INDIA’S state-run GAIL (India) and the country’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) are to construct a new pipeline from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal to transport the gas discovered by ONGC in the Bay of Bengal. “GAIL and ONGC have signed a preliminary agreement to form a ‘special purpose vehicle’ (SPV) for laying the 1,000-km pipeline,” a GAIL source said.
The pipeline route will pass through a number of states, and terminate at Pandua near Kolkata, in West Bengal. The pipeline is likely to be completed by 2011-12.
ONGC has discovered huge gas reserves in its deep-sea block KG-DWN-98/2 off the Andhra coast. Though the reserves have not yet been ascertained, the production potential according to some estimates could be as high as 50m cum/d. ONGC and GAIL arre expected to hold equal shares in the SPV to lay the pipeline, which would run almost parallel to a similar pipeline proposed by Reliance Industries for transporting gas found in the neighbouring KG-DWN-98/3 block. The state-run firms are also likely to collaborate in setting-up pipeline networks to supply domestic gas and compressed natural gas (CNG) to automobiles in cities along the pipeline route.
GAIL also has plans to lay a 853-km pipeline from Haldia to Jagdishpur, where its trunk Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur pipeline terminates. The company has identified 28 cities for implementation of projects for supplying CNG to automobiles and piped gas for domestic uses.
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