20 districts of Rajasthan to get gas through pipes
Piped gas is no longer a dream for Rajasthan. A total of 20 districts of the state were granted authorization for the development of city gas distribution (CGD) system to various entities. According to officials the union ministry of petroleum and natural gas had auctioned off in two rounds (13 districts in 9th CGD round and 7 districts in 10th round) and was able to find distributors for 20 districts in the state. The districts that found distributors are Barmer, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur districts (a consortium of AG&P, LNG Marketing Pvt Ltd & Atlantic Gulf & Pacific); Alwar (other than Bhiwadi), Jaipur, Kota (except area already authorized), Baran and Chittorgarh (only Rawatbhata block) by Torrent Gas Pvt Ltd; Bhilwara, Bundi and Chittorgarh (other than Rawatbhata) and Udaipur districts by Adani Gas Limited; Dholpur district by Essel Gas Company Limited; Banswara-Dungarpur, Jalore and Sirohi districts by Gujarat Gas Limited, Ajmer, Pali and Rajsamand Districts by IGL. Till Oct 2018, Kota was the only city in the state authorised for retail gas activities (CNG & PNG) which was developed as a model city by introducing various innovative measures by Rajasthan government’s agency, Rajasthan State Gas Limited (RSGL). In spite of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB)’s authorization of various districts, the activities of CGD industry haven’t picked-up because of the complex nature of the industry requiring supporting role by the state government in various activities like permissions, land allocation in stipulated time frame and to synchronize with the state’s master plan. But the new state government has taken the initiative in implementing the request of PNGRB and the CGD industry in creating the enabling policies in ensuring the timely allotment of land, granting of permissions, at the shortest possible time of 15 to 30 days. Sudarsan Sethi, additional chief secretary, mines & petroleum, claimed, “Rajasthan is all set to become a front runner in adopting the reform measures and incorporating rapid development, ensuring quality life and to create 20,000 to 30,000 new jobs by 2022 in CGD sector alone.” He said Rajasthan has identified “clean energy” as the key agenda for the industrial development and meeting the socio-economic aspirations of the people of the state.
CGD projects in Jharkhand are worth Rs 1,200 crore: Official
The city gas distribution (CGD) projects in Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharswan and West Singhbhum districts are worth around Rs 1,200 crore, a senior official of Gail Gas Limited said here on Thursday. Gail Gas Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gail (India) limited Under the CGD project Gail Gas would supply CNG for transport sector, Piped Natural Gas for household and Industries and Commercial units, the official said. Jharkhand Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affair, Saryu Roy Thursday inaugurated a customer meet and awareness campaign for city gas distribution project here. General Manager (marketing) of Gail Gas V Gautam said Seraikela-Kharswan CGD project will cover 2,657 sq km area and will have 41 CNG stations. Some 2.20 lakh households will be connected with pipe natural gas over a period of 8 years, he said, adding it will benefit 10.65 lakhs of populations. Stating that the supply of piped natural gas to industries and commercial units will help in reduction of pollution in the region, Gautam said the Seraikela-Kharswan project will start functioning by end of this year. About the West Singhbhum CGD project, he said it would cover 7,224 km area in the district and will have 5 CNG stations. Approximately 6,028 households will be connected with piped natural gas in the first phase, he said, adding that it will benefit 15 lakh population. The main source pipeline for the CGD projects will be GAILs Jagdishpur-Haldia-Dhamra-Bokaro pipeline, he said. Apart from Seraikela-Kharswan and West Singhbhum districts, he said GGL has also been authorized to supply piped natural gas in Giridih and Dhanbad districts, where work will start from this year end. Currently, GGL operates 70 to 80 CNG stations, supply piped natural gas to 3,800 commercial units and 600 industrial houses in the country. Gautam said GGL was likely to record a turnover of Rs 5,200 crore in the financial year 2018-19.
Three groups bid to build 1.4 bn euro gas pipeline in Bulgaria
Three consortiums have submitted bids in a 1.4 billion euro ($1.58 billion) tender to build a gas pipeline in Bulgaria, state-owned gas network operator Bulgartransgaz said on Thursday. The Balkan country plans to have the 484-km (303 mile) pipeline from its border with Turkey to Serbia operational by the end of 2019 to transport Russian gas from the second leg of the TurkStream pipeline to southeastern Europe.
India wants to keep Iran oil purchases at 300,000 bpd in extended waiver: Report
India wants to keep buying Iranian oil at its current level of about 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), as it negotiates with the Washington about extending a sanctions waiver past early May, two sources in India with knowledge of the matter said. India has reduced its purchases of Iranian oil but has been in talks on extending its sanctions waiver, a senior India official said in January. New Delhi is asking to be allowed to still buy Iranian oil at current levels of around 1.25 million tonnes per month, or about 300,000 barrels per day, the sources said. The United States reimposed sanctions against Iran in November last year in a dispute over Tehran’s nuclear and missile ambitions, after President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of a 2015 deal between Iran and six world powers. Although the United States granted Iran’s biggest customers – China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Italy and Greece – waivers that have allowed them to continue limited imports, Washington is putting pressure on governments to eventually cut imports to zero. The current round of waivers expires around May 4. Vincent Campos, a spokesman at the US State Department’s energy bureau, did not confirm that India was asking the United States to renew its waiver, but said talks are ongoing with the eight consumers of Iran’s oil that received waivers in November with the aim of eventually cutting the imports to zero. “We continue to have bilateral discussions,” with each of the countries including India, Campos said. Iran, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), exported almost 3 million bpd of oil at its pre-sanctions peak, but supply has dwindled to around 1.25 million bpd since the start of the year, shipping data in Refinitiv showed. Talks with Washington on extending the waiver slowed due to the US government shutdown that extended through January, one of the Indian sources said. Talks have now resumed and India wants to get clarity before general elections scheduled in May, the source said. No immediate comment was available from India’s oil and external affairs ministries. India’s move to seek extended sanctions exemptions comes as Washington plans to end preferential trade treatment for India that allows duty-free entry for up to $5.6 billion worth of its exports to the United States. India is the biggest beneficiary of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which dates from the 1970s, and ending its participation would be the strongest punitive action the United States has taken against the country since Trump took office. Iran was India’s seventh biggest oil supplier in January compared with its position as third biggest a year ago before the reimpostion of sanctions.
