Fear Of Attacks By Neighbouring Countries

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

The Levant basin of the Eastern Mediterranean contains huge quantities of natural gas and, potentially, crude oil. Israel's natural gas reserves have been estimated at $240 billion. Israel aim is to export future production but others argue that it would be preferable to use the gas within the country in place of other energy sources. In 2012 the Israel had announced plans to set up a sovereign wealth fund which would allocate part of its royalties from energy exploration to overseas investments education and defence.

Fear of Attacks by Neighbouring Countries

Though Israeli have made some very large oil and gas discoveries in the off-shore Mediterranean Sea, but the major western oil companies like Royal Dutch Shell are not interested in investing in this new frontier perhaps because of fear of attack by neighbouring countries.

http://royaldutchshellplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Screen-Shot-2012-07-04-at-00.04.11.jpg

Source:http://royaldutchshellplc.com/2012/07/04/israeli-gas-discoveries-and-shale-gas-potential/

Royal Dutch Shell will not go even near Israel because of the company’s history of anti-Semitism during its association with Hitler and the Nazis. Israel has a huge potential in its oil shale resources, approximately as much as the US and China, may be as much as Saudi Arabia. In the next 20 years Israel could become a serious exporter of oil and gas. New drilling technologies are aiming to open up vast new reserves of oil and gas worldwide and that could be the end of OPEC’s pricing power in the international oil and gas markets which would curtail OPEC’s power to set world prices and could end their 40 year reign. That in turn would create political turmoil within the OPEC producers as they have started to feel the financial pressure.

Even though Levant Basin Province is one of the world's richest natural gas reserves, it is located between countries with infinite mutual hatred. It touches the sea borders of Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Israel is almost in a state of war with Lebanon. Lebanon has recently made claims on Israel’s largest off-shore gas discovery and are threatening armed conflict if the Israelis attempt to develop what they claim are Lebanese resources. It is interesting to note that just recently Egypt has decided to stop selling its natural gas to Israel. This is a result of Egypt’s political unrest. Israel was importing 40% of its energy needs from Egypt. To top it all Turkey is opposed to development of gas findings in the waters off-shore of Cyprus. Cyprus is acting as the natural mediator in this dispute.

INDIA

The development of petroleum industry in the country was considered to be of utmost necessity while framing the Industrial Policy Statement of 1948. Oil and Natural Gas Commission was formulated in 1956. In July 1991 the liberalized economic policy, adopted by the Government of India, sought to deregulate and de-license the core sectors (including petroleum sector) with partial disinvestments of government equity in Public Sector Undertakings and other measures. The Indian oil and gas sector is one of the six major industries in India.

In light of India's targeted GDP growth, India's fuel needs are likely to expand at a substantial rate. Further India's per-capita consumption of energy and electricity is well below that of industrialized nations and the word average which means that there is a scope for rapid expansion. In addition India already imports over 70 % of its crude oil requirements.

Policies and Regulations

Over the years a number of policies have been implemented by the Government to regulate and develop the oil and gas industry. The Petroleum Act was enacted in 1934 to control issues relating to import, production, refining and blending, storage and transportation of petroleum. Further, the Oil Fields (Regulation and Development) Act, 1948 and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules, 1959 have provided regulatory framework for the domestic exploration and production of oil and gas.

Hydrocarbons Vision 2025

The Hydrocarbons Vision 2025 is the framework which will guide the policies relating to the hydrocarbons sector for the next 25 years. It addresses issues such as E&P, refining, marketing, oil security, external policy, restructuring and disinvestment, tariff and pricing to ensure that an optimal mix of energy resources is made available to the consumer at the right price.

Twelfth five year plan

Availability and access to energy act as catalysts for economic growth. The envisaged growth of the economy at 8% in the Twelfth Plan cannot be achieved without an equivalent increase in the availability of energy. The current level of production barely caters to 26% of the petroleum products demand and the balance oil requirements are met by importing the crude.

