CROSSCOUNTRY GAS GRID SYSTEM

Out of gas, country still living pipe(line) dream

Consumers Wait For Gas At Home Gets Longer

Harsimran Singh NEW DELHI


THE countrys energy sector may be dotted with numerous gas findings in recent months, but with a crosscountry gas grid system yet to be seen anywhere on the horizon, the average Indian consumers wait for gas at his home, like in the US and Europe, is getting longer.
While developed economies in the west have a well-developed gas trading market with gas exchanges, futures and city-wide gas pipelines, India still has none. The country has a total pipeline length of about 10,600 km. In comparison, even Pakistan has a pipeline length almost five times at about 56,400 km.
The US, on the other hand, boasts of among the largest networks with a total pipeline length of 18.3 lakh km. India also has the unique distinction of having one of the lowest pipeline spreads per sq km of land at .003 km compared to the UK (1.08 km) and the US (0.19 km).
Critical to the development of an economy, a widespread gas transmission system is like the circulatory system of the human body. While the US has a gas hub called Henry Hub, which connects nine interstate and four intrastate gas pipelines in Louisiana, India still lacks one. With a transportation capacity of 1.8 billion sq ft, Henry Hub acts as the pricing point for Nymex gas futures.
Currently, there are two major pipelines running across the country connecting north to west and south to west. The HBJ pipeline operated by GAIL acts as the backbone, connecting an ONGC delivery point in Hazira (Gujarat) to Jagdishpur (UP) to Bijapur in Madhya Pradesh. It is the largest at 3,187 km.