Nation gas output to rise 50% on ONGC growth engine
4 Jun 2015 11:53 PM GMT
India’s natural gas output is likely to rise by 50 <g data-gr-id="25">per cent</g> to 146.87 million standard cubic meters per day by 2018-19 on account of higher production from ONGC fields, Oil Ministry has said.
In its annual report, the ministry has said domestic gas production will rise from 98.15 <g data-gr-id="45">mmscmd</g> in 2014-15 to 99.87 <g data-gr-id="46">mmscmd</g> in the current fiscal. In 2016-17, the output will climb to 112.95 <g data-gr-id="47">mmscmd</g> and finally to 146.87 <g data-gr-id="48">mmscmd</g> in 2018-19. <g data-gr-id="54">Bulk</g> of the incremental output will come from state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) which will see production rise to 65.75 <g data-gr-id="49">mmsmd</g> in 2014-15 to 96.38 <g data-gr-id="50">mmscmd</g>.
ONGC production will include 4.66 <g data-gr-id="28">mmscmd</g> from New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) block KG-DWN-98/2 or KG-D5 in 2017-18 and 12.05 <g data-gr-id="29">mmsmcd</g> in 2018-19. State-owned Oil India Ltd will see gas production rise from 7.78 <g data-gr-id="30">mmscmd</g> last fiscal to 10.96 <g data-gr-id="31">mmscmd</g> in four years.
The ministry said output from fields operated by private firms like Reliance Industries is projected to rise from 24.62 <g data-gr-id="36">mmscmd</g> in 2014-15 to 39.53 <g data-gr-id="37">mmscmd</g> in 2018-19. Demand, on the other hand, is projected to increase by nearly 30 per cent to 523 <g data-gr-id="39">mmscmd</g> in 2018-19 from 405 <g data-gr-id="40">mmscmd</g> in 2014-15. Gas demand is expected to climb 10 per cent in the current fiscal to 446 <g data-gr-id="42">mmscmd</g>.
India is world’s fourth largest energy consumer with oil and gas constituting about 37.24 <g data-gr-id="35">per cent</g> of primary energy consumption. “The world average primary energy consumption growth rate (CACR) for 2000-2013 has been 2.41 per cent, as compared to Asia Pacific’s rate of 5.39 per cent and India’s rate of 5.52 per cent,” the report said.
Against world average of 2.55 <g data-gr-id="51">per cent</g> growth rate in natural gas, India’s CAGR is 5.26 <g data-gr-id="52">per cent</g>. “The demand is further set to rise on the back of segments such as power, city gas distribution and industrial users. A healthy demand from the users is necessitating higher imports as well as <g data-gr-id="58">investment</g> in supporting infrastructure,” it said. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports into the country and development of downstream markets to ensure offtake will remain at the core of the changes in the natural gas sector in the near future, the report said.
The government has taken several steps to enhance the availability of gas in the country, including intensification of domestic exploration and production activities, development of shale gas policy framework, import of LNG, exploration in the Mining Lease Area with certain conditions and acquisition of overseas oil and gas assets, it said.
IOC to import Iraqi oil for India’s maiden strategic reserve
Indian Oil Corp (IOC) will next week import a shipload of crude oil from Iraq to fill up the nation’s maiden strategic oil reserves to insulate it from supply disruptions. India, which is 79 <g data-gr-id="96">per cent</g> dependent on imports to meet its crude oil needs, is building emergency stockpiles with millions of barrels of crude that mirror the reserves that the US and its western allies amassed after the first oil crisis of 1973 to 1974.
Underground storages are being built at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Mangalore and Padur in Karnataka to store about 5.33 million tonnes (28 million barrels) of crude oil. This is enough to meet nation’s oil requirement for 11-12 days. The first of the storages at Visakhapatnam (Vizag) is ready and IOC and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) have been tasked to import Basra Light crude oil of Iraq to fill it, official sources said.
IOC will import a very large crude carrier (VLCC) of Basra Light crude oil on June 10, they said adding HPCL will import a VLCC in July/August. In all, IOC and HPCL will bring in 2 VLCCs each with 2 million barrels of Basra Light oil.
The Finance Ministry has provisioned Rs 2,399 crore for buying crude oil to fill the Vizag facility. Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd (the firm that is creating the reserves) has been asked to use cheaper oil to fill the storage, sources said. Visakhapatnam facility would have the capacity to store 1.33 million tonnes of crude oil in underground rock caverns.
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