NELP (New Exploration Licensing Policy)

The main features of NELP include discovery or production bonus by the bidder; no customs duty on imports required to be payable for petroleum operations, no signature, biddable cost recovery limit up to 100 per cent, royalty to be payable by the contractor on ad valorem basis, income tax holiday for seven years from the start of commercial production, freedom to the contractor for marketing of oil and gas in the domestic market, fiscal stability provision in the contract and incentive for deep water exploration with only half of the royalty payable in the initial seven years from the beginning of commercial production. 8 rounds of NELP have been completed till now and the Ninth Round just started in 2010. As on January 1, 2010, private and foreign investment in NELP blocks stood at around $14.8 billion. NELP has resulted in 2 major discoveries of production of oil and gas Reliance Industries' (RIL) KG-D6 basin and crude oil production in Barmer (Rajasthan) by Cairn India.

FDI in Oil and Gas Sector

The oil and gas sector is fully open to FDI with 100 per cent equity through automatic route, subject to sectoral regulation that is equally applicable to domestic and foreign players. In refining, FDI is allowed up to 49% in case of PSUs, without involving any divestment or dilution of domestic equity in existing public sector undertakings and up to 100% in case of Private Sector. Since Government of India's liberalisation policy, domestic as well as foreign companies have invested Rs.99714 Million during 2004-05 to 2009-10 in oil & gas sector.

Policy for Changes in Price of Petroleum Products

The Government is trying to establish a viable system of pricing of petroleum products. In 2010 the Government decided that the pricing of petrol and diesel, both of them at the refinery gate and the retail level, will be determined by the market. However it is also decided that in case of high rise and volatility in international oil prices, Govt. will suitably intervene in the pricing activity of petrol and diesel. The Government is committed to provide available essential fuels, particularly cooking fuels to the common man at affordable prices.

Regulatory Bodies

1. Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006 was enacted in April, 2006. Consequently, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) had been set up by the Govt. to regulate the refining, , storage, , distribution, processing marketing and transportation sale of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas, excluding production of crude oil and natural gas to protect the interest of consumers and entities engaged in specific activities relating to petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas and to ensure uninterrupted and adequate supply of these products in all parts of the country and to promote competitive markets and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

2. Directorate General of Hydrocarbon

The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) was established under the administrative control of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas by a GoI Resolution in 1993 to provide technical advice to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, to reassess the hydrocarbon reserves discovered and estimated by the operating companies in discussion with them; to review the exploration programmes of companies, to advise the Government on the offering of acreages for exploration to companies as well as matters relating to relinquishment of acreages by companies etc.

Unfriendly policies

The industry wants the government to remove the national calamity contingent duty (NCCD) on crude oil levied at Rs 50 per tonne, which was imposed on domestic and imported crude oil in the Union Budget 2003-04, waive customs duty on import of materials such as valves, flanges, pipes, data communication system used by oil companies.

Complete Deregulation of Fuel Prices

The Government recently announced a partial de-regulation of diesel prices. However, complete deregulation of fuel prices as well as allowing market forces to set the benchmarks in line with global oil prices is needed in the current scenario. India continues to remain an energy deficit country with her import accounting for 76-77% of total domestic crude oil demand. Reliance KG-D6 has been consistently declining resulting in import of LNG. Given the increasing domestic demand for gas, it is important to develop unconventional nature gas resources like shale gas, CBM as well as a strong natural gas infrastructure.

Private oil marketing companies of India have invested heavily in setting up their retail outlets, but these assets are underutilised due to lack of level playing field. The private sector operates around 2,000 outlets, mostly on the highways and rural India, providing employment to about 15,000-20,000 people.

ECONOMIC FACTORS

Economic factors have a significant impact on how an organisation does business and also how profitable they are. These factors include economy situations and trends, interest rates, exchange rates, inflation, unemployment, market and trade cycles, disposable income of consumers and businesses and so on. These factors can further be classified into macro-economical factors and micro-economical factors.

ISRAEL

Israel has an economy which is technologically advanced market. Israel usually posts sizable trade deficits, which are covered by tourism and other service exports, as well as significant foreign investment inflows. The global financial crisis of 2008-09 brought a brief recession in Israel, but the country had entered the crisis with solid fundamentals due to years of prudent fiscal policy and resilient banking sector. In 2010, Israel formally acceded to the OECD. Natural gas fields discovered off Israel's coast during the past two years have brightened Israel's energy security outlook. Leviathan field was one of the world's largest offshore natural gas finds in the past decade. In 2011, public protests for income inequality and rising housing, commodity prices etc. were carried out. The government formed committees to look into some of the grievances but still has said that it won’t engage in deficit spending to satisfy populist demands.

