Recently in India Category

India is preparing to bite the bullet on domestic oil pricing reforms after a year that saw its fuel subsidy bill rocket to more than $20 billion. The government needs to get its act together quickly, because the window of opportunity might be small.

Benchmark crude prices, which spiked from a low of $30s/barrel in February to more than $73/b at the end of June, have since slipped back to around $60/b, but could start spiraling up again at the first signs of a global economic recovery.

Careful now, that other Asian giant -- India has begun to stir languorously from its slumber. And when it is fully awakened, the world will be faced with another mammoth energy guzzler, hot on the heels of the US and China.

What nightmares could Mukesh Ambani possibly suffer? The elder brother in India's most famous industrialist family, and the de facto leader of a generation of Indian businessmen and women that will by any measure be seen by historians as a Golden Generation, you might think strolling a mile in Ambani's shoes would be a mighty pleasurable experience.

Will refiners ever escape the curse of swinging between capacity shortfall and overcapacity? Flash back to 2004 -- a shortfall of refining capacity globally stemming from years of little or no investment in new projects was fingered as one of the main culprits behind the global oil price rally.

In Asia, India was quick to seize the opportunity, setting itself on course to become an "export hub" of refined products. Fast forward to 2012, and the country will be sitting on an estimated 2.8 million b/d of surplus refining capacity, almost equivalent to adding another India in refining, but one exporting everything it produces.