Page 7 - AsianOil Week 34
P. 7
AsianOil
SOUTH ASIA AsianOil
at 2.72bn cubic metres. For its part, ONGC saw its oil production for the month slip 3.23% to 1.73mn tonnes (409,000 bpd), while gas output was almost at at 2.02 bcm.
The state company has seen some results from its efforts to improve upstream perfor- mance, however, with Northeast Now news reporting on August 24 that ONGC had made a major new gas discovery in Tripura State.
The paper, quoting unnamed company officials, said the developer had drilled the
SD-12 well to 2,536 metres in the Sundal- bari-Agartala Dome block and had encoun- tered gas in the Middle Bhuban sands. A two-day production test flowed 140,000 cubic metres per day.
“Other interesting zones in this well will now be tested. Only this well was tested but soon we’ll test other wells where we expect similar results,” an ONGC o cial was quoted as saying. Additional exploration wells will target deeper structures.
India expands gas infrastructure, mulls LNG price review
POLICY
INDIA’S e orts to spur consumption of natural gas is helping to attract billions in investment, but a growing reliance on foreign supplies is driving the government to review its long-term import contracts.
INR5tn ($69.95bn) is being invested in boosting the country’s gas sector, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said at an industry event on August 26. He noted the money was going to upstream developments, city gas distribution (CGD) projects and building new lique ed natural gas (LNG) import facilities.
Pradhan predicted that domestic gas produc- tion would expand from 32.87bn cubic metres in financial year 2018-2019 to 39.3 bcm by 2020-2021. is will help feed a rapidly growing demand for the fuel, driven by a government tar- get to increase gas’ share of the primary energy mix to 15%.
With demand growth outpacing that of pro- duction, however, India has become increas- ingly reliant on foreign supplies and Pradhan projected that LNG import capacity would grow from 38.8mn tonnes per year to 52.5mn tpy within the next three to four years.
While he said long-term LNG import con- tracts had been signed, the minister noted that the government would seek to review the pricing structure of these deals.
“Long-term contracts are supposed to be honoured. We will look at an appropriate time [to review]. In the past also we had renegotiated the deals,” Pradhan said, referring to supply deals his government had previously renegotiated with Qatar, Australia and Russia.
His comments come at a time of persistently low prices for spot cargoes into Asia. Prices at the start of August dipped below $4 per mil- lion British thermal units ($110.64 per 1,000 cubic metres) for the rst time in several years. Although they have since regained ground, with cargoes for October delivery reportedly com- manding $4.70 per mmBtu ($130 per 1,000 cubic metres), this is still a far cry from the $11.40 per mmBtu ($315.32 per 1,000 cubic metres) seen a year ago.
In addition to India’s upstream and import investments, the country is also in the midst of a major expansion of its gas pipeline network, working to add 14,788km further lines to the current 16,788km of the operational grid.
Week 34 28•August•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P7
