Seeks stakeholders’ inputs to boost sector
The petroleum and natural gas regulatory body (PNGRB) recently held the first natural gas and petroleum product infrastructure conclave in Vizag.
The conclave was convened to provide a platform to all concerned stakeholders to brainstorm and come out with suggestions and feedback that could help the sector grow leaps and bounds.
‘Albeit being a scarce commodity oil/petroleum will eventually go away but we are far away from that period. Oil and gas are here to stay for a long time to come’ said Dr Anil Kumar Jain, Chairperson, PNGRB, giving the inaugural address.
He said that the oil and natural gas sector needs careful planning and emphasized that Natural Gas and Petroleum products need to co-exist.
Acknowledging the wide participation of stakeholders from across the sector PNGRB chairman urged stakeholders to be candid in giving their inputs to better shape the industry.
‘We have got all of you on one platform so that you can tell us what we as a regulator can do in order to help you perform collaboratively and efficiently’ said Mr Jain.
Stakeholders from the city gas distribution (CGD), natural gas pipeline (NGPL) and petroleum product pipeline (PPPL) participated and explored ways to work on a common platform, synergies, actionable agendas while also debated various regulatory and industry aspects of the natural gas sector.
Some of the Industry participants suggested of having a different tariff mechanism for upcoming pipeline bids, differential tariff for long term contract wrt short term contract, flexibility of laying pipelines.
Stressing the importance of the conclave Mr AK Tiwari, Member II, PNGRB said ‘This conference is very essential as we had a wide representation of the entire oil and gas present here. We need to work on a collaborative yet competitive framework in mind’.
Similarly Mr Gajendra Singh Member 1, PNGRB emphasised on ways to develop the necessary infrastructure for natural gas and petroleum products in the country.
Presently India has 24700+ km of operation natural gas pipeline with another 10500 km major pipeline under construction/planning.
Another aspect debated comprehensively was the use of ‘common carrier’. PNGRB had introduced common carrier regulation in product pipelines to foster efficient utilization of pipeline asset and enable third party access.
This as per the board is yet to see significant participation from industry as there could be operational difficulties.
Speaking on the mandate of PNGRB Ms Vandana Sharma secretary PNGRB said that the mandate of the regulatory board is to create a vibrant energy market in the country.
The two day conclave saw active participation from senior leadership of companies like Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Torrent gas, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), IGL, Gujarat gas, PIL, Megha Engineering, Gas Authority Of India Ltd (GAIL), Ultra gas, Adani Total gas, AG&Pratham and Deloitte.
