Petronet to take LNG to customer's doorstep

Petronet LNG is turning into a marketer of natural gas from being just an importer and regassifier of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The country’s biggest gas importer has launched a pilot project in Vadodara, Gujarat.

A hotel in Vadodara has agreed to source gas directly from the company’s terminal at Dahej, also in Gujarat. “The company board has agreed and approved direct marketing of gas besides the quantity that is being marketed by the promoters —GAIL, Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation. We would look at direct marketing of gas in areas not serviced by our promoters,” Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director A K Balyan told Business Standard.Under the pilot project, the hotel will put up the infrastructure such as a dispensing unit. “We have started supply of small quantity to a Vadodara-based hotel. We have many more requests for direct supply which we will evaluate in the future,” Balyan said.

The company is also looking to expand the supply of gas by roads and is evaluating creation of small storage hubs along the highways. Though regassified LNG is considered expensive by fertiliser and power companies, there is no dearth of consumers in the industry who want to move away from more expensive fuel like diesel and naphtha.

Power foray plans

The company is also ready to seek a final Board approval for setting up a power project near its terminal at Dahej. “We will seek a final approval from the Board in the next two months,” Balyan said. The Detailed Feasibility Report has already been prepared and it has favoured the foray into power. The Gujarat government has already allotted 50 hectares of land for the same. Petronet may look at setting up a 1,200-Mw gas-based power plant with an estimated investment of Rs 4,000 crore. The proposed project will have an additional benefit of availability of “cold energy” extracted from LNG. The cold energy utilisation will enable the company to raise the plant capacity and consequently reduce cost of generation.