GAIL flags off its first Cambay crude oil tanker

GAIL (India) has forayed into marketing of crude oil with the flagging off of the first tanker of crude oil produced by GAIL from the Cambay basin as a consortium partner with 50 per cent participating interest with Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Limited (GSPCL).

With this development, GAIL's exploration and production activity has started yielding revenues. Initially, it is expected to be about Rs 18 crore per annum, which would increase four fold in subsequent years.

GAIL has been able to achieve the production of crude oil within a short time, thanks to the installation of early production system (EPS) under initial development plan for early monetization of the reserves. This initiative has led to production of crude oil in a short time.

Initial production from the field is around 350 barrels per day (bpd) which is expected to go up to 1500 bpd in future. Oil is being dispatched to Koyali refinery of Indian Oil via ONGC Central Tank Farm at Navagam (Gujarat), through tankers and pipelines.

Currently, GAIL is exploring over an acreage of 67,118 sq km, and plans to invest approximately Rs 600 crore in exploration and production activities over the next three years.

It holds a participating interest in 13 exploration blocks and has managed to extend the partnership in these ventures to various companies such as ONGC, GSPCL, Gazprom, OIL, IOC, Hardy Exploration & Production, Enpro Finance Private Ltd., Daewoo, OVL and Korea Gas Corporation.

Similarly, GAIL's participating interest in these blocks varies between 10 to 80 per cent and in basins such as Mahanadi, Bengal, Gujarat -Saurashtra, Mumbai, Cambay, Assam-Akaran and Cauvery.

With the proposed move to acquire stake in the Yadavaran fields in Iran, GAIL's kitty would increase to 16-18 blocks from the present 13 blocks in the domestic and foreign markets in the medium term.

Further, GAIL has also got stake in the A-1 block in Myanmar where it is likely to get a stake in the A-3 block in Myanmar as well. The strategy is to acquire exploration and production acreage in the international arena in consortium with international players.