The government has constituted a panel for deliberating on pooled pricing of gas irrespective of the source, international or domestic or public or private within the domestic space and the group is likely to meet within a week. The panel will be headed by Planning Commission Advisor on energy and is expected to come up with final recommendations pretty soon.
Demand for natural gas in the country has been increasing sharply, particularly from the power and fertilizer companies for whom there is a major feed stock. Further, overall output of gas in the country has been increasing rapidly and there are prospects of more gas supply from newer discoveries in near term. In this wake the government has been actively looking at a framework for pool pricing of gas in India.
At present, gas is sold at different prices based upon the source of the gas. For instance, domestic gas from public and private sector companies is mostly sold at $4.2 per per million British thermal unit (mmBtu). On the other hand, Australian LNG, which is to be imported by Petronet from its Kochi terminal in Kerala is indexed at 14.5% of crude oil price and will therefore cost over $14 mmBtu.
The terms of reference (ToR) of the committee indicate that the government wants an early alternative to differential pricing and is more inclined to get a pooled pricing solution as soon as possible. This is also reflected in the fact that the ToRs pre-suppose that the decision of a pooled price has already been taken and that the panel will only deliberate on the best method or formula for operating pool prices, without evaluating any other option.
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