Cairn wants to be a CGD player in Rajasthan
Cairn India has made a name for itself in India's E&P sector but it could soon also be selling CNG fuel to cars in partnership with state-owned Rajasthan State Petroleum (RSPCL) and GAIL Gas.
PETROWATCH learns Cairn has been talking to RSPCL and GAIL Gas since early this year about becoming a strategic partner in their retail gas venture RSPCL-GAIL Gas, incorporated on September 20. RSPCL has 24% and GAIL Gas 26% in this JV and the balance 50% is for strategic investors or financial institutions.
“Cairn wants 50% but at present we are thinking of giving them around 20%,” says a source. “Formal talks with Cairn will begin after the JV board is finalised.
” Cairn wants to enter the CGD sector to use gas from its Rajasthan fields. A Cairn source says 17m cf/d gas (500,000 cm/d) is extracted from the Raageshwari Deep field, which began production in March 2013.
Of this, around 10m cf/d (300,000 cm/d) is used within the Rajasthan fields and the remaining 7m cf/d is sold (200,000 cm/d). But Cairn wants to reduce the gas it uses internally to spare more for sales.
Our Rajasthan source adds state government officials will hold the posts of chairman and director finance at RSPCL-GAIL Gas, but the CEO and managing director will be from GAIL Gas. Names have yet to be decided.
“More directors will be added,” he says, “as we go along.”