Angry Krishnan slams GAIL for pipeline delays
Gas regulator S.
Krishnan has scolded GAIL for being over confident and not taking its pipeline projects seriously. Krishnan and fellow Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) members on July 13 called GAIL, Adani Enterprises, and IndianOil officers to the PNGRB office in Delhi to hear objections to Mumbai-based H-Energy's proposed 705-km pipeline to evacuate R-LNG from its proposed 4m t/y LNG floating regassification facility (FSRU) off Kolkata.
Krishnan was incensed GAIL sent four middle-ranking officers who, when asked for comments, said they had nothing to add to a letter sent to the PNGRB on May 19 which argued that GAIL's proposed Jagdishpur to Haldia and Surat to Paradip pipelines covered all demand areas targeted by H-Energy. Visibly annoyed, Krishnan asked the GAIL officers why they bothered to attend if they had nothing to add? He also asked why GAIL failed to submit a schedule for the Jagdishpur to Haldia project, awarded by the oil ministry in August 2014? More, he demanded an explanation for the lack of progress on the Surat to Paradip pipeline awarded by the PNGRB in April 2012 with a 36-month completion timeframe? "Let us know if this pipeline will happen," said Krishnan, "and what the project status is?" Ending the meeting Krishnan asked all in attendance to submit detailed replies to queries raised at the meeting within 10 days signed by a CEO or director.
