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By far the most ambitious bidding round- the ninth- has successfully culminated with award of work in most of the GAs. Now it’s for the

proof of the pudding. And with most of the newer areas going to either well established players, or oil marketing companies or their subsidiaries and well known names, investments or financial closures should not be a major problem if the will is there. There is also every likelihood that whatever growth trends emerge, they should be much better than hitherto.

It is not as though there are no discordant notes. Apparently, bidding has matched the Regulator in ambition. According to reports, a number of bids were considered too ambitious for acceptance and some of the commitments made, border on the verge of disbelief. There is a likelihood of representations on this count but this is unlikely to impact the project execution.

According to a quick study by NGS, if we take the present growth from the existing GAs and the commitments made by successful bidders in the current round, we are looking at, by FY-27, 9,500 CNG stations against 1,424 as of FY-18, and 28 million domestic connections against 4.32 million (FY-18). It appears to be difficult but if this is achieved, it would indeed be an unimaginable boost to the CGD sector and would establish the segment as a major growth engine for the use of gas in the energy mix as also the economy. There is bound to be both optimism and scepticism around the targets but one thing is without doubt. And that is the commitment and support of the Government specially the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the team at the Ministry as also the Regulatory authorities. As someone who has been associated with the industry from the early 1990s, the level of interest, intent and support from the Government is admirable.

And more such support will undoubtedly be needed to make this ambitious plan a success. The industry has also to put its best foot forward. And here the role of all the stakeholders will be crucial, the equipment suppliers, the retro fitters and the auto industry, especially the latter. Availability and accessibility of all the related areas - natural gas, pipelines, equipment, retrofitting, cascades, etc. and sufficient natural gas vehicles in the bus, commercial vehicle and three wheeler segment. The Government, on its part, has assured of gas availability and its now upto the other players to play their part. One of the other features which has hitherto not been seriously considered but will have to be taken up now is demand generation through creation of awareness about the availability, benefits etc. including exploring newer areas of demand and development of new applications. Maybe it’s about time the industry and the vehicle producers thought of CNG and NGVs in terms of offering as a value added product and initiated suitable promotion for the same.

As the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating!

OCTOBER 2018

Ms. Deepika Lal +919999394488 [email protected]

Please send your comments to:

Mr. Afsir Ahmad +919818763429 [email protected]

Contents:Editorial Gas Statistics-Domestic and International City Gas Distribution Successful ninth round brings reason to cheerNews Briefs

13-6

7-1516-18

Vivek JoshiExecutive Director

9th bidding roundNow for the proof of the Pudding!

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WE ARE THEGREEN FUTURE. WE ARE MGLThe foundation of future lies in the present.At present, Mahanagar Gas Limitied (MGL) is an organisation that reaches over 10 lakh families everyday through its ever expanding Piped Natural Gas (PNG) network. Simultaneously, it also fuels over 6 lakh vehicles with clean fuel - Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

This reach concludes into lesser pollution withevery progressing day.

L

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GAS PRODUCTION/CONSUMPTION/IMPORTSTREND IN GAS PRODUCTION/CONSUMPTION/IMPORTS

SECTOR-WISE GAS CONSUMPTION OF DOMESTIC GAS AND RLNG (JULY 2018)

TREND IN CONSUMPTION OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS In ‘000 MT 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 (P) Apr-18 May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18

Consumption of LPG 18000 19623 21608 23343 1862 2050 1934 2043

Consumption of Naphtha 11082 13271 13241 12549 1171 957 1016 1140

Consumption of MS 19075 21847 23765 26175 2284 2457 2378 2314

Consumption of HSD 69416 74647 76027 81073 7156 7550 7326 6610

Consumption of FO & LSHS 5961 6632 7150 6761 526 519 502 517

Consumption of Petcoke 14558 19297 23964 26192 1937 1968 2166 2237Source: PPAC, NGS Research

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Gas production and LNG imports grew by ~3% and 6.6% respectively, with increasing share of LNG in the consumption.

Gas consumption in the power and fertilizer sector dropped below 50% with the CGD sector increasing its share in the pie. Refinery & petrochemical are the sectors to watch out in the future.

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GAS - PRICE & ANALYTICSCRUDE PRICE (INDIAN BASKET) DOMESTIC GAS PRICE ($/MMBTU)

BRENT/WTI/JAPAN OIL IMPORT PRICE

INTERNATIONAL GAS/LNG PRICES ($/MMBTU)

Despite all the disruptions the Henry Hub price has remained steadfast. However, LNG price has increased in line with crude price

Since May 18, the Indian crude basket price has been on a declining trend but has been completely offset by the rising Dollar vis-a-vis RupeeCrude price has more or less remained steady. it is however expected to go up in view of recent developments

Source: NGS Research, PPAC, EIA, LNG Journal

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DOMESTIC GAS PRICE ($/MMBTU)

CNG SALES (‘000 TONNES) AS ON 1.4.2018

CNG STATIONS & VEHICLES (AS ON 1.8.2018)

CGD FACTSHEET AS OF SEP 2018CNG/PNGTotal gas consumption by CGD (2017-18) (mmscmd) 24

No. of GAs covered 179

No. of CNG stations (as of Aug 1, 2018) 1458

Customer mix (million)

CNG vehicles (Aug 1, 2018) 3.2

PNG connections (Aug 1, 2018) 4.56

CGD sales (2017-18) mmscmd 24

CNG sales mmscmd 10.4

PNG sales mmscmd 13.6

State Company NameNo. of

companies (2018)

2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18

GujaratAdani Gas, Gujarat Gas, Sabarmati Gas, HPCL, Vadodara Gas, Charotar Gas Sahkari, IRM Energy 7

409.1 441.8 463.5 475.9 503.06 546.3 612

Delhi Indraprastha Gas (IGL) 1 649.3 695.1 697.6 717.1 738.3 803.8 1016

Rajasthan (Kota) Rajasthan State Gas Limited 1 0.2 0.8 1.6 2.6 3.68 4.27 5

Maharashtra Mahanagar Gas, MNGL, Gujarat Gas 3 382.8 425.1 476.0 531.4 565.01 592.6 630

Andhra Pradesh/Telangana

Bhagyanagar Gas Ltd., Godavari Gas Pvt. Ltd., Megha Engineering 3

15.8 24.7 24.6 25.8 27.45 28.53 32

U.PGreen Gas, Central UP Gas, Siti Energy, GAIL Gas, Sanwaria Gas, Indraprastha Gas, Adani Gas, Indian Oil-Adani Gas 8

112.6 137.7 162.6 184.8 211.61 245.42 153

Tripura Tripura Natural Gas Co. Ltd.(TNGCL) Agartala 1 3.2 4.3 6.8 9.5 11.19 12.3 13

M.P Aavantika Gas Ltd. (Indore) and GAIL Gas Ltd 2 10.7 14.5 15.9 16.6 19.19 21.59 25

Haryana Haryana City Gas Ltd., GAIL Gas Ltd., Adani Gas Ltd, IGL 4 54.0 73.2 78.2 72.3 74.59 109 144

West Bengal GEECL 1 0.0 0.6 1.2 1.2 1.36 1.64 2

Karnataka GAIL Gas 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01

Chandigarh IOC-Adani Gas 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 5

Kerala IOC-Adani Gas 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0

Daman IOC-Adani Gas 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1

Odisha GAIL 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0

Total 25* 1637.7 1817.8 1928.0 2037.2 2155.44 2365.5 2638

*Some entities are operating in more than one state; hence their number is taken once only.

