Shirish Nadkarni
OGJ Correspondent
MUMBAI, Oct. 10 -- GAIL India Ltd. has joined with Engineers India Ltd. (EIL) to explore business opportunities in Turkmenistan.
GAIL is conducting talks with TurkMenGaz for participation in exploration and production, pipeline, and city gas distribution projects, while EIL's interest is in upgrading the Chardzou refinery at Seidi and building a new refinery there.
Turkmenistan is among the world's top nations in gas reserves and production. It produced 60 billion cu m of gas in 2004 and is increasing production of LPG. About 70% of its territory is gas-rich.
While EIL has prepared an internal plan to tap opportunities in Turkmenistan, GAIL is interested in participating in the extended Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) pipeline project and its resources implementation; the project has been redesignated TAPI after India's inclusion.
To become a global, better-integrated energy company, GAIL is expanding its search for oil and gas blocks overseas. It has initiated talks with TGS-NOPEC, the authorized promoter of the Madagascar (Africa) bidding round, on the technical prospects of the blocks.
A total of 122 offshore blocks are being offered over the Morondava basin off West Madagascar in October. The blocks cover 200,000 sq km in water 1,500-2,000 m deep. Applications are due before Nov. 15, and licenses will be granted soon thereafter.
"We would like to adopt a consortium approach for bidding in Madagascar and are in discussions with a couple of companies for possible joint participation," a senior GAIL official said. He declined to disclose the name of possible coventurers.
GAIL plans to invest about $174 million in E&P activities over the next 3 years. Currently, the company is involved in exploration activities over acreage covering 91,000 sq km.
Recently, a consortium that included GAIL and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. was awarded an onshore block in Oman.
