Rebooting What’s Possible in India’s Gas Market
India is something of a conundrum for global LNG players.
Just as the capital making headlines for one of the worst episodes of air pollution, the country’s energy mix remains dominated by cheap domestic coal. At the same time, gas price sensitivity continues to stymie investment and contracting negotiations.
Progress has been made with LNG import terminals but delays to pipeline infrastructure and convoluted gas allocation policies frustrate demand growth.
India is challenging. But the outlook for gas and LNG demand growth remains robust. New regasification and downstream network connections are (slowly) unlocking latent gas demand and although we maynot see government’s target of a 15% share of the primary energy mix for gas by 2030 being met, opportunities are aplenty.
So challenges and risks exist but opportunities abound.
India doesn’t come without risk and the list is long.
How quickly can reform take place? Can India really afford LNG? Will partnerships stick? Could gas get squeezed between cheap coal and low-cost solar in the power sector? Might Qatari LNG stitch up the Indian market? How durable are long-term contracts? .........
But one can always return to scale and opportunity. A reboot of what is possible in India is now firmly underway . more
Just as the capital making headlines for one of the worst episodes of air pollution, the country’s energy mix remains dominated by cheap domestic coal. At the same time, gas price sensitivity continues to stymie investment and contracting negotiations.
Progress has been made with LNG import terminals but delays to pipeline infrastructure and convoluted gas allocation policies frustrate demand growth.
India is challenging. But the outlook for gas and LNG demand growth remains robust. New regasification and downstream network connections are (slowly) unlocking latent gas demand and although we maynot see government’s target of a 15% share of the primary energy mix for gas by 2030 being met, opportunities are aplenty.
So challenges and risks exist but opportunities abound.
India doesn’t come without risk and the list is long.
How quickly can reform take place? Can India really afford LNG? Will partnerships stick? Could gas get squeezed between cheap coal and low-cost solar in the power sector? Might Qatari LNG stitch up the Indian market? How durable are long-term contracts? .........
But one can always return to scale and opportunity. A reboot of what is possible in India is now firmly underway . more
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CBM (coal bed methane) is a solution towards meeting the natural gas requirement to an extent. Methane if not burnt causes problems as it is a potent GHG. Unscientific coal mine practices can potentially release unaccounted methane in air. These practices should be suitably engineered as the released methane may cause death to miners in more or less scale. LPG can also be used in transport and is known as autogas.Its wider use solves transport related pollution to a great extent and can be raised as an option when LNG/CNG availability goes down. Many would like autogas for their vehicles when EVs not available. EVs have range anxiety. Battery advancements have not progressed to that extent that EVs adoption is possible in a wider scale. Stubble burning is another air pollution source in capital region. Moreover Punjab and Haryana prefer mechanised farming which is diesel driven. Introduction of manual practices solves release of air pollutants to an extent. With suitable technology introduction straws/agricultural residues can potentially be converted as bio-fuel and used in sectors. Aviation industry is increasingly considering use of bio-fuel to reduce its carbon footprints in their operations. Airlines have a responsibility to reduce its emissions. more
Nov 17
Very good logical analysis. But one thing for sure had we invested long back in coal gasification , which was discussed at length in late 60s. The scenerio probably might be different. The LNG ,CNG we are mainly dependent on imports n the international exchange rates of USDvsRupees is always makes our plan topsy-turvy. Parallaly the domestic demands keeps on growing which is another bottleneck. At present world over the LNG demands are increasing n most of the nations are dependent on Quatar gas n other major gas fields. And the other alternate sources of energy like wind n solar have huge capital investment. The problems posed by the social activists groups ,land acquisition for pipelines etc.delays the infrastructure developments. Many countries are now trying to resort to shale gas fracturing, to compunsate the demands to some extent. And that is also not very advantageous option, but yes has lot of geomelogical n sesmological issues . Hence Gas may not be the ultimate option. If we can revert to coal based energy production with little change in the existing design of the down stream of the furnace,boilers inbetween the boiler n stack i am sure we can easily use cheap, high sulfur coal and petcoke, still mitting the EPA norms. I have been suggesting our govt n respective ministry for last many years, The captioned technology is used in all petrochemical plants, but the power plant experts will not talk or consult each other .Had this been done many such issues can be resolved easily. Anyway thanks Debashish you have done s good job. more
Nov 14
There are hundreds of Gated Communities in Metros and other second timer Cities/Towns. Instead of supplying LPG in cylinders in hundreds everyday, it would be desirable and easier to supply by pipeline direct to the kitchen. I am told pipedgas does not offer any subsidy and hence, the residents are not interested in opting for the piped gas supply. Will the government look into this and do the needful, which will save millions in transportation of LPG Gas cyliners more
Nov 14