State Company Name Geographical Area No. of CNG Stations

No. of CNG Vehicles

GujaratSabarmati Gas Ltd, Gujarat Gas Ltd, Adani Gas Ltd, Vadodara Gas Ltd, HPCL, Charotar Gas Sahakari Mandal Ltd, IRM Energy Ltd.

Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Sabarkantha and Patan, SuratBharuch-Ankleswar GA, Nadiad GA,Navsari GA, Rajkot GA, Surendra Nagar GA, Hazira GA, Valsad GA, Jamnagar GA, Bhavnagar GA, Kutch (West) GA, Palghar District and Thane Rural GA, UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli GA, Amreli District GA, DahejVagra Taluka GA, Dahod District GA, Panchmahal District GA, Anand (Exclusive area authorised) district GA, Ahmedabad (Excluding area already authorised) district GA, Vadodara, Vadodara Rural and Ahmedabad Urban, Anand and Palanpur.

463 947869

Delhi / NCR Indraprastha Gas, Delhi NCT of Delhi (Including Noida & Ghaziabad) 447 1043639

MaharashtraMahanagar Gas Ltd, Maharashtra Natural Gas Ltd, Gujarat Gas Limited

Mumbai, Greater Mumbai including Thane City, Mira Bhayender, Navi Mumbai, Ambernath, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Dombivli, Badlapur, Ulhasnagar, Panvel, Kharghar & Taloja, Pune City including Pimpri Chinchwad along with adjoining contiguous areas of Hinjewadi, Chakan & Talegaon GA, Raigarh District and Palghar and Thane Rural.

272 838178

Andhra Pradesh Bhagyanagar Gas Ltd, Godavari Gas Pvt.Ltd. Kakinada, Vijayawada, East/ West Godavari, Krishna 25 18360

Telangana Bhagyanagar Gas Ltd Hyderabad 33 24518

Rajasthan Rajasthan State Gas Limited Kota, Neemrana and Kukas 5 7376

U.P.GAIL Gas Ltd, Sanwariya Gas Ltd, Green Gas Ltd, Central U.P. Gas Ltd, Siti Energy Ltd, Adani Gas Ltd, Indian Oil-Adani Gas Pvt. Ltd

Meerut, Divyapur, Mathura, Agra, Kanpur, Bareilly, Lucknow, Moradabad, Firozabad Geographical Area (TTZ), Khurja, and Allahabad

89 141763

Tripura Tripura Natural Gas Co. Ltd Agartala 6 10902

M.P. Aavantika Gas Ltd, GAIL Gas Ltd Dewas, Vijaipur, Indore including Ujjain, Gwalior, Pithampur 31 30837

HaryanaHaryana City Gas Distribution Ltd, Adani Gas Limited, GAIL Gas Ltd., Indraprastha Gas Limited

Sonepat, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Rewadi, Panipat 52 126877

West Bengal GEECL Kolkata, Asansol, Raniganj, Durgapur 7 3553

Karnataka GAIL Gas Ltd. Bengaluru, Tumkur, Belgaum 9 492

Chandigarh IOC-Adani Chandigarh 4 4500

Daman & Diu IOC-Adani Daman and Diu 2 750

Dadra & Nagar Haveli Gujarat Gas Ltd. Dadra & Nagar Haveli 3 843

Odisha GAIL (India) Ltd. Bhubaneswar 4 1106

Kerala IOC-Adani Ernakulam 4 250

Punjab IRM Energy Fatehgarh Sahib 1 184

Uttarakhand IOC-Adani Udham Singh Nagar 1 0

All India 1458 3201997

The total number of GAs have increased to 179 after the recent award of additional 86 GAs (two pending) under the ninth round. Both CNG and PNG segments have seen good growth:

Source: NGS Research, PPAC, Parliament website

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PNG Status

As on 1.8.2018

State City Covered Company Domestic PNG

Comm. PNG

Ind. PNG Total

Delhi / NCR Indraprastha Gas, Delhi NCT of Delhi (Including Noida & Ghaziabad) 936802 2277 1330 940409

MaharashtraMahanagar Gas Ltd, Maharashtra Natural Gas Ltd, Gujarat Gas Limited

Mumbai, Greater Mumbai including Thane City, Mira Bhayender, Navi Mumbai, Ambernath, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Dombivli, Badlapur, Ulhasnagar, Panvel, Kharghar & Taloja, Pune City including Pimpri Chinchwad along with adjoining contiguous areas of Hinjewadi, Chakan & Talegaon GA, Raigarh District and Palghar and Thane Rural.

1273606 3858 235 1277699

GujaratSabarmati Gas Ltd, Gujarat Gas Ltd, Adani Gas Ltd, Vadodara Gas Ltd, HPCL, Charotar Gas Sahakari Mandal Ltd, IRM Energy Ltd.

Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Sabarkantha and Patan, SuratBharuch-Ankleswar GA, Nadiad GA,Navsari GA, Rajkot GA, Surendra Nagar GA, Hazira GA, Valsad GA, Jamnagar GA, Bhavnagar GA, Kutch (West) GA, Palghar District and Thane Rural GA, UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli GA, Amreli District GA, DahejVagra Taluka GA, Dahod District GA, Panchmahal District GA, Anand (Exclusive area authorised) district GA, Ahmedabad (Excluding area already authorised) district GA, Vadodara, Vadodara Rural and Ahmedabad Urban, Anand and Palanpur.

1907663 18098 4648 1930409

U.P.

GAIL Gas Ltd, Sanwariya Gas Ltd, Green Gas Ltd, Central U.P. Gas Ltd, Siti Energy Ltd, Adani Gas Ltd, Indian Oil-Adani Gas Pvt. Ltd

Meerut, Divyapur, Mathura, Agra, Kanpur, Bareilly, Lucknow, Moradabad, Firozabad Geographical Area (TTZ), Khurja, and Allahabad

126738 399 650 127787

Tripura Tripura Natural Gas Co. Ltd Agartala 35946 415 49 36410

M.P. Aavantika Gas Ltd, GAIL Gas Ltd Dewas, Vijaipur, Indore including Ujjain, Gwalior, Pithampur 34771 104 139 35014

Rajasthan Rajasthan State Gas Limited Kota, Neemrana, Kukas 617 4 15 636

Assam Assam Gas Company Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sibsagar,Jorhat 31903 1053 411 33367

Andhra PradeshBhagyanagar Gas Ltd, Godavari Gas Pvt.Ltd.

