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EGoM gas ‘rank’ meet on 17 July

A high-powered ministerial panel is likely to meet on 17 July to consider abolishing the priority ranking in natural gas allocation so that fuel currently consumed by urea plants can also be diverted to fuel-starved power plants.

An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Defence Minister A K Antony is to consider an Oil Ministry proposal of abolishing the priority ranking according to which natural gas is first given to urea manufacturing fertiliser plants, then to LPG units, followed by power plants, city gas, steel and refineries.

'The EGoM meeting is scheduled for 17 July,' Oil Secretary Vivek Rae said.

The current priority ranking meant when output from Reliance Industries' eastern offshore KG-D6 fields started falling in 2011, supplies to refineries was cut first, then steel and city gas sectors.

From November 2011, supplies to 25 power plants, which had signed for 29.74 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) of KG-D6, were pro-rata cut and this year completely stopped as KG-D6 plummeted to one-fourth of volumes touched in March, 2010.
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