Indian Oil LNG terminal to be ready by 2017-18
The investment in Joint Venture project is Rs.5,150 crore
Indian Oil Corporation’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal and also the first one on the east coast at Kamarajar Port will become operational by the third quarter of 2017 or early 2018.
Briefing reporters, IOC chairman B. Ashok said the company was setting up a five million-tonne LNG terminal with storage and re-gassification facilities at Ennore. The board had already given its nod for the project a month ago, he said. Civil works would begin soon.
The Rs.5,150-crore project is developed jointly by IOC and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation. IOC has 45 per cent stake and the latter five per cent. On the status of the LNG project, he said: “We received statutory approvals and land has been approved. The project management consultant is in place. Contracts have been finalised. We will start the project very soon. The implementation of the project will provide access to natural gas in this part of the country. It will play a crucial role in the economic development and in city gas distribution.”
To a query on the sourcing of LNG, Mr. Ashok said 1.2 million tonnes of would be sourced from a project in British Columbia, Canada, where the company has invested $4 billion for a 10 per cent stake. About 0.7 million tonnes would be sourced from the Cameron project in U.S. On the greenfield refinery at Paradip, he said that IOC had completed more than 97 per cent of the work. The first unit would be commissioned by February/March 2015, he added. Besides, IOC was evaluating the possibility of setting up a pipeline from Paradip to Visakhapatnam that would connect Hyderabad too.
IOC had planned to invest Rs.750 crore in Tamil Nadu during the current year out of which, Rs.550 crore had been spent towards automation and augmentation of existing facilities, he said.
On the merger of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd. with IOC, he said it could be done only after solving certain issues. The crucial issue pertained to Naftiran Intertrade Company Ltd., holding 15.40 per cent stake in CPCL.
Asked about the demand by fertilizer firms for a reduction in supply price of naphtha, he said IOC exported naphtha only when there was a demand for it. “We will stop exporting naphtha, if domestic firms ask for it,” he said.
We’ll take appropriate decision, IOC chief
Indian Oil Corporation has not received any communication from the government about the capping of budget subsidy on cooking gas at Rs.20/kg., according to the company’s Chairman B. Ashok.
Asked about the possibility of an increase in the price of cooking gas cylinders consequent to the government’s decision, Mr. Ashok pointed out that LPG prices were falling in global markets.
“We’ll take an appropriate decision taking into account all factors,” was his answer when asked what the company would do if global prices were to increase.