Kakinada, Vijayawada, East/ West Godavari, Krishna 19946 56 1 20003

Telangana Bhagyanagar Gas Ltd Hyderabad 8068 9 9 8086

HaryanaHaryana City Gas Distribution Ltd, Adani Gas Limited, GAIL Gas Ltd., Indraprastha Gas Limited

Sonepat, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Rewadi, Panipat 84675 251 386 85312

Karnataka GAIL Gas Ltd. Bengaluru, Tumkur, Belgaum 7232 72 34 7338

Chandigarh IOC-Adani Chandigarh 42122 0 0 42122

Kerala Ernakulam IOC-Adani Gas 11172 3 0 11175

Dadra & Nagar Haveli Gujarat Gas Ltd. Dadra & Nagar Haveli 1032 9 10 1051

Daman and Diu Daman and Diu IOC-Adani Gas 2713 20 7 2740

Odisha GAIl India Ltd. Bhubaneswar 117 0 0 117

Punjab IRM Energy Fatehgarh Sahib 60 0 4 64

Uttarakhand IOC-Adani Udham Sing Nagar 1670 0 0 1670

Total 4526853 26628 7928 4561409

CNG/PNG

Source: NGS Research, PPAC

CNG GROWTH OVER THE YEARSPNG GROWTH OVER THE YEARS

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CITY GAS DISTRIBUTION-SUCCESSFUL NINTH ROUND BRINGS REASON TO CHEER BUT ALSO CHALLENGES

In August 2018, the Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Body (PNGRB) completed the ninth round of bidding for City Gas Distribution (CGD) sector in India. The bidding targeted 86 Geographical Areas (GA) which covers population of 364.95 million (or 29% of India’s total population) spread over 787,401 sq. km. of area (or 24% of India’s total geographical area). The 86 GAs cover 174 districts (156 complete and 18 part), spread over 22 states and Union Territories (UTs) and cover over 75 million households.

The latest round was till now the biggest and the most successful round undertaken. Of the 106 GA offered for bidding under the previous eight rounds, only 56 had got awarded. The worst bidding rounds were 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th & 7th wherein a cumulative of 86 GA were offered for bidding and only 38 got awarded.

To put things into perspective, the 9th round of bidding is targeting a population which is more than that of the United States of America (approximately 329,256,465) and covers an area which is slightly more than the combined area of Spain & United Kingdom (approximately area for Spain & UK is 505,992 & 244,820 sq. km. respectively). The enormity of perspective further gets magnified when the combined commitment of successful bidders is compared with the existing status (Refer Table at the end)

The bidding process saw participation from leading public and private sector companies in India as well as foreign bidders for the first time. There were a total 38 bidding companies and the total number of bids received for 86 GAs was 406. For 39 GAs, the number of bids received for each GA was >= 4. There was not even a single GA which did not receive any bid. The total bid-bond received under 406 bids for 86 GAs was ~ US$300 million. The total performance bank guarantee for the 86 GAs was ~ US$464 million.

One of the reasons for the success was the

By V C Chittoda & Deepak Sharma

Notable steps taken by PNGRB to incentivize investment in ninth round of CGD • Financial Closure & Gas Tie-up: Time for financial

closure and gas tie-up increased to 270 days from 180 daysearlier.

• Marketing Exclusivity: Increased from 5 years earlier to 8 years and, subsequently extendable by upto 2 years, based on physical performance.

• Pipeline Connectivity: Gas pipelinecompany to provide connectivity within 180/270 days.

• Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG): PBG capped at Rs 50 crore (approx US$7.5 million) and is linked to population of GA; ‘Additional Bid Bond’ (it was the basis on which winning bid was decided in case bidders quote were same) has been discontinued. PBG was a big deterrent with potential bidders since the big companies would give higher guarantees and would deter smaller companies to enter the game. Et det vit, consusse

Critical enablers by MoPNG and Supreme court • Support for CNG in public transport• Ban on petcoke and FO in prominent areas - Delhi,

Haryana, Uttar Pradesh andRajasthan and hopefully more states will follow

• Domestic gas allocation for PNG supply to household and CNG

• Designated CGD as “Public Utility”• State governments’ commitment for facilitation of

CGD Networks• Government of India’s drive to connect 10 million

households to PNG by 2020• Restriction on the import of petcoke

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Emerging Players in CGD IndustryLoIs for 84 GAs have been issued to 22 entities out of which 3 entities participated for the first time. After the latest round, ‘Adani Gas, IOC, BPCL-Bharat Gas Resources, IOC-Adani Gas, GAIL Gas, GAIL India, Torrent Gas and Megha Engineering have emerged as leading contenders to existing established CGD companies such as Gujarat Gas, Indraprastha Gas and Mahanagar Gas. These companies, it seems can be expected to have the necessary resources and competence to undertake the projects.

The successful bidders have given a combined commitment of about 21million domestic PNG connections and 4,346 CNG stations for transport sector by 30th September 2026 (subject to macro & micro enabling factors that are required for the growth of CGD sector). It is hoped that this initiative would help in creating a robust city gas distribution infrastructure at an estimated investment of about Rs. 70,000 crore (about US$ 10.5 billion).

Post ninth round of bidding, CGD is expected to be available in 179 GAs comprising 280 districts (263

complete and 17 part) spread over 26 states and UTs covering more than 50 percent of India’s population and 35 percent of its geographical area.This will be a notable achievement because unlike upto now, 80% of existing CGD was limited to western India (Gujarat

& Mumbai) and National Capital Region (NCR) in northern India and post-ninth round eastern and southern India have been brought on the CGD map.

It is interesting that the existing three big ones viz

Indraprastha Gas Limited, Mahanagar Gas Limited and Gujarat Gas Limited, who among them and their joint ventures account for almost over 80 per cent ofthe industry business today, have been given serious challenge by some of the Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) of India and the newcomers combined. In a way OMC participation is understandable because gas would be supplementing liquid petroleum mostly, therefore the need to protect their revenue.As CNG would impact on their petrol sales directly plus they would have the advantage of starting CNG dispensing quickly from their existing retail outlets and at minimal cost.

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With better parameters of the bidding criteria and enabling environment the ninth round of bidding resulted in much better response than the previous rounds. The round commenced in April 2018 followed by roadshows in major financial cities of India and abroad. Bid submission deadline was July 10, 2018 and by July 18, 2018, all technical bids were opened and almost all GAs were awarded by September.

