India launches 'save gas' campaign

Tuesday, 16 December 2003, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: India's Petroleum Minister Ram Naik Monday launched a "save gas" campaign as the country prepared to receive the first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar next month. Underlining the importance of gas conservation, Naik said India currently has a gas availability of 75 million metric standard cubic metres a day (MMSCMD) against a demand of 155 MMSCMD. "For meeting the domestic requirement, initiatives have been taken to import LNG at Dahej in early 2004 and at Hazira in late 2004 besides awarding 91 blocks for exploration and production under the new exploration licensing policy," Naik said. Lauding the initiative by gas infrastructure major GAIL India Ltd, Naik said conservation of oil and gas would help reduce India's import dependence. India currently imports 69 percent of its oil and gas requirements. The government estimates that a one percent saving in current gas consumption will result in supplies to run 10,000 CNG buses, or supply one million homes with piped gas, or enable the generation of an addition one billion units of electricity, Naik noted. He advised GAIL to educate industrial users and domestic consumers, as well as the automobile sector, on the efficient use of gas. GAIL has set up a team of 10 engineers as a technical services group that will visit industries to provide guidance, help identify possible ways of inefficient use and suggest measures to bring down energy losses.
Source: IANS