Country’s gas output is expected to reach 160 mmscmd per day by 2020-21 from the current 92 mmscmd per day, as several gas fields belonging to State-owned, ONGC and Oil India ltd (OIl), and also those owned by private entities like Reliance Industries ltd (RIl) and British Petroleum (BP) - which are ready to start production - are expected to add up to the current output levels in the next five years.
This would be good news for several gas-based power plants across the country, which have been running at less than half their capacity owing to lack of natural gas availability. Enhanced gas output is likely to propel these plants back to life. According to a rough estimate, the combined capacity of such gas-based plants comes to around 24,000 mw.
According to reliable sources in the Government, in a meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) with top officials of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas’ (MoPNG) on April 28, all the gas fields whose Field Development Plans (FDPs) have been approved by the ministry, or in other words, which are ready to start production, were reviewed.
The review meeting was held amid concerns within the Government about falling gas output from KG-D6 fields, quite a few of which are owned by RIl and BP. Sources further informed that Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth and Principal Secretary in the PMO Nripendra Misra, who conducted the meeting, reviewed the production plans of ready to produce gas fields belonging to all the aforementioned entities.
ONGC, OIl, RIl and BP representatives are learnt to have given presentations to the PMO officials about how the gas fields having approved FDPs will help in enhancing the current output of natural gas of the country by almost one and a half times in the next five years. It is learnt that ONGC and OIl gas fields are expected to be the major contributors towards enhancing gas output of the country by 2020-21.
Sources aware of the development further said that the projected output of 160 mmscmd by 2021, may even improve further if in the meantime some more gas fields are discovered and their FDPs are given approval by the MoPNG. The basis of the optimism expressed by ONGC, OIl as well as RIl and BP on the country’s gas output going up by one and a half times, stems from the fact that all the companies have several gas fields lined up whose FDPs have been approved, and therefore they are ready to start production any time now.
Some of the fields which are ready to start production are ONGC’s Daman offshore block, G1 field and KG-98/2 block, as well as its C-26 cluster. OIl’s NElP blocks in the North-east region and KG-basin are also expected to ramp up the country’s gas production, sources said. RIl and BP are also learnt to have displayed a list of blocks to the PMO officials, through which they are hoping to enhance their gas output in the next five years.