The Gas Authority of India Limited (Gail) has proposed a uniform price for gas by pooling the price of regasified imported liquified natural gas (LNG) with indigenous natural gas. This is expected to bring down the gas price to around $3.5 per million British thermal units (BTU).
Gail has argued that pooling would result in uniform pricing of gas. Otherwise, the consumers of indigenous natural gas would be paying $1.5-1.8 per million BTU, while consumer of regasified LNG would be paying $3.8-5 per million BTU.
Moreover, besides being non-discriminatory, the pooled price would help to meet the existing and projected shortfall of gas. GAIL has also argued that it would also result in administrative simplicity. But this could be possible only if Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, joint ventures and Petronet LNG were in the field of selling gas.
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Gail has forecast a 25-million metric standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) shortfall of gas during 2004-05. It said the demand for gas in the country would be 87 mmscmd, while its availability would be 62 mmscmd. Along the Hazira-Bijapur-Jagdishpur pipeline, the demand is expected to be around 37 mmscmd.
In Gujarat, the demand will be 10 mmscmd and availability 5 mmscmd, while the corresponding figures for Uran will be 14 mmscmd and 9 mmscmd and Krishna-Godavari basin 15 mmscmd and 7 mmscmd.