Indian team to visit Iran in January for sourcing LNG
Thursday, 04 December 2003, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: A team led by gas infrastructure major GAIL (India) Ltd will visit Iran in January to hold further talks on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) as part of a package of cooperation in the energy sector. "We are looking at the possibility of importing around five million tonnes of LNG from Iran," B.S. Negi, director planning of GAIL, told IANS Wednesday on the sidelines of a two-day Petro-India meet here. He said this would be part of a government-to-government cooperation for a composite package that includes allocation of semi-explored fields for which ONGC Videsh Ltd has already had two rounds of talks. A team from ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) would also be shortly visiting Iran to evaluate the detailed data of the oil field offered a few days ago in Azadegan South. The selection was made by OVL on the basis of limited data made available by Iran, the petroleum ministry stated. While ONGC Videsh is leading the consortium of state-run energy majors including Indian Oil Corp, GAIL and Oil India Ltd for the exploration bid, GAIL is scouting for opportunities in the gas sector including sourcing of gas either through pipeline or as LNG. GAIL is also slated to undertake infrastructure projects in Iran for distribution of compressed natural gas (CNG) as clean energy for distribution and transport in the city. The Iranian deputy minister of petroleum and gas and chairman of National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Mohammad R. Nematzadeh is visiting the country to pitch strongly for Indian import of gas through pipelines as also LNG. At a high-level meeting Tuesday evening, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik discussed the progress achieved on the package of cooperation with the Iranian minister including plans for exploration and proposal for setting up a petrochemicals plant in Iran in association with NPC, the petroleum ministry stated. Negi disclosed that the Indian team would be holding talks in Iran on January 5-6 on possibilities of importing LNG from the gas-rich country. While the possibilities of importing LNG are being discussed, Negi admitted that plans of where the re-gassification terminal would be located were still to be finalised. Among the options being mulled is Kochi, where Petronet LNG is already planning a terminal to receive 2.5 million tonnes of LNG from Qatar and in which GAIL is one of the equity holders. "We are also looking at Dabhol's five million tonnes re-gassification terminal for which we have submitted an expression of interest in consortium with British Petroleum and Tata Group," Negi said. The official said Oman too had expressed keenness to supply LNG, having made preparations for supply to the Dabhol LNG terminal, which was grounded when the Dabhol power project was shut down two years ago after running into problems with the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) on the payment issue. The fate of the Dabhol terminal as well as the power plant is to be decided by the financial institutions, which have sought legal help to get the matter resolved. By month end, India's first LNG terminal being readied by Petronet LNG is expected to become operational and would start receiving gas from Qatar in January. From March/April, the five million tonnes capacity terminal at Dahej in Gujarat is expected to start supplying gas to consumers connected to GAIL's HBJ pipeline.
Source: IANS
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