The Hindu Business Line : USTDA extends two grants to support petroleum sector

New Delhi, Oct. 1 The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has extended two grants totalling $946,221 to support activities in India’s oil and gas sector to further “the agency’s commitment to the objectives of the US-India Energy Dialogue”.

According to an official statement issued by USTDA, the first grant is to the Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board (P&NGRB) of India. The second grant is to public sector oil refining-cum-marketing company Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) to fund investment analysis on a refinery upgradation project of HPCL’s Mumbai refinery.

According to the statement, the $348,339-grant awarded to P&NGRB will support funding of a series of technical workshops in India and the US, site visits to US Federal and State regulatory authorities and private industry, and internships for P&NGRB personnel at a US public utility commission.

In particular, the grant will assist the P&NGRB in developing midstream and downstream regulations in the areas of pricing, utility accounting and monitoring, safety, and licensing of infrastructure development for the oil and gas sector.

The P&NGRB has selected the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, a non-profit organisation based in Washington D.C., as the contractor to undertake the USTDA-funded technical assistance.

The second grant of $597,882 to HPCL will fund investment analysis of a new refinery process unit at HPCL’s Mumbai refinery to convert heavy end residual products derived in the refining process to lighter end and higher value products.

The grant will determine the viability of applying a proprietary technology from Kellog Brown and Root LLC (KBR) of Houston, Texas, called Residuum Oil Supercritical Extraction, to achieve HPCL’s objectives.

HPCL has selected KBR to undertake the study. In addition to the USTDA grant, both KBR and HPCL will contribute additional resources towards the study completion.

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