An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) may not give any significant natural gas to the fuel-starved power producing units in the country till domestic production rises in 2016-17. Over $21 billion power plants are stranded for want of fuel. The EGoM headed by Defence Minister AK Antony is to meet shortly to squeeze out some gas from current year output of 105 million standard cubic meters a day for the power plants.
Official sources said things have been complicated by fall in Reliance Industries’ eastern offshore KG-D6 field to just 14 mmscmd at present. It is projected to 11 mmscmd this fiscal before rising to 19 mmscmd in the first quarter of 2015 and remain at that level till 2016-17. The fall in KG-D6 from 62 mmscmd achieved in March 2010 means 25 power plants that signed up for 29.74 mmscmd of KG-D6 get no gas.
Sources said on instructions of EGoM the Oil Ministry carried out a detailed exercise to assess additional gas available and the demand. About 4-5 mmscmd additional gas will be available from fields of ONGC and GSPC in 2013-14. A similar additional volume may be available in the next fiscal and a further 2 mmscmd from GSPC in 2015-16. This additional production will have to make up for fall in KG-D6 this fiscal and the next as also meet 3.8 mmscmd need of 5 newly converted fertiliser plants for whom allocation had previously been approved by the Cabinet and EGoM.
Also, 2.95 mmscmd has to be given to LPG extraction plants of GAIL and ONGC, they said, adding LPG has been given second priority after urea manufacturing units. Moreover, there will be an additional demand of 2.17 mmscmd of gas for petrochemical plant of ONGC at Dahej. The EGoM had at the time of deciding priority of gas allocation, had taken a call that all molecules from the gas should be extracted before it is burnt as fuel. ONGC’s C2/C3 plant will fits into that priority.
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