The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has allocated one fourth of the additional 20 million standard cubic metres a day (5 mscmd) of natural gas that Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) is ready to produce from the KG basin fields to various refineries, including those owned by RIL, Eassar Oil, Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL).
RIL has been allocated just 2.34 mscmd of gas. It has sought 11.80 mscmd of gas to meet the feedstock requirement at its twin refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat. ``Refineries had projected a demand of 25.20 mscmd but since the EGoM allocated only 5 mscmd the same has been allocated on a pro-rata basis,” a seniof Petroleum Ministry official stated.
IOC got 1.6 mscmd while HPCL and BPCL have been allocated 0.26 and 0.20 mscmd, respectively. Private sector Essar Oil would get 0.60 mscmd against a demand of 3 mscmd for use at its Vadinar unit in Gujarat.
Of the 20 mscmd, 12.9 mscmd has gone to power plants.
The official said out of the additional allocation made on a firm basis, NTPC will get 2.71 mscmd, Lanco’s Kondapalli plant (1.46 mscmd), GMR Energy’s Tanir Bavi (0.88 mscmd — both in Andhra Pradesh), Rithala (0.40 mscmd), Bawana plants (0.93 mscmd — both in Delhi) and Gujarat’s Uran plant (1.40 mscmd). An additional 12 mscmd was allocated to the existing power plants if the output from KG-D6 stabilises above 65 mscmd, raising the total allocation to the sector to 43.165 mscmd, the official said.
