Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has again asked the government to make additional gas allocations from its D6 block to new customers like captive power plants in order to help it ramp up production, which is currently constrained by a lower offtake.
“KG-D6 currently has a capacity to produce more than 60 million metric standard cubic metre a day (mmscmd) and this will increase to 80 mmscmd shortly… We once again request you to make additional allocations to these customers, which will enable us to increase production,” RIL President (gas business) R P Sharma said in a letter to the petroleum ministry.
RIL said there are several captive power plants already connected to the pipeline network, which can consume 8-10 mmscmd gas. A letter dated September 8 also requested the government to extend the contracting priority for supply of D6 gas to power sector customers to five years and at 90 percent plant load factor from the current 60-70 per cent due to increased gas availability.
It also asked for conversion of 11 mmscmd gas to power plants under firm allocations from the current fallback arrangement. As per the gas utilisation policy, the government has allocated 15.1 mmscmd to fertiliser plants, 3 mmscmd to the liquefied petroleum gas extraction plants, 18 mmscmd to power sector, 0.83 mmscmd to city gas distribution projects and 3.75 mmscmd to steel plants.