Saturday, February 7, 2015

Natural Gas

Usually accompanies petroleum. When a well is dug, it is natural gas, which is available first (being lighter than oil). Yet, there are wells where, there is only natural gas available.

  • 1984 : GAIL was incorporated to look after
    • transportation
    • processing
    • marketing of Natural Gas
  • KG offshore basin in 2002 (estimated to be 14 trillion cubic feet (TCF))
    • deepest oil exploration in India
  • 2005 : by ONGC in the shallow water of KG basin
  • 2004 : off the Odisha coast (4-5 TCF)
  • 2003 : oil and gas in Barmer district

Imported gas constitutes a third of our consumption

Significance
  1. can be used for 
    1. power generation, 
    2. producing fertilizer, 
    3. running transport systems, (CNG)
    4. cooking purposes (mahanagar Gas, Indraprastha gas - JV of GAIL)
  2. more a clean fuel than coal and petroleum 
  3. saves precious forex
  4. transforms economy
GAIL
  • incorporated in Aug, 1984
  • for transportation, processing and marketing
  • completed HBJ pipeline

StateReserves (%)Production (%)Imp FieldsDownstream
W Offshore30.7
81
KG basin
E Ofshore35KG basin, Mahanadi basin, Cauvery basin
Assam106
Gujarat64.5
AP4
TN3
Tripura3Palatana fields, Udaipur districtPalatana thermal power plant
Others
Total1355 BCM

Gas Transportation

StateReserves (%)Production (%)Imp FieldsDownstream
W Offshore30.7
81
KG basin
E Ofshore35KG basin, Mahanadi basin, Cauvery basin
Assam106
Gujarat64.5
AP4
TN3
Tripura3Palatana fields, Udaipur districtPalatana thermal power plant
Others
Total1355 BCM


Gas Transportation
2 ways
  1. As LNG
    1. A number of LNG terminals are coming up around the coastline
    2. Gas from Iran, Qatar, Oman, Algeria, Australia
  2. Through Pipelines
    1. TAPI
    2. IPI
    3. From B'desh and Myanmar
    4. From Russia

Gas Pricing
  • less fungible than oil. So, does not have a single global price.
  • Gas markets tend to be segmented because of transportation issues over a great distance
  • So, a range of gas prices exist
    • Henry hub
    • Asia pacific rate
  • So, a mechanism is needed (either to make it market determined by principle of supply and demand or make it cost price linked)
  • In a market economy it should be linked to market, but it has its own ramification
    • gas is linked to our food and energy security
    • nearly 35% of gas consumed is for making fertilizer which is already heavily subsidized by the govt.
    • already CNG prices are almost at par with diesel prices. hiking it more is not good from pollution POV
  • also in absence of a global price, we should go by domestic demand and supply
    • but there is a severe supply shortage (under production by RIL)
Rangarajan formula considers global prices
Jan 2014 : Govt notified new gas pricing formula which doubled the gas price to $ 8.4 per mbtu.
Aug 2014 : Govt formed a panel (under Shri Vijay Kelkar) consisting on secretaries of power, fertilizer, expenditure and additional secy of oil ministry to review the Gas Pricing Mechanism.
Sep 2014 : panel has submitted report
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-08-28/news/53324442_1_gas-pricing-gas-market-natural-gas




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