DATA ON GDP AND ECONOMIC INFORMATION (ISRAEL)

Particulars

2011 (Actual)

2012 (Estimated)

Central Bank

Bank of Israel

 

International Reserves

US$ 76.813 billion

 

Gross Domestic Product – GDP

US$ 245.955 billion

 

GDP (Puchasing Power Parity)

244.586 billion of International dollars

 

Real GDP growth

4.70%

2.70%

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 2.5% 

 

 

industry: 31.2% 

 

 

services: 64.7%

 

Inflation

3.50%

2%

Unemployment rate

5.60%

6%

Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)

74.30%

74%

Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP)

-4%

-3.70%

Government bond ratings

Standard & Poor's: A+

 

 

Moody's rating: A1

 

 

Moody's outlook: STA

 

Market value of publicly traded shares

US$145 billion

 

Largest companies in Israel

Teva Pharmaceutical Inds (Pharmaceuticals), Bank Leumi (Major Banks), Bank Hapoalim (Major Banks), Israel Corp (Investment Services), Delek Group (Oil Services & Equipment), Check Point Software (Computer Services)

 

DATA ON TRADE AND COMPETITIVENESS (ISRAEL)

Particulars

2010 (unless otherwise mentioned)

Industrial production growth rate

2% (2011)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$74.87 billion (31 December 2011)

Exchange rate

ILS 3.532 (2011)

Current account balance

US$ -2.2 billion

Current account balance by percentage of GDP

-0.9% of GDP

Exports as percent of GDP

37%

Total exports

US$54.31 billion f.o.b.

Export commodities

machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel

Total imports

US$62.52 billion f.o.b. (2008 estimate)

Import commodities

raw materials, military equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds, fuels, grain, consumer goods

Exports - major partners

US 28.8%, Hong Kong 7.9%, Belgium 5.6%, UK 5%, India 4.5%, China 4% (2011)

Imports - major partners

US 11.8%, China 7.4%, Germany 6.2%, Belgium 6.1%, Switzerland 5.4%, Italy 4.2% (2011)

FDI inflows

US$5,152 million

FDI outflows

US$7,960 million

Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser

US$835 million (2011)

Best countries for doing business World Bank/IFC Doing Business Project (Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business, from 1 – 183. A high ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.)

Overall ranking: 29 out of 183 countries

Subcategories:

Starting a business: 36 out of 183 countries

Registering property: 147 out of 183 countries

Paying Taxes: 82 out of 183 countries

Getting credit: 6 out of 183 countries

Protecting investors: 5 out of 183 countries

Trading across border: 10 out of 183 countries

Enforcing Contracts: 96 out of 183 countries

Global competitiveness ranking (ranking by country on a basis of 142, the first is the best)

22 (2011/2012)

Index of Economic Freedom WSJ and Heritage Foundation

Ranking: 48 Score: 67.8 (Moderately Free) (2009) (100=totally free 0=totally repressed )

The Swiss-based Institute for Management Development (IMD) ranked the Bank of Israel in the top five among central banks for its efficient working in its 2012 World Competitiveness Yearbook for the third consecutive year. The report also ranked Israeli economy 9th highest for its durability in the midst of the global financial crisis.

Strong Fundamentals of Israel Confront the Global Economic Slowdown

The recent global economic crisis put Israel’s resilient economy to test. This was proved in 2012 when Standard & Poor's Rating Services maintained Israel's credit rating at A+, while Moody's Credit Rating Agency also left Israel's A1-Stable rating as it is and Fitch Ratings also kept Israel's A Stable rating. Israel’s policy of removing barriers to trading activities and to open capital movements has contributed immensely to Israel's economic growth and its increased economic efficiency.

Measures to Boost the Economy

To help boost the economy, Israel implemented special initiatives like creation of a pension scheme, a monetary scheme to help increase liquidity, protect private savings, create new jobs and promote consistent growth in Israel. To help the economy deal with the effects of the global crisis, the Bank of Israel lowered the key lending rate to a record low of 0.50%; from late 2008 to early 2009 the central bank slashed lending rates by a cumulative 3.75%. The rate cuts, which were meant to support the economy by lowering the cost of credit and thereby contribute to financial stability and partially offset the downward pressure on prices, were in line with the policies of central banks globally. As Israel’s market is hugely dependent on revenues from exports, the expansionary monetary policy also served to curtail the shekel's strength in relation to many of the globally weaker currencies so as to assist the competitiveness of Israel’s products internationally. By end of 2011 its foreign reserves had been increased to $75 billion and it hit an all-time record of $78.078 billion in August 2011.

