GAIL leads Indo-Iranian gas line in India

March 14, 2005
India's Petroleum Ministry has designated state-owned gas transmission firm GAIL (India) Ltd. as the lead agency for its portion of the proposed Indo-Iranian gas pipeline project (OGJ Online, Feb. 25, 2005).

Shirish Nadkarni
OGJ correspondent

MUMBAI, Mar. 14 -- India's Petroleum Ministry has designated state-owned gas transmission firm GAIL (India) Ltd. as the lead agency for its portion of the proposed Indo-Iranian gas pipeline project (OGJ Online, Feb. 25, 2005).

GAIL, which will be operator of the pipeline in India, will provide the necessary guarantees for gas offtakes at the Indian border and will complete agreements on gas pricing and other commercial terms.

According to the ministry, other oil and gas companies such as Indian Oil Corp., Oil & Natural Gas Corp., Hindustan Petroleum Corp., and Bharat Petroleum Corp. could form a consortium to provide additional financial strength.

To move the pipeline forward, the ministry is contemplating joining the Brussels-based Energy Charter Conference (ECC), which provides a legal framework for promoting international energy cooperation among Asian and European countries.

ECC representatives met recently with ministry officials, encouraging India to join the charter to mitigate supply security concerns, promote energy investments in India, and protect Indian investments in other ECC nations.

Similar approaches are being made to Iran and Pakistan, neither of which is a member, although Iran is an observer.