“The successful bidders have given a combined

commitment of about 21 million domestic PNG

connections and 4,346 CNG stations for transport

sector by 30th September 2026. The round is

expected to bring investment of about Rs. 70,000 crore (about US$ 10.5 billion)”

CGD sector is now entering a different growth period with the success of the ninth round and on the face of it, there appears to be reason for being positive. 406 bids for 86 areas is extremely encouraging. There had been some skepticism in various quarters when PNGRB had announced the intention to invite bids for nearly 86 GAs. NGS however, had largely welcomed it as a bold move. Apart from that, as NGS had said before, the Regulator had interacted in a very positive frame with the industry on the bidding criteria and other aspects and introduced modifications wherever possible to remove or at least ease some of the irritants and anomalies in the previous rounds’ criteria and followed this up with first-ever sequence of road shows. All this seems to have borne some result going by the responses and the soundness of the major bidders.

consultative approach by PNGRB. It held meetings with various stakeholders and based on feedback, it incorporated necessary modifications in its regulations for promoting participation in CGD sector.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Supreme Court of India have also contributed by continuing with key enabling policies for the growth of CGD in India.

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Challenges… Tough task ahead Though NGS remains extremely hopeful, however in the initial years, progress would need to be monitored and studied carefully as irrespective of the resources at the command of the entities - working simultaneouslyin so many areas will not be an easy task and it could lead to highly stretched resources.

Then, there are questions of viability and thevast differences in the feasibility of the areas and the time frames. There could be serious constraints like obtaining timely permissions for project execution, availability of skilled/technical manpower at several levels, adequate number of qualified contractors, inspection and quality assurance agencies, equipment and pipeline suppliers. Connectivity to the City Gate Station from the nearest gas pipeline could be a challenge and will largely depend upon the distance and the volume of gas.

Specifically to overcome these challenges NGS has been exploring various framework to identify ‘Critical Success Factors’ for successful completion of the City Gas Distribution Projects, and we have identified ‘Critical Success Factors’ (not in any particular priority) as (i) Statutory Approvals (ii) Fund Management (iii) Inventory Management (iv) Skilled Manpower. These ‘Critical Success Factors’ will form the foundation of a successful CGD project.

Statutory ApprovalsIt is very well known that one of the major problems

the industry has faced is the issue of approvals. Although things have improved somewhat, but the issue remains. NGS conducted a study regarding time required for obtaining pipeline laying permissions (off-line mode) from statutory agencies and, (i) The summary of time required to obtain permissions from some of the statutory agencies; (ii) The % of time taken by statutory authorities towards administrative activities for issue of permissions; is highlighted below for ready reference. In case of online mode of obtaining permissions, the time taken to obtain permissions is much lower as it considerably brings down the time required for administrative activities.

In addition to statutory permissions for pipeline laying there are many other permissions that are required by CGD entities and it will be very difficult to coordinate the same in a synchronized manner. Therefore, it is essential that CGD entities synchronize their efforts, so that ‘Ministry of Urban Development, Local Municipal Body, State Governments and other Statutory Agencies’ agree and implement (i) Fixed Time Frame for approvals: This time frame needs to be fixed & monitored online so that CGD entities can smoothly plan out the execution project. Granting permissions/NOC’s for CGD sector could be covered under “Public Charter Services”: (ii) Issue of permission by default: If the application of permission by CGD entity is not objected-to/questioned with reasons, within a specified time from the date of application, then permission should be considered

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to have been granted to CGD entity by default: (iii) Single Window clearance: Single Window clearance along with single point responsibility for release of permissions in time bound manner for all umbrella permissions for expeditious implementation: (iv) Online mode of permissions: Online mode of permission process may be adopted for the issuance of permissions & NOC’s by statutory authorities: (v) Standardization of permission process: Standardization of the process of granting permissions by Local/Municipal Authorities for laying CGD infrastructure– ‘Establishment of Nodal Agency, Standardization of permission process, Applicable Rates/Charges and envisaging E-permission system through Nodal Agency: (vi) Uniform and reasonable Restoration Charges: The lack of ‘Uniform Restoration Charges’ is a common issue for all CGD companies, and Ministry of Urban Development, Govt. of India, could evolve a national policy in the said matter: (vii) Digital mapping of existing utilities: It is pertinent to mention that existing utilities must be mapped and made available on-line for permission related matters.

Fund Management and Geographical areas/densityDuring the road show of 9th round of CGD bidding process, PNGRB had indicated operating margins of Indraprastha Gas Limited and Mahanagar Gas Limited (for FY13 to FY17) in the range of 22% to 32 % while return on capital employed for these two companies were in the range of 17% to 22%. However, the operating margins for GAIL Gas Limited & Gujarat Gas Limited indicated is in the range of 8% to 14% and for return on capital employed, it is 4% to 10% (for Gujarat Gas Limited it is for FY15 to FY17).

This is indicative of financial challenges in the business model of CGD business. NGS further researched on the same and it noticed that one of the possible reasons could be ‘the high population density’ in the areas in which Indraprastha Gas Limited and Mahanagar Gas Limited are operating. The population density of Delhi-NCT is approximately 11,250 while for Mumbai-Mega City, it is approximately 20,500. A quick comparison with GAs being authorized by PNGRB in 9th round

of bidding indicate that majority of GAs (about 75%) fall in the population density range of 250 to 1,000 which is less than 10% of Delhi-NCT & 5% of Mumbai-MegaCity.

The second possible reason could be the area of GA. The area of Delhi-NCT is approximately 1,500 sq.kms. while for Mumbai-Mega City, it is approximately 600. A quick comparison with GAs being authorized by

PNGRB in 9th round of bidding indicate that about 50% of GAs are greater than 4 times and about 30% of GAs are greater than 2 times, when compared to Delhi-NCT & Mumbai-MegaCity. Low population density and large area of operations, lead to high project & operating cost, and the combination of both these factors, has a very high likelihood of reduced operating margin and return on capital.

One of the key reasons for time overrun are statutory approvals, and this critical factor is beyond the control of CGD entities. This further complicates inventory management because of uncertainty of time factor. Fund management gets really complicated as - it has strong correlation with time overrun & inventory management.

Inventory ManagementCGD industry predominantly operates either in public or private areas. Therefore majority of time, it is operating in areas which are neither owned by it nor under its direct/indirect control. This complex nature creates huge problems in planning which ultimately creates a scenario of either stock-out or inventory levels being many times more than the

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required stock levels. As inventory is synonymous with – ‘cash remaining idle’, therefore NGS is of the view that inventory management could play a critical role in the development and operation of the CGD sector. Inventory management is likely to get more complicated going forward as the reliability of suppliers will be a major concern due to the newly approved 86 GAs that are expected to shortly enter into the project phase.

