worse.

The analyst, who did not want to be named, agreed that it was business as usual for the oil-to-yarn and retail conglomerate, and that much of the “noise surrounding the company has been on account of its acquisition efforts or fund raising exercises”.

RIL has submitted a preliminary, non-binding bid for the bankrupt Dutch petrochemical maker LyondellBasell Industries AF in its largest and most ambitious acquisition attempt. Analysts are watching how far RIL will go to acquire the firm, which is being valued upwards of $13.5 billion by the Street and will need to be integrated in the difficult labour markets of the US and Europe. As of now, its offer is being pushed back by the existing management and secured creditors of LyondellBasell, which could mean that RIL will have to sweeten the bid and raise its offer price.

RIL has raised nearly Rs12,980 crore by selling its treasury stock in three tranches over the last four months, most likely to create a war chest for the LyondellBasell deal.
RIL’s takeover bid comes on the back of a subdued sectoral outlook. Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd’s analysts Harshad Borawake and Milind Bafna in their sector preview report have said that they “expect margin pressure on petrochemicals to continue from likely supply from new Middle East petrochemcial plants”.

RIL could look forward to revenues from KG basin as gas production is expected to be ramped up to 60 mscmd by December and 80 mscmd by March, added Borawake and Bafna.

Gas revenues, however, depend on the outcome of a three-year-old legal battle between RIL and Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources Ltd. The latter is claiming 28 mscmd of gas at a price 44% cheaper than the government price, citing a family demerger arrangement in 2005. The matter is awaiting a decision from the Supreme Court.

Source: Live Mint

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The Reliance Group is setting up a ‘world-class’ university as it seeks to revolutionize the education in India and look forward to promote education and research in sectors ranging from liberal arts to technology .
India spends about $50 billion on private education annually, according to a research report by IDFC. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16%, said a CLSA Pacific study.

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries said, “Access to world class education is a prerequisite for a strong India”. Also, he talked about his plans to establish a world-classuniversity in Mumbai or Delhi.
He claimed, “We plan to forge partnerships with reputed universities worldwide”.

The foundation has initiated its process in pursuit of land for the university. The university is speculated to follows the footsteps of American universities, such as The University of Pennsylvania, and will tie up with foreign universities.

Initially, the university will offer undergraduate courses and will later proceed with postgraduate and doctoral courses. The reason cited for the investment by the Mukesh Ambani is a whooping $80-billion opportunity expected by 2012.

Source: http://www.topnews.in/reliance-group-enter-education-sector-2251492

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The Andhra Pradesh Police on Monday arrested the former president of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) for allegedly masterminding the January 7 attacks on the property of Reliance Industries.
Vamsichand Reddy, a staunch follower of Kadapa MP Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, was arrested and produced in the Nampally criminal court on Monday. He was remanded in judicial custody for two weeks.
The Andhra Pradesh police are understood to have gained conclusive evidence that Vamsichand, former Andhra Pradesh unit president of the Congress’s NSUI, had masterminded the attacks on the property owned by Anil Dhirubai Ambani Group in Hyderabad last Thursday night.
Initially, the police had registered cases against Vamsichand under bailable Sections 143 ( being member of an unlawful assembly), 147 ( rioting), 427 ( mischief and thereby causing damage to an amount more than Rs 50) and 506 ( criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code ( IPC).
But later, they filed the case under several non- bailable sections including 120- B (criminal conspiracy) and 7 (1) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act.
Sources said the police had gained” credible evidence” that hundreds of messages had been sent from Vamsichand’s mobile phone to activists of the NSUI and the Jagan Yuva Sena on January 7.
In his messages, Vamsichand had alleged that the Ambanis had a hand in the September 2 helicopter crash which had killed former chief minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy along with four others.
He gave a call to the activists to attack property owned by the Ambanis to” avenge” YSR’s death.
Interestingly, the police have found that the text messages were sent a couple of hours before a report on the alleged conspiracy by the Ambanis in YSR’s chopper crash was aired by a Telugu news channel.
The report was based on a” fabricated and malicious” story posted on a Russian website www.exiledonline.com.
The vandalism on Reliance property started soon after the channel aired the report.
State Congress president D. Srinivas issued a show- cause notice to Vamsichand for allegedly sending the provocative SMSes.
Gandhi Bhavan sources said Vamsichand is a close associate of Jaganmohan Reddy. ” He was in the forefront during the campaign to make Jaganmohan the chief minister after YSR’s death. He was always seen in the company of the Kadapa MP, whenever the latter came to Hyderabad,” a source said.
The police also arrested Jagan Yuva Sena president Satya Reddy and his associate Andhra Srinu for attacking the Heritage outlet at Jubilee Hills and some other commercial establishments on January 7.
They were also remanded to judicial custody.

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has been awarded the inaugural Dean’s Medal by the University of Pennyslvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.

“The recognition was for his visionary leadership in the application of engineering and technology for the betterment of mankind,” Reliance Industries said in a statement today.

The award was given today to Ambani by Eduardo Glandt,Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science,University of Pennsylvania, in Mumbai.

“I will treasure this medal. It is much more than the recognition of the modest contribution as a chemical engineer from India.

“It recognises the collective achievement of the Reliance family and the creativity of over 25,000 engineers in Reliance,” Ambani said.

Commenting on the inaugural medal, Glandt said that Ambani “embodies what the engineering profession can contribute to a country, as someone who seeks to apply technology for the betterment of society”.

The University of Pennsylvania is one of the leading universities in the US.
Source: PTI

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