Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday called for united Asian efforts to demand a fair pricing mechanism for gas being imported to Asia from outside.
Dedicating to the nation the Rs 4,200-crore liquefied natural gas (lNG) terminal of Petronet lNG ltd at Puthuvype, Kochi, Singh said, “Asia has been the driver of the global lNG demand in recent times. It is therefore important that the major buyers of lNG in Asia come together to demand a fair pricing mechanism for gas being imported from outside of Asia.”
“Our country has less than one percent of the world’s known natural gas reserves, Therefore, for augmenting the supply of natural gas in our energy mix we must import it either by setting up lNG terminals or through transnational pipelines. Import of natural gas and pricing the imported gas constitute challenges that we must meet successfully in the time to come,” he said.
The Kochi lNG terminal with an annual import and re-gasification capacity of 5 million tons was commissioned in August last but it was dedicated to the nation only now because of the inconveniences of the Prime Minister. Petronet already has a 10-million-ton-per-annum capacity import and re-gasification lNG terminal at Dahej in Gujarat.
The Petronet lNG terminal is the first of its kind in entire South India. Several projects using the lNG supplied by this terminal are on the anvil but it is facing a host of operational problems, ranging from under-utilization, high price of the fuel, hiccups in the completion of pipelines, difficulty in finding new customers, etc.
The terminal is presently running at eight percent of its capacity as there are only three consumers - Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore, BPCl and Nitta Gelatin - for its lNG in the State. The terminal may run at 75 percent capacity in the second year of operation when pipeline-laying to centres like Mangalore are completed, according to sources.
Sources said that new consumers — like the Hindustan latex ltd — were expected to start taking lNG from the terminal soon. There were also plans to supply fuel to Sri lanka from the terminal, they said. The biggest problem the terminal is facing is the non-completion of the 505-km pipeline from Puthuvype to Mangalore and Bangalore.
lNG — natural gas cooled to minus 160 degree Celsius and shrunk to 1/600th of volume — from the Petronet terminal is expected to revolutionise the fuel scene of central Kerala when project like the City Gas for supplying piped gas to households and CNG supply for vehicles come on stream in the future.
The Prime Minister said at the ceremony that the pipelines to be laid in connection with the project could pave the way for a new industrial corridor. “Considering its vast potential, it is imperative that the terminal should be utilised to its fullest capacity,” he said, pointing out that this need not be difficult if the concerned agencies did everything they could to ensure this.
The Prime Minister offered all possible help from the part of the Union Government for the State’s effort to make the City Gas supply project a success. He also said that the Union Ministry of Petroleum would extend help and would play the role of a supervisor for extending the City Gas project.
Union Minster for Petroleum Veerappa Moily, who was present at the function, said that he did not expect getting environmental clearance for the City Gas project to be a major problem. Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and other dignitaries were also present at the ceremony.