Skilled Manpower The commitments undertaken for the new GAs (i.e 21 million domestic connections and 4364 CNG stations) would require skilled manpower such as gas fitters, pipe welders (for steel pipeline), fusion welders (for MDPE), CNG dispending personnel, compressor operators, etc. This manpower would be sourced mostly locally and would need adequate skill development programmes in the awarded areas. Apart from direct skilled manpower needed, manpower would also be needed for CNG conversion

States’ share in CGD business

State

% Market share in

total CNG vehicles

% Market share in

CNG sales

% market share in PNG connections

Gujarat 29.6 23.2 42.32

Delhi 32.59 38.51 20.62

Maharashtra 26.18 23.88 28.01

Andhra Pradesh/Telangana 1.34 1.21 0.62

Rajasthan 0.23 0.19 0.01

U.P. 4.43 5.8 2.8

Tripura 0.34 0.49 0.8

M.P. 0.96 0.95 0.77

Haryana 3.96 5.46 1.87

West Bengal 0.11 0.08 0

Karnataka 0.02 0 0.16

Chandigarh 0.14 0.19 0.92

Daman & Diu 0.02 0.04 0.06

Dadra & Nagar Haveli 0.03 0 0.02

Odisha 0.03 0 0

Kerala 0.01 0 0.24

Punjab 0.01 0 0

Uttarakhand 0 0 0.04

Assam 0 0 0.73

All India 100 100 100

of vehicles and local CNG cylinder testing certification. Thus, synergized skill development programmes would be essential for successful implementation of CGD projects.

CGD Project management and innovation could be the key to success of the new CGD projects on the anvil. Of course, at the macro level, a constant focus is needed on pushing gas for the sectoral growth in government policies and a coordinated/integrated approach across sectors to drive the demand for gas since the sector is going to face many challenges including regulatory, fiscal and competition from alternate fuels. Efforts must be made to increase natural gas production while also creating import infrastructure to meet the growing domestic demand. City gas should be made more market friendly with less intervention from the regulators.

NGS feels that the sector is entering into an interesting phase as the successful bidders of PNGRB’s 9th round have given a combined commitment of about 21million domestic PNG connections and 4346 CNG stations for transport sector by 30th September 2026. Those CGD entities that are able to manage & synergize the critical success factors – ‘Statutory Approvals, Fund Management, Inventory Management and Skilled Manpower’ will have a high chance of achieving its commitment given to PNGRB. It will clearly be a challenge but given the tools available to the CGD sector we hope that the industry will meet the challenges and come out on top. It will be a good beginning for the PNGRB to monitor the development of 86 new GA and also the 93 existing GAs so as to continuously identify critical success factors for the CGD sector.

A good beginning has been made and it is hoped that it gives the necessary impetusto the CGD sector.

Sources:1. Press releases by PNGRB during its 9th round of

bidding process.2. Information shared by PNGRB during its roadshow

events for its 9th round of bidding process.3. NGS Gas Statistics for July 2018.4. NGS study on 'Statutory Approvals' and ' Inventory

Management'.

86 areas offered under the Ninth round of CGD bidding

GA ID No. State/UT Geographical Areas

(Districts Name)

No of Bids for GA

Winning EntityNetwork

Tariff (Rs./MMBTU)

Compres-sion Tariff

(Rs./MMB-TU)

CNG Station Work Program

PNG Connec-tions Work

Program

Steel Pipe (Inch-km)

Work Program

1 Andhra Pradesh

Srikakulam / Visakhapatnam / Vizianagarm 15 Official Press Release Awaited

2 Assam Cachar / Hailakandi / Karim-ganj 3

Assam Gas Company Limited, Oil India Limited & GAIL Gas

Limited (Consortium)30 2 21 95,001 751

3 Assam Kamrup / Kamrup Metro-politan 4

Assam Gas Company Limited, Oil India Limited & GAIL Gas

Limited (Consortium)30 2 51 321,001 961

4 Bihar Aurangabad / Kaimur / Rohtas 1 Indian Oil Corporation Limited 30 2 12 14,271 800

5 Bihar Begusarai 3 Think Gas Investments PTE Limited (Consortium) 30 2 25 169,787 762

6 Bihar Gaya / Nalanda 2 Indian Oil-Adani Gas Private Limited 30 2 46 37,591 1,304

7 Daman & Diu (UT) Diu / Gir Somnath 3 IRM Energy Private Limited 30 2 35 91,000 188

8 Gujarat Surendranagar (Part) 3 Adani Gas Limited 30 2 20 87,005 839

9 Gujarat Barwala Taluka / Ranpur taluka 3 Adani Gas Limited 30 2 4 12,098 209

10 Gujarat Dangs / Tapti / Surat (Part) / Navsari (Part) 2 Adani Gas Limited 30 2 25 90,191 1,010

11 Gujarat Junagadh 3 Torrent Gas Private Limited 30 2 45 77,400 3,186

12

GAs under the Ninth round of CGD bidding

Natural Gas Society

TOP WINNING ENTITIES

Sl_No. Winning EntityNo. of

Geographical Areas Won

1 Adani Gas Limited 13

2 Bharat Gas Resources Limited 11

3 Torrent Gas Private Limited 10

4 Indian Oil-Adani Gas Private Limited 9

5 Indian Oil Corporation Limited 7

6 GAIL Gas Limited 5

7AG&P LNG Marketing PTE Limited & Atlantic Gulf & Pacific (and its

consortium)4

8Megha Engineering & Infrastructures

Limited4

9Think Gas Investments PTE Limited (and

its consortium)4

10 Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited 3

11 Other Entities Combined Together 14

Note - Official Press Release Awaited for 2 GA

The Top 5 Companies (Adani, Bharat Gas, Torrent, IOC, IOC-Adani) got 50 GAs out of the total 84 GAs awarded till now.

