After Reliance Industries Ltd public sector gas Transportation Company, GAIL has opposed the state government owned Andhra Pradesh Gas Infrastructure Corporation's proposal for a new gas pipeline from Kakinada to Srikakulam.
GAIL has told the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board that the pipeline is a replication of GAIL’s proposal for providing connectivity from Kakinada to Visakhapatnam from its existing Krishna-Godavari basin pipeline network.
GAIL claimed its proposal was pending with the PNGRB. RIL had argued that gas availability for the pipeline is uncertain and will not contribute to the development of a national gas grid. GAIL said in its comments to PNGRB that “It is observed that the new pipeline is in the same route and evacuating gas from the same source to serve the same market as identified by us.” It has also offered to complete the expansion in 9 months to 12 months using the rights for user of its existing Vizag-Secunderabad pipeline.
APGIC a joint venture of AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation and AP Genco had issued an expression of interest to build a pipeline from Kakinada to Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh. The region forms a part of the 1,100 km Kakinada-Basudebpur-Howrah pipeline whose development was authorised in 2007 by the petroleum ministry to Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Ltd a RIL group company. This was before October 2007 when downstream petroleum sector regulator PNGRB came into being. RIL may end up losing the authorization following the open house that has been called by the board sometime this week.
A board official said “We will take a decision on APGIC’s proposal after the open house this week. If the proposal is accepted it may necessitate canceling RIL’s authorization.” RIL has also opposed the proposal of APGIC to build another gas pipeline from Ennore to Nellore.
RGTIL said in its comments to PNGRB “The proposed pipeline project shows gas to be sourced from the proposed LNG terminal at Ennore and other domestic discoveries in east coast. The Ennore terminal has not made any progress.”
Further, RIL said the proposed pipeline route barely caters to customers in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and does not meet the concept of national gas grid which is at the base of the board’s objective. GAIL has also told the board that natural gas availability at Ennore needs to be established before proceeding with the EoI to provide a level-playing field to all the entities. The board will take up issues related to both these proposed pipelines in the open house this week.
(Sourced from www.business-standard.com)
