ADNOC LNG secures extension of gas supply contract to 2040
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said on Wednesday it has agreed, in principle, to extend gas supplies to ADNOC LNG to 2040. The new gas supply agreement is scheduled to take effect from April 1, 2019, replacing an existing agreement, due to expire on March 31, 2019, ADNOC said in a statement. ADNOC also said that it had signed seven term agreements for the sale of over 4.2 million tonnes per year of LNG as it diversifies its LNG customer portfolio.
India to hike tariff for local pipelines by 25-30 per cent: Industry source
India is planning a 25 per cent to 30 per cent hike in tariffs for local gas pipelines by end-December, an industry source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday. India’s gas transportation regulator Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) recently raised the tariff by the same range on seven local piplines. The new hike would apply to all remaining pipelines. “Normally tariffs are revised in 5 years, but this revision is pending for quite some time,” the source said. PNGRB’s chairman D K Sarraf said at a conference earlier on Wednesday that the board will hike the tariff for all pipelines by end-December but did not detail the size of the hike. The tariff is the amount pipeline owners can charge to transport gas. The move will benefit the country’s biggest natural gas transporter Gail (India) Ltd, western India-based state-owned gas transportation company Gujarat State Petroleum Corp and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd.
Maharashtra: MNGL seeks vacant spaces for setting up CNG refilling stations
The Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited (MNGL), which supplies compressed natural gas (CNG) to urban and rural areas in Pune, has approached the municipal corporations in Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, Savitribai Phule Pune University and also the cantonment boards (of Pune and Khadki) to provide vacant spaces to set up refilling stations. The gas supplier plans to set up about 10 more stations in the next five months. Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad require about 75 refilling stations to cater to the daily demand of CNG-run vehicles. Currently, 55 gas stations are in operation. MNGL has said that it was exploring all options to get the plots of land to set up refilling facilities. Besides government plots, MNGL has also appealed to private land owners to provide space. About 30 land owners have so far shown willingness to give plots to set up refilling pumps. MNGL officials said that they have received decent response from private landowners. “We are scrutinizing the proposals received from landowners. This process of scrutiny is important because we will have to match our demand with the proposals,” they said. MNGL said that it has initiated talks with PMC and PCMC for setting up refilling units in eight locations. The locations are identified considering the local demand, penetration of vehicles and estimated vehicle population. Proposals have been received from areas like Bavdhan, Baner and Kothurd.
Tapi gas pipeline to move forward after decades of delays
The TAPI pipeline project to supply Turkmenistan’s gas to India and Pakistan via Afghanistan is moving closer to securing funding and a final investment decision could be made next year, its chief executive said on Tuesday. The development, a key step forward for the project after decades of delays, could see the new pipeline link the energy-rich central Asian nation to some of the strongest growth markets in the region. Muhammetmyrat Amanov, chief executive of the TAPI Pipeline company, told an industry conference in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi that the cost of the pipeline had been reduced to $7 billion from an initial estimate of $10 billion, and that its first stage could cost only $5 billion. “We are planning to make a final investment decision (FID) in the first half of next year and then, stage by stage, finalise construction in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India,” he said. The first gas could be delivered to Afghanistan within around a year from the FID, and to Pakistan within two years, he said. The project has been supported by import/export credit agencies in Germany and Italy, he said, which will fund exports of equipment for the project from those countries. Other potential financiers for the deal include the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank, he added.