In 2010 it was ranked as one of the world's five fastest growing emerging markets and was upgraded to a developed market from an emerging market in the MSCI Index.

It was ranked Israel 19th out of 59 of the world's most economically developed nations in its 2012 World Competitiveness Yearbook. The effectiveness of Israel's fiscal and monetary policy is further reflected in its economic performance. Gross Public Debt as a percentage of GDP contracted from 102% in 2003 to 75% in 2011, while unemployment declined to a record low and stood at 5.6% in December 2011 while maintaining price stability. A recent reputed report ranked Tel Aviv as second only to Silicon Valley in California, the only non-US city in the top five. Despite the pressures from the global financial crisis, Israel’s economy continued to grow in 2012. GDP grew by 3.4% in the second quarter of 2012. The Israeli economy grew 4% annually on average from 2002 to 2012 and in purchasing-power-parity (PPP) terms, Israel's GDP per capita averaged close to $30,000 in recent years. Growth of the Israel’s economy is largely run by a steady increase in exports and foreign investment. International investors continue to show their recognition of Israel's economic potential by increasing their investments in the country. Foreign direct investment (FDI) reached a high of $11 billion in 2011.

Investors Keep Coming

In recent years, Israel has acted like a magnet for foreign investors. Many big well known companies have taken advantage of Israel's uniquely skilled, and highly educated workforce by setting R&D centres, subsidiaries, and production lines. These include top international companies like Microsoft, Motorola, Intel, Google, Applied Materials, Deutsche Telekom, HP, Apple, Samsung etc. over the years many MNCs have been acquiring Israeli companies from various sectors for several years. For example Facebook's acquisition of Face.com for $60 million, Akamai's acquisition of Cotendo for $268 million, EMC's acquisition of XtremIO for $450 million, DG FastChannel's purchase of (DGIT) MediaMind Technologies for $517 million, Broadcom's acquisition of Provigent for $313 million CSR's acquisition of Zoran for $679 million and Intel's purchase of Telmap Ltd for $300 million.

POWER & ENERGY SECTOR - Production-Consumption & Export-Import

Particulars

Figures (Year)

OIL

 

Production

4,029 bbl/day (2010)

Consumption

238,000 bbl/day (2010)

Export

86,010 bbl/day (2009)

Import

282,200 bbl/day (2009)

Proved Reserves

1.94 million bbl (1 January 2011)

NATUARAL GAS

 

Production

1.55 billion cu m (2009)

Consumption

3.25 billion cu m (2009)

Export

0 cu m (2009)

Import

1.7 billion cu m (2009)

Proved Reserves

198.2 billion cu m (1 January 2011)

ELECTRICITY

 

Production

53.04 billion kWh (2008)

Consumption

47.16 billion kWh (2008)

Export

3.666 billion kWh (2008)

Import

NA kWh (2008)

Offshore Israel remains in the early stages of exploration.

Israel offers producers a complex security as well as regulatory environment.

Offshore natural gas of Israel is one of the most important resources which must be exploited with great care. Levant Basin poses challenging geology in deep water.

Israel’s natural gas export policy must provide a supply buffer that accounts for the country’s demanding energy security requirements.

Upstream companies are not likely to invest in further exploration unless and until they see how the gas that they "may" discover will be commercialised. The country still faces some key challenges in development of a long term, sustainable natural gas industry, namely:

How can Israel ensure long-term security of supply?

How can Israel realise the country’s full resource potential?

How can Israel develop a sustainable export industry?

How can Israel maximise its income and wealth generation for the country?

INDIA

India’s oil and gas sector often regarded as the country’s growth engine, has grown by leaps and bounds over the past one decade, but the quest to reach the top of global league remains a major challenge because of rising under-recoveries and lack of policy impetus. The sector is a large revenue earner for the Central and State governments. In 2011-12, it contributed Rs 2,32,769 crore by way of various taxes, which as a percentage of total indirect taxes is 20.6 per cent (as per Indian Public Finance Statistics 2011-12, Ministry of Finance data).