13


(Districts Name)

No of Bids for GA


Tariff (Rs./MMBTU)

Com-pression

Tariff (Rs./MMBTU)

CNG Station Work Pro-

gram


Program


Work Program

12 Gujarat Kheda (Part) / Morbi (Part) / Mahisagar 4 Adani Gas Limited 30 2 30 175,007 1,010

13 Gujarat Narmada (Rajpipla) 1 Gujarat Gas Limited 30 2 4 1,750 55

14 Gujarat Porbandar 3 Adani Gas Limited 30 2 12 60,464 704

15Haryana & Himachal Pradesh

Panchkula (Part) / Sirmaur / Shimla / Solan 2 Indian Oil-Adani Gas Private

Limited 30 2 45 32,360 -

16 Haryana Bhiwani / Charkhi Dadri / Mahendragarh 5 Adani Gas Limited 30 2 60 150,464 1,010

17 Haryana Hisar 10Consortium of Haryana City

Gas Kapil Chopra Enterprise & Rati Chopra

30 2 46 251,370 1,991

18 Haryana Jhajjar 14 Official Press Release Awaited

19 Haryana Sonipat (Part) / Jind 5 Hindustan Petroleum Corpora-tion Ltd 30 2 38 98,000 1,183

20 Haryana Nuh / Palwal 8 Adani Gas Limited 30 2 60 181,019 803

21 Himachal Pradesh Bilaspur / Hamirpur / Una 2 Bharat Gas Resources Limited 30 2 10 28,170 -

22 Jharkhand Bokaro / Hazaribagh / Ramgarh 3 Indian Oil Corporation Limited 30 2 99 79,052 1,300

23 Jharkhand Giridih / Dhanbad 2 GAIL Gas Limited 30 2 30 50,000 650

24 Karnataka Chitradurga / Devangere 3 Unison Enviro Private Limited 30 2 42 101,000 75

25 Karnataka Udupi 5 Adani Gas Limited 30 2 11 110,099 569

26 Karnataka Balliari / Gadag 2 Bharat Gas Resources Limited 30 2 24 53,850 1,365

27 Karnataka Bidar 1 Bharat Gas Resources Limited 30 2 4 6,200 143

28 Karnataka Dakshina Kannada 13 GAIL Gas Limited 30 2 100 350,000 1,250

29 Karnataka Ramanagara 8 Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited 30 2 37 113,115 354

30 Kerala Kozhikode / Wayanad 7 Indian Oil-Adani Gas Private Limited 30 2 142 421,277 927

31 Kerala Malappuram 6 Indian Oil-Adani Gas Private Limited 30 2 130 338,518 1,671

32Kerala &

Puducherry (UT)

Kannur / Kasargod / Mahe 4 Indian Oil-Adani Gas Private Limited 30 2 125 367,176 1,103

33 Kerala Palakkad / Thrissur 7 Indian Oil-Adani Gas Private Limited 30 2 200 600,000 2,126

34 Madhya Pradesh Bhoopal / Rajgarh 9 Think Gas Investments PTE

Limited (Consortium) 30 2 104 550,222 2,508

35 Madhya Pradesh Guna 2 Indian Oil Corporation Limited 30 2 7 4,900 400

36 Madhya Pradesh Rewa 1 Indian Oil Corporation Limited 30 2 18 7,861 950

37 Madhya Pradesh Satna / Shandol 3 Bharat Gas Resources Limited 30 2 8 15,600 196

38 Maharash-tra Ahmednagar / Aurangabad 10 Bharat Gas Resources Limited 30 2 106 708,100 2,109

39 Maharash-tra Valsad (Part) / Dhule / Nashik 11 Maharashtra Natural Gas

Limited 30 2 156 937,965 2,181

40 Maharash-tra Latur / Osamanabad 1 Unison Enviro Private Limited 30 2 30 9,999 10

41 Maharash-tra Sangli / Satara 9 Bharat Gas Resources Limited 30 2 64 376,700 2,112

Natural Gas Society

Natural Gas Society

14


(Districts Name)

No of Bids for GA


Tariff (Rs./MMBTU)

Com-pression

Tariff (Rs./MMBTU)


gram


Program


Work Program

42 Maharash-tra Sindhudurg 4 Maharashtra Natural Gas

Limited 30 2 25 25,779 759

43 Odisha Angul / Dhekanal 2 Bharat Gas Resources Limited 30 2 21 22,600 1,464

44 Odisha Sundargarh / Jharsuguda 3 GAIL Gas Limited 30 2 20 100,000 500

45 Odisha Balasore / Bhadrak / May-urbhanj 1 Adani Gas Limited 30 2 20 150,464 506

46 Odisha Bargarh / Debagarh / Sam-balpur 2 Bharat Gas Resources Limited 30 2 11 13,910 650

47 Odisha Ganjam / Nayagarh / Puri 1 GAIL Gas Limited 30 2 15 51,000 650

48 Odisha Jagatsinghpur / Kendrapara 2 Bharat Gas Resources Limited 30 2 10 12,550 791

49 Odisha Jaipur / Kendujhar 2 Bharat Gas Resources Limited 30 2 19 18,200 2,442

50Puducherry (UT) & Tamil

NaduKaraikal / Nagapattinam 6 Torrent Gas Private Limited 30 2 27 166,644 495

51 Puducherry (UT) Puducherry 9

Consortium of SKN Haryana City Gas Distribution Pvt. Ltd.

& Chopra Electricals30 2 130 275,000 2,100

52 Punjab Patiala / SAS Nagar (Part) / Sangrur 11 Torrent Gas Private Limited 30 2 54 520,200 2,610

53 Punjab Barnala / Ludhiana (Part) / Moga 9 Think Gas Investments PTE


54 Punjab Jalandhar (Part) / Kapurthala / SBS Nagar 8 Think Gas Investments PTE


55 Rajasthan Barmer / Jaisalmer / Jodhpur 9AG&P LNG Marketing PTE Lim-

ited & Atlantic Gulf & Pacific (Consortium)

30 2 80 551,111 -

56 Rajasthan Alwar (Part) / Jaipur 14 Torrent Gas Private Limited 30 2 132 1,320,000 12,030

57 Rajasthan Kota (Part) / Baran / Rawatb-hata Taluka 2 Torrent Gas Private Limited 30 2 27 60,300 3,393

58 Rajasthan Bilwara / Bundi 6 Adani Gas Limited 30 2 25 270,056 659

59 Rajasthan Chittorgarh (Part) / Udaipur 6 Adani Gas Limited 30 2 70 400,583 1,568

60 Rajasthan Dholpur 2 Essel Gas Company Limited 30.06 2.07 14 18,000 412

61 Tamil Nadu Kanchipuram 8 AG&P LNG Marketing PTE LTD 30 2 111 1,151,111 668

62 Tamil Nadu Chennai / Tiruvallur 10 Torrent Gas Private Limited 30 2 222 3,300,000 6,666

63 Tamil Nadu Coimbatore 13 Indian Oil Corporation Limited 30 2 273 912,783 2,500

64 Tamil Nadu Cuddalore / Nagapatinam / Tiruvarur 5 Adani Gas Limited 30 2 40 300,089 839

65 Tamil Nadu Ramanathapuram 3AG&P LNG Marketing PTE Lim-

ited & Atlantic Gulf & Pacific (Consortium)

