Oil regulator PNGRB plans to hire consultants to advise it on fixing the margin that natural gas marketers such as Reliance Industries and GAIl India can charge from urea manufacturers and lPG plants.
After grappling with the issue for two years, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had on November 21 ordered that the margin to be charged, over and above the gas sale price, should be fixed between the seller and buyers in all sectors other than urea and lPG.
It asked the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) to determine the margin for supply of domestic gas to urea and lPG producers through its independent process. The PNGRB in turn is seeking consultants to help it, official sources said.
The regulator on January 21, two months after the ministry entrusted it with the job, called for bids from consultants “to assist it in the task of determination of marketing margin for supply of domestic gas to urea and lPG producers for recommending this to the Government.” Bids were called by April 11 but the PNGRB yesterday extended the deadline to April 21, they said.