DATA ON GDP AND ECONOMIC INFORMATION (INDIA)

Particulars

2011 (Actual)

2012 (Estimated)

Central Bank

Reserve Bank of India

 

International Reserves

US$ 311.482 billion

 

Gross Domestic Product - GDP

US$ 1.779 trillion

 

GDP (Puchasing Power Parity)

4.825 trillion of International dollars

 

Real GDP growth

7.20%

6.90%

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 18.1%

 

 

industry: 26.3% 

 

 

services: 55.6%

 

Inflation

8.60%

8.20%

Unemployment rate

N/A

N/A

Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)

68.10%

67.60%

Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP)

-8.70%

-8.30%

Government bond ratings

Standard & Poor's: BBB-

 

 

Moody's rating: Baa3

 

 

Moody's outlook: STA

 

Market value of publicly traded shares

US$1.015 trillion

 

Largest companies in Israel

Reliance Industries (Oil & Gas Operations), State Bank of India Group (Regional Banks), Oil & Natural Gas (Oil & Gas Operations), Indian Oil (Oil & Gas Operations), Icici Bank (Regional Banks), NTPC (Electric Utilities), Coal India (Diversified Metals & Mining), Bharti Airtel (Telecommunications services), Larsen & Toubro (Construction Services)

 

DATA ON TRADE AND COMPETITIVENESS (INDIA)

Particulars

2010 (unless otherwise mentioned)

Industrial production growth rate

4.8% (2011)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$297.9 billion (31 December 2011)

Exchange rate

Rs. 44.64 (2011)

Current account balance

US$ -57.5 billion

Current account balance by percentage of GDP

-3.2% of GDP

Exports as percent of GDP

21.5%

Total exports

US$201 billion f.o.b

Export commodities

petroleum products, textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures

Total imports

US$287.5 billion f.o.b. (2008 estimate)

Import commodities

crude oil, precious stones, machinery, fertilizer, iron and steel, chemicals

Exports - major partners

UAE 13%, US 11.4%, China 6.3%, Singapore 5.3% (2011)

Imports - major partners

China 12.1%, UAE 8.3%, Saudi Arabia 5.8%, US 5.1%, Switzerland 4.7% (2011)

FDI inflows

US$24,640 million

FDI outflows

US$14,626 million

Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser

US$74 million (2011)

Best countries for doing business World Bank/IFC Doing Business Project (Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business, from 1 – 183. A high ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.)

Overall ranking: 134 out of 183 countries

Subcategories:

Starting a business: 165 out of 183 countries

Registering property: 94 out of 183 countries

Paying Taxes: 164 out of 183 countries

Getting credit: 32 out of 183 countries

Protecting investors: 44 out of 183 countries

Trading across border: 100 out of 183 countries

Enforcing Contracts: 182 out of 183 countries

Overall ranking: 134 out of 183 countries (2010)

Subcategories:

Starting a business: 165 out of 183 countries

Registering property: 94 out of 183 countries

Paying Taxes: 164 out of 183 countries

Getting credit: 32 out of 183 countries

Protecting investors: 44 out of 183 countries

Trading across border: 100 out of 183 countries

Enforcing Contracts: 182 out of 183 countries

Global competitiveness ranking (ranking by country on a basis of 142, the first is the best)

56 (2011/2012)

Index of Economic Freedom WSJ and Heritage Foundation

Ranking: 123 Score: 54.6 (Mostly Unfree) (2009) (100=totally free 0=totally repressed )

POWER & ENERGY SECTOR - Production-Consumption & Export-Import (INDIA)

Particulars

Figures (Year)

OIL

 

Production

954,000 bbl/day (2010)

Consumption

3.182 million bbl/day (2010)

Export

825,600 bbl/day (2009)

Import

3.06 million bbl/day (2009)

Proved Reserves

5.682 billion bbl (1 January 2011)

NATUARAL GAS

 

Production

52.8 billion cu m (2010)

Consumption

64.95 billion cu m (2010)

Export

0 cu m (2010)

Import

12.15 billion cu m (2010)

Proved Reserves

1.074 trillion cu m (1 January 2011)

ELECTRICITY

 

Production

835.3 billion kWh (2009)

Consumption

600.6 billion kWh (2008)

Export

810 million kWh (2009)

Import

5.27 billion kWh (2009)

The Ministry of Power plans to establish an integrated National Power Grid in the country by 2012 with close to 200,000 MW generation capacities and 37,700 MW of inter-regional power transfer capacity.

