The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : IOC counts on power board

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 27, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

IOC counts on power board

By N. Ravi Kumar

PONDICHERRY, FEB. 26. The fate of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal proposed by the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) at Ennore, near Chennai, largely depends on the ability of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board to become its main customer.

Though the projected demand for LNG in the State is tremendous and several industrial units are likely to switch over to the eco-friendly gas, the oil company is keen on the TNEB taking the "anchor load," M.S. Ramachandran, IOC chairman, said today.

Assured demand

"We want an assured demand (offtake) of a long-term nature," he told presspersons after inaugurating the integration of a T-junction with the upcoming Chennai-Tiruchi-Madurai petro-product pipeline at Asanur, near Ulundurpettai in Villupuram district.

Underscoring the need for support from the Tamil Nadu Government for the project, he said the IOC planned to set up an import terminal and take up gasification of the product at Ennore. Though the proposed capacity of the facility was 2.5 million tonnes, a recent study projected the demand in the southern region at 15 million tonnes.

Hinting that an assured offtake would be a pre-requisite for going ahead with the project, Mr. Ramachandran said a team of IOC officials was on its way to Iran to firm up the supply contracts. It would present a master plan to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) about its proposal to develop a gas field in South Pars in Iran in association with Petropars, a subsidiary of the NIOC.

Proposed pipeline

To a query on the other projects proposed by the IOC in Tamil Nadu, he said the company was considering laying a petro-product pipeline between Chennai and Bangalore. The pipeline would take products from Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL), its subsidiary, to Bangalore.

The pipeline was essentially meant to evacuate the surplus products of CPCL, which recently expanded its capacity by three million tonnes to 9.5 million tonnes. It would, however, depend on the concessions the Mangalore refinery of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation offered.

At present, the refinery provides petroleum products to IOC for supply in Bangalore. If it reduced the price, the pipeline would not be considered.

The 683-km-long Chennai-Tiruchi-Madurai pipeline was to be commissioned in August and was being laid at a cost of Rs. 412 crores.

The T-junction will facilitate movement of petrol, diesel and kerosene to Sankari near Salem, while the main line will take the products to Tiruchi and Madurai.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu