More DGH gas auctions
More gas production means more gas auctions.
Over the last six months, the DGH has organised 12 gas auctions for 27.19m cm/d, a sharp increase over 14 held in the whole of 2022 for just 1.88m cm/d and nine in 2021 for 21.76m cm/d. "In the gas industry, the better the supply situation, the higher the consumption," we hear.
June (2023) saw gas consumption reaching 179.5m cm/d, up by 16% compared to June (2022). Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC) data reveals that domestic gas production stood at 97m cm/d in June (2023), rising to 100.8m cm/d in July (2023).
Among the significant gas auctions were two in April and May 2023 for 11m cm/d from Reliance-BP-operated KG-DWN-98/3 auctioned to 45 customers. "India’s gas consumption is at a multi-year high," says an analyst.
"Much of it is driven by rising domestic gas production and cheaper LNG for price-sensitive customers like gas-based power stations and refiners." Take Torrent Power.
In April-June (2023), Torrent resumed electricity production using LNG at its 1530-MW SUGEN power plant near Surat. In 2022, Torrent had drastically cut gas-based power generation, preferring to trade LNG for a profit on the IGX platform.
"Earlier, it made more business sense to trade LNG than generate power," explains a Torrent source. Of the 100.8m cm/d domestic gas production for July 2023, ONGC contributed 53m cm/d, Oil India contributed 8.5m cm/d, while Reliance-BP, HOEC, Vedanta and other private players provided 39.3m cm/d.