Gail Posts Rs 1151 Crore Net

Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) today reported a 2.2 per cent increase in its net profit during 2001-02 over the net profit in the previous fiscal. The net profit during the last fiscal stood at Rs 1,151 crore compared with Rs 1,126 crore in 2000-01. Sales rose 4.91 per cent to Rs 10,553 crore (Rs 10,059 crore), GAIL chairman and managing director Proshanto Banerjee said today. Total gas sales during 2001-02 were about 62 million cubic metre per day, while total liquid hydrocarbon sales were 1.13 million tonne.

Banerjee said GAIL would set up a gas sourcing group within the company to optimise natural gas procurement from within and outside India. "So far we had only one (gas) supplier in (state-run) ONGC. With NELP and a number of joint venture fields going onstream, gas is increasingly becoming available from other sources. The gas sourcing group will look at these opportunities as well as the ones coming in the form of piped gas from Iran and Bangladesh and LNG from Oman and Qatar," Banerjee said.

He said heads of agreement have already been signed with Cairn Energy of the UK and Hindustan Oil Exploration company (HOEC) for procurement of gas from Annapurna field in KG basin and PY-1 fields respectively.

GAIL has acquired 10 per cent participating interest in block A-1 in Myanmar along with Daewoo International Corp, ONGC Videsh Ltd and Korea Gas Corporation, Banerjee said, adding: "We have also farmed-in 25 per cent equity of Hardy Oil of the UK in CY-OS/2 offshore oil and gas block."

He said GAIL would not bid for buying government equity in oil refining and marketing companies Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation.

On GAIL's interest in taking equity in Kolkata-based Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL), Banerjee said: "We are interested in HPL as they use the same technology to manufacture certain grades of polyethylene."

While Indian Oil Corporation is interested in taking 26 per cent equity in HPL mainly to supply feedstock," GAIL wants a stake only to ensure that polyethelene made by them is of the kind we market."

"It is basically only a marketing alliance and not taking over management control," he added.