30 2 11 41,311 251

66 Tamil Nadu Salem 7 Indian Oil Corporation Limited 30 2 158 337,062 1,368

67 Tamil Nadu Tiruppur 7 Adani Gas Limited 30 2 75 375,005 829

68 Telangana Bhadradri Kothagudem / Khammam 3 Megha Engineering & Infra-

structures Limited 30 2 12 99,999 800

69 Telangana Jagtial / Peddapalle / Karim-nagar / Rajanna Sircilla 1 Indian Oil Corporation Limited 30 2 5 5,731 520

70 TelanganaJangaon / Mahbubabad / Jayashankar Boopalpally / Warangal Urban & Rural

3 Megha Engineering & Infra-structures Limited 30 2 12 99,999 800

71 Telangana Medchal / Vikarabad / Ran-gareddy 5 Megha Engineering & Infra-

structures Limited 30 2 110 415,000 2,020

72 Telangana Medak / Siddipet / San-gareddy 4 Torrent Gas Private Limited 30 2 54 310,770 5,076

Natural Gas Society

15


(Districts Name)

No of Bids for GA


Tariff (Rs./MMBTU)

Com-pression

Tariff (Rs./MMBTU)


gram


Program


Work Program

73 Telangana Nalgonda / Suryapet / Yadadri Bhuvanagiri 3 Megha Engineering & Infra-

structures Limited 30 2 75 350,000 1,500

74 Tripura Gomati 2 Tripura Natural Gas Company Limited 55.79 3.25 6 11,514 170

75 Tripura West Tripura (Part) 2 Tripura Natural Gas Company Limited 65.79 3.5 6 15,800 60

76 Uttar Pradesh

Aligarh / Bulandshahr (Part) / Hathras 2 Indian Oil-Adani Gas Private

Limited 30 2 46 143,404 1,662

77 Uttar Pradesh

Allahabad (Part) / Bhadohi / Kaushambi 1 Indian Oil-Adani Gas Private

Limited 30 2 24 58,658 680

78 Uttar Pradesh

Amethi / Pratapgarh / Rai Bareli 1 Bharat Gas Resources Limited 30 2 20 18,169 385

79 Uttar Pradesh

Auraiya / Kanpur Dehat / Etawah 3 Torrent Gas Private Limited 30 2 27 118,800 1,602

80 Uttar Pradesh Faizabad / Sultanpur 1 Green Gas Limited 30 2 4 4,000 350

81 Uttar Pradesh

Gorakhpur / Sant Kabir Nagar / Kushinagar 3 Torrent Gas Private Limited 30 2 36 178,200 5,814

82 Uttar Pradesh

Meerut (Part) / Muzaffar-nagar / Shamli 2 Indraprastha Gas Limited 30 2 36 105,543 1,755

83 Uttar Pradesh Moradabad (Part) 2 Torrent Gas Private Limited 30 2 27 154,800 792

84 Uttar Pradesh Unnao (Part) 1 Green Gas Limited 30 2 2 3,000 150

85 Uttarakhand Dehradun 7 GAIL Gas Limited 30 2 50 300,001 900

86 West Bengal Burdwan (East & West) 5 Indian Oil-Adani Gas Private Limited 30 2 80 247,852 2,230

406 4,346 21,048,045 112,696

Aavantika Gas Limited Bhagyanagar Gas Limited

NGS proudly welcomes its new members

Sanwariya Gas Limited

NATIONALCITY GAS DISTRIBUTION - CNG/LNG & AUTO LPG

Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board and Ninth Round of Bidding• The ninth round of the city gas distribution (CGD)

licences auction is estimated to see funds worth Rs 70,000 crore from winning bidders. 406 bids were received for the 86 GAs on offer. Letter of Intent has been awarded to successful bidders for all 86 areas

Clean and Green Fuel for cities/highways• Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated Varanasi

City Gas Distribution (CGD) network to the nation through the ‘Pradhan MantriUrja Ganga’

• IOC to invest Rs 20,000 crore on city gas projects, says will generate 15% revenue from natural gas business in five years

• IGL plans to come up with 50 more CNG stations across Delhi-NCR

• Maharashtra Natural Gas Limited is facing a unique problem; the company has infrastructure ready to provide over two lakh new PNG connections in Pune and PimpriChinchwad but no takers

• India to have 10,000 CNG stations in next 10 years, on track to adapt cleaner fuels: Dharmendra Pradhan

New Developments and new technology tie-ups• Gujarat Gas Ltd. in talks with GAIL to buy its entire

50 percent stake in Vadodara Gas Ltd• India makes move toward LNG fuelling

infrastructure for major highways: Petronet LNG, IOC, BPCL are moving collectively to introduce close to 20 LNG fuelling stations

• BG Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell India, sold 14% stake in Mahanagar Gas Ltd in the open market, reducing its holding to 10%

• India’s long-range heavy vehicles can run on clean fuels now: Agility Fuel Solutions has launched its efficient, globally-used clean energy storage and powertrain systems in the Indian market

NATURAL GAS/PIPELINES/COMPANY IN THE NEWS

E&P initiatives and natural gas production• ONGC has made oil and gas discoveries in Madhya

Pradesh and West Bengal• ONGC wants $8.35 price for CBM gas from West

Bengal to break even on producing CBM from

Raniganj block in West Bengal• Essar Oil may sell 30% stake in Raniganj CBM block• Govt okays relaxing production sharing contracts

of Pre-NELP, NELP blocks• India put up for bidding 25 discovered oil and

gas fields, holding resources of an estimated Rs 1 lakh crore, as it looked to expedite production from areas lying idle for years

• Vedanta wins 41 blocks in small field auction by the Ministry

Pipelines and company news• GAIL plans to add 5,500 km of pipelines in next 3

years increasing its capacity by 50%, according to its Chairman and Managing Director BC Tripathi

• GAIL launches on-line portal for booking capacity in their pipeline: Chairman

• Northeast of India to have Rs 6000cr pipeline grid connecting state capitals

• IOC has opposed GAIL’s pitch for a unified tariff for its pipelines

• GAIL registered a 23% increase in Profit after Tax in the first quarter of FY 2018-19, as against the last quarter of FY 2017-18

• ONGC reported a 58% jump in net profit to Rs 6,144 crore for the first quarter of FY19, compared with Rs 3,885 crore a year ago

• An arbitration panel has issued an award in favour of Reliance-led consortium in the KG Basin gas migration dispute case

• GAIL plans to set up battery charging stations for electric vehicles as well as build solar plants as it looks to be “future ready” for emerging businesses

POLICY MATTERS/GAS PRICING/OTHERS

• NITI Aayog proposes nodal energy ministry to streamline governance

• Cabinet approves policy framework for exploitation of unconventional hydrocarbons

• Government to test underutilized natural gas-fired power plants as ‘peakers’ to even out supply fluctuations

• The government has notified a new policy requiring ONGC and OIL to pay royalty and cess tax only to the extent of their equity holding in certain pre-1999 oil and gas fields