In 2009, India was the fourth largest producer of electricity and oil products as well as the fourth largest importer of coal and crude-oil in the world. Coal and oil together account for 66% of the energy consumption of India. India's oil reserves meet 25% of the country's domestic oil demand. As of 2009, India's total proven oil reserves stood at 775 million metric tonnes while gas reserves stood at 1074 billion cubic metres. Oil and natural gas fields are located offshore at Mumbai High, Krishna Godavari Basin and the Cauvery Delta, and onshore mainly in the states of Assam, Gujarat and Rajasthan. India is the fourth largest consumer of oil in the world and in the first 3 quarters of 2010, it imported $82.1 billion worth of which had an adverse effect on its current account deficit. The petroleum industry in India mostly consists of public sector companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) etc. and some major private Indian companies in the oil sector such as Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) which operates the world's largest oil refining complex.

In December 2011, India had calculated an installed power generation capacity of 185.5 Giga Watts(GW), of which contribution of thermal power 65.87%, hydroelectricity 20.75%, other sources of renewable energy 10.80%, and nuclear power 2.56%. India meets most of its domestic energy demand through its 106 billion tonnes of coal reserves. India is rich in certain sources of energy with significant future potential such as solar, wind and biofuels. India's huge thorium reserves – about 25% of world's reserves – are expected to fuel the country's ambitious nuclear energy program in the long-run. India's dwindling uranium reserves stagnated the growth of nuclear energy in the country for many years. However, the Indo-US nuclear deal has paved the way for India to import uranium from other countries.

Mixed Impact Of Budget 2013 On Oil & Gas Sector

India's oil and gas industry contributes over 15% to the Gross Domestic Product. Considering the investment risk and lengthy gestation period in this sector, industry was looking forward reforms and various fiscal incentives. The Finance Minister has tried to take steps to address the concerns of the oil and gas sector which has been pending for some time viz. natural gas pricing and exploration policy.

The Finance Minister has placed a proposal to review of oil and gas exploration policy for movement from profit-sharing to revenue-sharing contracts. Current Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) provide for explorers to first recover all of their capital and operating expenditure from oil and gas revenues before sharing profits with the government under a specific formula. However, there were disputes between the Government and the exploration license holders regarding the cost recovery. On the other side, the exploration license holders may not be able to recover expense outlays and investments before sharing the revenue with the Government. However, the impact of the same would depend on the methodology for sharing revenue to be introduced under this scheme.

exemption from excise duty has been provided to sulphur recovered as a by-product in refining of crude oil and which is used in manufacture of bentonite sulphur. Further, excise duty and additional customs duty (commonly known as CVD) has been exempted on manufacture and import of dredgers. One-time amnesty by way of waiver of interest and penalty and immunity from prosecution to tax payers who have been non compliant towards filing of returns and payment of service tax dues has been introduced and will be effective on enactment of Finance Bill. As an important amendment, the advance ruling provisions have been extended to cover resident public limited companies.

From the point of view of Income Tax Act, 1961 in addition to normal depreciation, the manufactures will be able to avail additional investment allowance of 15% on purchase of new assets exceeding INR 100cr.

SOCIAL FACTORS

These are the areas that involve the shared belief and attitudes of the population. These factors include – population demographics and growth, age distribution, health consciousness, education and career attitudes, distribution of wealth, change in trends and lifestyle and so on. These factors are of interest as they have a direct effect on how marketers understand customers and what drives them.

ISRAEL

COUNTRY AND POPULATION OVERVIEW (ISRAEL)

Particulars

Information (Year)

Time zone

UTC+2

Total area

22,072 km2 (2006)

Capital

Jerusalem (2009)

Currency

New Israeli Shekels (ILS) (2009)

Government type

parliamentary democracy (2009)

Languages

Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly used foreign language

Religions

Jewish 76.4%, Muslim 16%, Arab Christians 1.7%, other Christian 0.4%, Druze 1.6%, unspecified 3.9% (2004)

Total population

2000

2012*

2017**

 

6.08 million

7.7 million

8.58 million

 

*Estimate    **Forecast

Urban population as % of total population

2000

2011

 

