The negotiations process has been very laboured and Turkmenistan, the gas supplier bargained hard for getting a higher price compared to what other countries were ready to give. Fifteen Technical Working Group meetings have been held so far and in the last TWG meeting at Dubai held in July this year, the participating countries finalized the draft of the of the GSPA excepting the gas price clause. Fourteen screening committee meetings have been held so far and during the last meeting at Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on September 21, this year, the countries agreed to conclude the gas price issue in October and sign the GSPA by November 15, 2011.

India is the last country amongst the four and the gas will be transported by pipeline from Turkmenistan to India via Afghanistan and Pakistan. So there is a problem of transit fees to be paid by India to the two countries Afghanistan and Pakistan. Both the countries have submitted their proposals on transit fees to India and discussions are currently going on and the agreed fees are expected to be finalized before the conclusion of the GSPA next month.

India went slow with its follow up action on the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project due to pressure from the USA but with regard to TAPI pipeline, there was ready response as this was backed by the US administration and the US wanted to give India a sop for not pursuing the IPI project despite strong pressures from Iran. The total capacity of the TAPI pipeline project is about 90 MMSCMD out of which Afghanistan would get 14 MMSCMD gas and the balance would be equally shared by India and Pakistan.

The length of the pipeline in Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan up to India border is 145 km, 735 km and 800 km respectively. Turkmenistan will supply the required quantity of natural gas from its Yolotan-Osman gas filed. The estimated filed reserves are in the range of 4-13 TCM with best estimate of 6 TCM. The gas reserves from this field are much more than the requirement of0.98 TCM for TAPI project. Structured discussions at regular intervals are being held between the various parties involved in the project.

Significantly, while hectic discussions are on to go ahead with the TAPI project, India is showing fresh interest in the IPI project in the context of its latest consultations with Iran. Indications available from the external affairs ministry sources suggest that India is trying to withstanding US pressure on IPI project now since the supply of gas is a priority for India and Iran is offering other areas to India also for collaboration. The oil payment issue has been amicably settled and both the Governments are exploring the possibility of further expanding their bilateral economic ties.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had detailed discussions with the Iranian officials while returning from the G-20 meeting in Paris and the discussions also covered resumption of the talks on the vexed issues related to the IPI project. Mr. Mukherjee told the Iranian officials that India is looking at IPI project from its own national interests and once India’s concerns regarding transit fees, price of gas and the security are addressed, India will go ahead with participation in the IPI project.Acco5rdingly, follow up discussions will be held between Indian and Iranian officials after a gap.

Meanwhile, in view of unfavourable demand-supply balance of hydrocarbons in the country, acquiring equity oil and gas assets overseas is one of the important components of enhancing energy security. The Government is encouraging national oil companies to aggressively pursue equity oil and gas opportunities overseas. The production share of the ONGC Videsh Ltd was about 9.448 million metric tones of oil and gas during the year 2010-11 from its assets abroad in Sudan, Vietnam, Venezuela, Russia, Syria, Brazil and Colombia. Oil public sector undertakings like OVL, IOC, OIL,HPCL,BPCL and GAIL have acquir4ed exploration and production assets 8in more than 20 countries with a total investment commitment of th3e order of Rs.64,832 crore.9in 2011, the consortium of ONGC Videsh Ltd and KazMunaiGas has acquired stake in the block Satpayev in Kazakhstan.

The same anxiousness to organize is evident from India’s initiative to import LNG from the foreign countries. To cater to the country’s gas demand, Petronet LNG Ltd is in constant touch with various LNG producers/suppliers as well upcoming conventional and non-conventional LNG projects, especially in Western Australia and during 2011. PLL imported 8.64 mmtpa of LNG at its Dahej terminal.

India’s oil and gas sector is highly import-centric and that is a big worry with the Government in view of big strain on the foreign exchange resources of the country. There are all round efforts to step up indigenous production of oil and gas but still, high imports will continue for quite some time in view of the slow pace of improvement in indigenous production. The crude oil and gas imports are being given priority to sustain the economic growth in the country. Presently, there are 21 oil refineries in the country-18 under public sector and three under private sector. India’s refining capacity is 193.40 MMTPA which is expected to increase further to 232.266 MMT by the end of the current financial year-2011-12. (IPA)