South India will have a network of pipelines
Network of gas pipelines in South India by 2012
By the year 2012, South India will have a network of pipelines carrying natural gas and petroleum products, the Union Petroleum Secretary, Mr S. Sundareshan, said today.
The Kakinada-Chennai pipeline and the Chennai-Tuticorin natural gas pipelines have been authorised and the work has commenced, he said, at a press conference addressed by the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Murli Deora, here today.
A branch of the Kochi-Mangalore product pipeline will go to Coimbatore and Erode. The Chennai-Bangalore product line is also progressing, Mr Sundareshan said.
Pointing out that Mr Deora met the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Mr M. Karunanidhi, Mr Sundareshan said that the Minister raised the issue of additional land for Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd's expansion plans. The public sector company intends to scrap an existing 2.5-tonne refinery and build a new nine million tonne refinery.
Mr Sundareshan said that the Chief Minister was told that IndianOil was doing a feasibility study on a project to put up LNG importation and re-gasification facilities at Ennore.
Addressing the media, Mr Deora observed that the prices of crude oil in the international markets was growing and the government would have to take a call on whether and by how much to raise the prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG.
Mr Deora today consulted with members of Parliament on how best to tackle the issue of under recovery of cost on the sale of these products by oil marketing companies (such as IOC, HPCL, BPCL). "We would not like to raise the prices (of petroleum products) but some times it is just not possible (not to) because the cost of import of oil is prohibitive," Mr Deora said. India imports 80 per cent of the oil it consumes, he noted.
Business Line, New Delhi, May 25, 2010
