Staff Reporter :
The government of India has an ambitious plan to lay 6,900 km of gas pipelines linking Bangladesh, Myanmar, most north-eastern states, and West Bengal, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister of India Dharmendra Pradhan has said.
The Minister said, “We have completed a fruitful discussion on energy cooperation with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during his recent visit to Bangladesh, reports The Economic Times quoting IANS and The Statesman.
“The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has started the process for a pipeline from Contai in West Bengal via Haldia to Duttapulia on the India-Bangladesh border for supplying oil and natural gas,” Pradhan said.
“We have discussed with our Bangladesh friends and have agreed to take the pipeline to Bangladesh. There are also talks to bring the pipeline back to India through Siliguri,” he said.
“A lot of energy cooperation is building up with Bangladesh. We have started supplying diesel now, there are plans to supply natural gas as well,” he said.
The Indian Minister also said there are plans to set up a pipeline from Numaligarh Refinery in Assam which has been supplying diesel to Bangladesh.
“As part of Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for North-eastern region, 6,900 km pipelines would be laid connecting Sitwe (Myanmar), Chittagong (Bangladesh), most north-eastern states, Siliguri and Durgapur,” said SC Soni, Executive Director of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
Currently, a large quantity of gas is flared (burned) in the north-eastern region because it can’t be piped to the consumers, he said.
“The policy related to sale of gas from small and isolated gas fields is more inclined to the seller side. So, ONGC and Oil India Ltd are not able to sell the gas, which is flared now.”
The plan is to carry the gas elsewhere for productive purposes, Soni said. Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) signed an agreement in April this year to jointly set up a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) terminal plant in Chittagong port city which will help pipe gas to the north-eastern states.
There is also a sale-purchase agreement between Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) in Assam and BPC for construction of a pipeline from Siliguri in West Bengal to Parbatipur in Bangladesh for supply of High Speed Diesel (HSD) to the neighbouring country, Soni said.
This agreement figured in talks in June last year between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina. The two leaders directed the officials of their countries to finalise the terms for establishment of a joint venture company which will construct and operate the pipeline.
The first high-level meeting was held in Guwahati last week and the second meeting would be held in Agartala later this year to finalise the laying of pipeline between Bangladesh, Myanmar, north-eastern states, and West Bengal to carry gas, LPG and HSD, he said.
Thirteen routes with a total length of about 6,900 km of pipelines have been proposed for the purpose.
The Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 envisions doubling the production of oil and natural gas in the north-east and promoting trade between the region and the neighbouring SAARC countries, Soni said.
ONGC Board has approved a plan to invest Rs 5,050 crore by 2022 to explore more gas in Tripura, he said.
“Under this plan, new wells would be drilled and additional surface facilities would be created to increase gas production from 5.1 million standard cubic metres per day (MSCMD) to at least 6.25 MSCMD from Tripura gas fields,” he said.
ONGC has so far discovered 11 gas fields in the state, seven of which are on production, said Soni, who is also the asset manager of ONGC Tripura.
Under the investment plan to produce and supply 6.25 MSCMD to various consumers, including production of electricity, for another 15 to 20 years, at least 153 wells are to be drilled, he said.
“To enhance gas production, processing and supply capabilities, the GCS (Gas Collection Centre) in Sonamura, Gojalia and Konaban would be upgraded and around 900 km gas pipelines would be laid.”
The ONGC Tripura asset was carrying out its drilling activities with three owned rigs under operation and well servicing operations through two work-over rigs, he said.
Additional four to five rigs would be hired to intensify the exploration activities.
Tripura gas fields and pipeline locations are in very challenging locations requiring forest clearance and special effort for timely construction, he said.
ONGC has so far drilled in Tripura about 209 wells more than half of which are gas-bearing, Soni said.
The company has also commissioned its first commercial power project in India, located in southern Tripura and run by ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC).
