GSPL invites cross-country gas pipeline customers
Fear of competition from rival GAIL is spurring Gujarat State Petronet (GSPL) to aggressively sign up customers for gas from three proposed cross-country pipelines.
GSPL invited EoIs on July 1 from factories interested in gas from its pipelines. "Understanding demand is vital,” says a GSPL source.
“It helps us work out which spur lines to develop off the main trunk lines.” No closing date accompanies the EoI notice.
Interested companies have been asked to detail their present gas sourcing arrangements and demand for the next three years. GSPL's main focus is customers for its 1881-km pipeline from Mallavaram in Andhra Pradesh to Vijaipur in Madhya Pradesh, passing through Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Bhilwara in Rajasthan, laid through GSPL India Transco (GITL).
Another company, GSPL India Gasnet (GIGL), is laying a 1670-km pipeline from Mehsana in Gujarat to Bhatinda in Punjab and the 740-km pipeline from Bhatinda to Srinagar in Kashmir through Jammu. These three routes are among pipelines identified by the oil ministry to help create India’s national gas grid, announced by finance minister Arun Jaitley in his budget.
GSPL's marketing campaign is in response to competition from GAIL, which is aggressively looking to sign term-sheet agreements with customers for up to 5.8m t/y of US LNG expected from 2017.