Deal on Iran gas field may be sealed by October
Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced a tentative deadline of October for the completion of talks
with Iran regarding the development of that country’s Farzad-B gas project by a consortium of Indian
companies and said the commercial terms are yet to be finalised.
“Iran has given an in-principle approval for the deal,” Mr. Pradhan told reporters during a press
conference highlighting the achievements of his ministry in the last two years. “The price is yet to be
settled. While they need a viable royalty amount, our companies also need a suitable economic
incentive. We are trying to complete the talks by October.” The Farzad-B field, discovered in 2012, is
estimated to have 21.68 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas reserves. The deal with Iran would see
development of the field by a consortium of Indian companies led by ONGC Videsh, the overseas arm of
state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.
The Minister also said he welcomed the interest shown by international companies like Saudi Aramco
and Total SA of France to invest in India. A license to sell fuel in India is subject to a company investing
Rs 2,000 crore in oil and gas infrastructure, whether it is in refineries, exploration and production,
pipelines or terminals. On queries about ONGC’s purchase of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation
(GSPC) assets in the Krishna-Godavari area, the minister said: “ONGC and GSPC are talking at their level.
There is no problem in that. If they reach an understanding, then that is good,” Mr Pradhan said.
E S Ranganathan takes over as Indraprastha Gas Ltd MD
Ranganathan, an Instrumentation & Control Engineer possessing an MBA with specialisation in
marketing, brings to IGL a rich experience of over 30 years in leading, managing and implementing large
projects and business solutions in oil and gas sector in the fields of pipeline projects, operation and
maintenance, business development and business information systems entailing engineering and
planning, process management, scope management, resource management, schedule management,
enterprise resource planning, technology up-gradation, vendor management and quality assurance.
Before joining the current assignment, Ranganathan was posted as Executive Director (Corporate O&M)
in GAIL (India) Ltd, where he has worked for over three decades and has significant achievements to his
credit including being incharge for construction and successful commissioning for Dahej- Vijaipur,
Vijaipur-Dadri and Bawana Nangal pipeline projects. He had also overseen the development &
commercialisation of GAIL’s state of art ultrasonic meter testing facility at Hazira, which is the first in
Asia.
A firm believer in leveraging technology for business solutions, Ranganathan as head of business
information system in GAIL, had played a pioneering role in using technology towards SMART Working in
the field of O&M and project management.
Ranganathan is actively involved in various industry forums in India and overseas. He is currently
member technical on the governing board of fluid control and research institute (FCRI) governing board
from oil & gas industry and was also a member of coordination team to finalise the Indian Standards for
Metering Design and Construction under the aegis of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
Due to his vast experience in pipeline projects, Ranganathan has been a consultant to ADB in revamping
of gas pipeline system in Afghanistan, has been representing the country in pipeline operators forum
based in Netherlands and is a working group member for prestigious Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-
Pakistan- India (TAPI) pipeline project.