91.40%

91.90%

Population median age

30 years (2010)

Population growth rate

1.8% (2011)

Life expectancy

81 years (2007)

Adult literacy

N/A

% of population living on less than $2 a day

N/A

Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)

39.2 (2001) (0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)

Freedom House rating

Political Rights:1 Civil Liberties:2 (2011) (1 represents the most free, 7 the least free)

Total telephone subscribers as % of population

167.94% (2011) (sum of fixed telephone lines and mobile cellular subscribers)

Internet users as % of total population

70% (Data were released in 2012 and refer to 2011)

Cost of living - Mercer index (ranking by city on a basis of 214; the 1st is the most expensive and the 214th is the least expensive)

N/A

CO2 emissions (Metric tons of CO2 per capita)

9.2572 (Data were released in 2012 and refer to 2009)

Fiscal Year

Calendar Year (i.e. 1st January - 31st December)

Israel has to be careful not to think that with natural gas there is no more need to continue in the same direction as of the past: to focus on research and development. Though it will take years before the government will reap meaningful gas revenues, it has already set up a sovereign wealth fund to manage part of the new wealth. For a state that has spent so many decades in the past as an economic backwater, and that continues to rely on financial support from the US, this new largesse will take some getting used to. The same pleasing challenge faces Tadmor and the handful of other businessmen who believed in Israel’s gas potential long before the first drills broke through to fields such as Leviathan.

INDIA

Exploration for hydrocarbons in N-E India goes back to 1939 when Burma oil company and its subsidiaries carried out photo-geological mapping with ground check and their exploratory efforts were continued up to 1957. Presently, two national oil companies namely, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) and Oil India Limited (OIL) are the major operators carrying out oil and gas exploration and production activities in this region. The Assam shelf, Assam Arakan Basin and other geologic domains in North-East (N-E) India have been blessed with bountiful opportunities coupled with exploration and production challenges.

COUNTRY AND POPULATION OVERVIEW (INDIA)

Particulars

Information (Year)

Time zone

UTC+5.5

Total area

3,287,263 km2 (2006)

Capital

New Delhi (2009)

Currency

Indian rupees (INR) (2009)

Government type

federal republic (2009)

Languages

Hindi 41%, Bengali 8.1%, Telugu 7.2%, Marathi 7%, Tamil 5.9%, Urdu 5%, Gujarati 4.5%, Kannada 3.7%, Malayalam 3.2%, Oriya 3.2%, Punjabi 2.8%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.2%, other 5.9%

Religions

Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)

Total population

2000

2012*

2017**

 

1.043 billion

1.223 billion

1.305 billion

 

*Estimate    **Forecast

Urban population as % of total population

2000

2011

 

27.70%

31.30%

Population median age

25 years (2010)

Population growth rate

1.4% (2011)

Life expectancy

64 years (2007)

Adult literacy

66%

% of population living on less than $2 a day

75.62%

Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)

36.8 (2001) (0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)

Freedom House rating

Political Rights:2 Civil Liberties:3 (2011) (1 represents the most free, 7 the least free)

Total telephone subscribers as % of population

74.63% (2011) (sum of fixed telephone lines and mobile cellular subscribers)

Internet users as % of total population

10.07% (Data were released in 2012 and refer to 2011)

Cost of living - Mercer index (ranking by city on a basis of 214; the 1st is the most expensive and the 214th is the least expensive)

New Delhi: 85th (2011)

CO2 emissions (Metric tons of CO2 per capita)

1.6389 (Data were released in 2012 and refer to 2009)

Fiscal Year

1st April - 31st March

Like other heavy industries, oil and gas exploration and production operations can pose a significant risk to health. But unlike most heavy industries which are static in terms of their location and work force, the potential for risk to health increases in exploration and production activities as they are usually carried out in hostile as well as remote environments. Unbalance between individual and environment significantly disturbs the physical equilibrium and causes anxiety and frustration which often results in slip of behaviour, errors, safety related incidents or accidents etc.

Therefore, it is extremely important to look into the prevalent issues of health, safety and environment in oil and gas sector from socio-occupational point of view. Inducement of society, recognizing social elements with respect to safety, occupational health and environment protection would give a complete structure of HSE management.

The most common social risks involved in this sector are

Landlessness

Joblessness

Homelessness

Food insecurity

Poor health level

Loss of assets