• Oil ministry is considering redefining ‘arm’s length sale’ for oil and gas contracts to include sale to an affiliate, which would allow a producer to sell its output to a related party

NEWS BRIEFS

16

Natural Gas Society

13

NEWS BRIEFSNEWS BRIEFS

• PM Modi unveils mobility road map, seeks investments in e-vehicles manufacturing

• Now, no permit required for commercial vehicles using alternative fuel: The government has provided incentives for electric mobility and policies would support electric vehicles and that commercial vehicles that are powered by alternate fuels such as “Ethanol, Methanol, Bio-diesel and CNG” will be exempted from the permit requirements

• The Union Commerce Ministry’s notification prohibiting import of pet coke is likely to hit the aluminium and steel manufacturers

LNG DEVELOPMENT/SHIPPING

• GSPC plans to commission a 5 MMTPA LNG import terminal at Mundra, Gujarat

• India’s LNG imports jumped 20% year-on-year in the first half of this year

• Petronet proposes to set up $1 billion LNG terminal in Bangladesh

• Royal Dutch Shell to acquire Total’s 26% stake in the company that operates 5 MMTPA Hazira LNG terminal in Gujarat

INTERNATIONALNATURAL GAS/ TRANSNATIONALPIPELINES/COMPANIES/OTHERS

• India has sought re-negotiation of the natural gas price it is to source through a proposed USD 10 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline

• BP-led international consortium started its first commercial deliveries of natural gas to Turkey from Azerbaijan’s giant Shah Deniz field

• Egyptian natural gas prospects are improving and it plans to export gas starting January

• Russian gas is twice cheaper for Europe than US LNG: According to CEO of Austria’s OMV Rainer Seele, Russian pipeline gas is generally twice cheaper for European consumers as compared to LNG

• U.S piped gas displacing Mexican LNG imports, a government report found

• Russian natural gas producer Gazprom is revisiting plans to build a pipeline to South Korea across North Korea after noting signs of easing tensions on the Korean peninsula

LNG DEVELOPMENT

• Exxon Mobil and Eni announce submission of development plans for a LNG facility to the Mozambique government

• As the trade war between China and the US escalates, fewer vessels carrying U.S LNG have gone to China over the past two months

• Australian LNG exports surge to nearly 60 MMT in 2017–18

• The ExxonMobil-operated PNG LNG project has secured a three-year deal to supply LNG to Hong Kong-based PetroChina

• Russian Arctic LNG plant, Yamal LNG, has hit a new milestone since its commissioning last December, shipping more than 3 MMT of LNG

• Japan and Russia plan LNG hub in Far East: Japan seeks to ease the transport of LNG from northern Russia by cooperating with Moscow on construction of a transfer hub in the country’s far-east, as Tokyo looks to diversify supplies of the energy source to guard against political risks

• China National Offshore Oil Corporation has launched its ninth LNG terminal in Shenzhen

• Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp has agreed to acquire 25 percent of Bangladesh’s Summit LNG terminal and plans to help develop an offshore receiving site in the South Asian country

• Qatar begins LNG shipments to Bangladesh• China’s demand for LNG is expected to grow by 20

to 25% in 2018 despite heightened trade tensions with the US, according to Qatari Energy Minister Mohammed al-Sada

NG/LNG UTILITLISATION-ROADWAYS

• China increasing conversions of heavy duty engines to natural gas

• Wincanton, the largest British logistics company, is trialing an LNG powered vehicle as part of its general haulage fleet

• The Argentine government decided to authorize the importation of vehicles powered by CNG

• ENGIE Romania SA, a subsidiary of French multinational energy conglomerate ENGIE, has launched its first CNG refuelling station in Romania

• MAN to supply 110 Lion’s City CNG uses to Warsaw in 2019 and Scania showcases its wide range of natural gas vehicles in Madrid

• Vietnam’s capital city puts into operation first CNG bus routes: The city of Hanoi will pilot three

17

Natural Gas Society

18

NEWS BRIEFS

The Natural Gas Society (NGS), a registered society under the Societies Act, is the emerging voice of the Indian natural gas industry and has been established to catalyse the development of the industry. NGS seeks to establish itself as an industry think tank and to provide critical inputs into sectoral policy through research, collaboration and dialogue. NGS aims to encourage competitiveness of domestic gas industry. NGS aims to provide a forum for exchange of ideas and to develop best practices for the Indian gas indus-try, especially in transmission and distribution segments of value chain.

Natural Gas Society129, PARC Building, GAIL Training Institute Plot No. 24

Sector - 16A, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201301 Tel: 0120 - 4220882, 4222849 Website: www. ngsindia.org

bus routes using CNG from August 1, according to the city’s Department of Transport

• Abbey Logistics has begun trials of Volvo’s new natural gas powered FM tractor, the first 6×2 heavy regional and long-haul LNG tractor in the UK.

• NGV infrastructure grows in Mexico with new refueling station in Jalisco

• Korea Gas Corp to develop LNG trucks with Tata Daewoo

• Snam and API Group have signed a framework agreement for the development of approximately 200 new natural gas and biomethane fueling stations in Italy

LNG AS A MARINE FUEL/BUNKERING / LNG SHIPPING:

• Tough new rules on marine fuel are forcing ship owners to explore LNG as a cleaner alternative

• Korea Gas Corporation and Busan Port Corporation signed a “Business Agreement for Establishment and Activation of the Busan Port LNG Bunkering System” on July 5

• Port of Amsterdam offers discount to environmentally-friendly ships

• Daewoo, Hyundai and Samsung, the three major Korean shipbuilders have swept all of the orders for 30 large LNG tankers from around the world this year

• Samsung Heavy Industries Co. has clinched a deal

worth about $370 million to build two LNG carriers for a European shipping company

• Rolls-Royce will deliver technology for new hybrid/LNG live fish carrier

• World’s most eco-friendly bulk carriers were delivered in China: The next-generation bulk carriers Haaga and Viikki were delivered to Aspo Group’s ESL Shipping, Finland from Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing, China

TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT FOR CLEANER ENVIRONMENT/BIO-METHANE

• Southern California Gas Co., Canadian natural gas utility Énergir, and French utilities GRDF and GRTgaz announced a new collaboration aimed at advancing the R&D of renewable natural gas and technologies such as power-to-gas

• Shell kicks off hydrogen refueling network in The Netherlands

• World’s first hydrogen-powered taxi fleet reaches 100 cars in Paris

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India will be able to save around Rs 12,000 crore through ethanol blending programme for auto fuels over the next four years.

• Icelandic geothermal power utility ON Power will start the experimental production of hydrogen at its Hellisheiði Geothermal Power Plant, near Reykjavik

• Germany reaches 50 H2 filling stations

Natural Gas Society

gas statistics - ngsindia.org

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