The Hindu Business Line : GAIL to call EoIs for transporting CNG from Myanmar

GAIL (India) Ltd, which is eyeing Myanmar gas, is set to invite expressions of interest to select a firm or consortium through international competitive bidding for transporting compressed natural gas (CNG) from Myanmar to India.

According to a senior company official, it is planning to invite bids for long-term chartering service of CNG ship or barge for transportation of natural gas from A1 Block, Myanmar, to the east coast of India.

Several technologies are available for CNG marine transportation and are on the verge of being pressed into commercial service, the official said. GAIL, as one of the stakeholders in A1 Block, is the preferred buyer for the gas and the company has already carried out a pre-feasibility study to market it in India, he added.

Gas route: The official said various routes were being considered for the offtake, including offshore pipelines (both shallow water and deep water); onshore pipelines via Chittagaong - Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh, via Tripura (India) - Dhaka (Bangladesh), through North-East Indian territory and liquefied natural gas marine route and CNG marine route.

In the given context of prospective size of the gas field and the distance of the field from the eastern coast of India - around 600 km - the option for transporting the gas in the form of CNG by ship or barge appears to be most attractive compared to the other options in terms of capital investment and shipping cost or pipeline transmission tariff, he added.

The A1 block reserve is estimated to be 4 trillion cubic feet gas. Production is anticipated to be about 18 million standard cubic metre a day. GAIL and ONGC Videsh Ltd together hold 30 per cent stake in the block. The other partners in the consortium are Daewoo, which is the operator with 60 per cent stake, and KOGAS with 10 per cent share. Third-party certification of the gas reserves is expected by May 2006 and commercial production is expected to begin by 2009.