GAIL to invest Rs 1,200 crore for Seraikela-Khersawan PNG supply
The Gail Gas Limited, a 100 per cent subsidiary of GAIL, on Thursday announced investment of Rs 1,200 crore in adjoining Seraikela-Kharswan district for construction of a network to provide piped natural gas to 2.20 lakh households and building 41 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations within the next eight years. GAIL said the first phase of the project is likely to start in the first quarter of 2020 and will cater to the needs of industrial plants, commercial buildings, transport sector and households covering an area of 2,657 sq km. The network of 600 inch km will be laid in the district under the City Gas Distribution Project and will benefit the 10.65 lakh population in urban and suburban areas. “The work of laying the mother pipeline for sourcing gas from Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh will get complete in the next nine months following which networking will be done in the following next three months. Subsequently, gas supply to consumers will follow,” V Gautam, GAIL Gas general manager (marketing) told media persons on Thursday. Informing that GAIL Gas has bagged the licence for operation in four districts of Giridih, Dhanbad, West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharswan for a period of 25 years, Gautam said in West Singhbhum, an area of 7,224 km will be covered with five CNG stations and approximately 6,028 households will be connected with piped natural gas in the first phase. An investment of Rs 350 crore will be made on building networking system in the mineral rich district. He further said GAIL Gas will invest Rs 2,000 crore in the four identified districts by 2027 for establishing pipeline network and will give direct employment to 400 qualified youths. GAIL Gas’s deputy GM (business development) Ajay Sinha said, “A network of 100 inch kms will be laid in West Singhbum and will benefit 15 lakh population.” The company’s chief manager Vinay Krishna Srivastava added, “Once the detailed project report is ready for Giridih and Dhanbad, we will share the details.”
Ennore LNG terminal to help IOC fast-track city gas project
India’s first east coast LNG import terminal at Ennore in Tamil Nadu will help state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) fast-track its city gas distribution plans, said Wood Mackenzie. The 5 million tonne per annum (MTPA) liquefied natural gas (LNG) import and regasification terminal, built by IOC at a cost of Rs 5,150 crore, was commissioned earlier this week. “IOC has already secured captive customers for 2 MTPA of capacity. The Ennore terminal will also help fast-track IOC’s city gas distribution plan, as gas from the terminal will be supplied to consumers around Chennai and Madurai,” Wood Mackenzie’s senior analyst Kaushik Chatterjee said in a report. India plans to double its LNG import and regasification capacity to 56.5 MTPA by 2025 to meet the energy needs of a fast-growing economy. In order to supply natural gas to various consumers, IOC is laying a 1244-km pipeline for evacuation of gas from Ennore terminal. The pipeline from the terminal will go up to Madurai, Trichy and Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu and branch out to Bengaluru via Hosur in Karnataka. Imported gas at the terminal will meet fuel requirement of Chennai Petroleum Corp, Madras Fertilisers, Tamil Nadu Petroproducts and Manali Petrochemicals. Ennore LNG terminal is part of India’s plan to raise the share of natural gas in the country’s energy basket to 15 per cent by 2030 from current 6.2 per cent. “In the longer term, Ennore could become integrated with India’s national gas network via a pipeline to Vijayawada or Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh. “Historically, delays in intra-state pipeline construction have impeded gas and LNG usage in India. The pipeline connecting the Kochi regasification terminal in Kerala to Mangalore in Karnataka is a glaring example,” Chatterjee said. IOC, he said, has additional plans to connect remaining refineries to gas pipelines, which will likely at least double its gas demand. IOC has signed a 0.7 MTPA contract with Mitsubishi for 20 years, with supply coming from Cameron LNG in the US. “We believe the commissioning of Ennore may also lead IOC to source more LNG directly rather than via Petronet LNG Ltd,” he said. India has four LNG import and regasification terminals on the west coast — 15 MTPA Dahej plant in Gujarat operated by Petronet LNG , Shell’s 5 MTPA Hazira terminal in the same state, GAIL’s 1.2 MTPA plant at Dabhol in Maharashtra and Petronet’s 5 MTPA terminal at Kochi in Kerala. “Indian regas capacity had constrained imports in recent years. Both Dahej and Hazira operated at maximum levels through much of 2018. The commissioning of Ennore will be the first in a series of regas projects coming online in 2019; Mundra (in Gujarat) and Jaigarh FSRU are next,” the consultancy said. Another terminal is under construction at Dhamra in Odisha and is expected to be completed in 2022. Furthermore, Dahej’s capacity is being increased by 2.5 MTPA to 17.5 MTPA , while the completion of the Kochi pipeline and Dabhol breakwater is also likely by 2020. “Once all these terminals and enhancements are completed, India’s regas capacity will reach 56.5 MTPA by 2025 from the existing 25.5 MTPA. Beyond this, India’s ability to import significant volumes of LNG could be enhanced further if several other proposed regas terminals proceed,” it said.