PNGRB NEWS

The government has for a second time in as many years re-advertised the post of chairman of oil and gas regulator PNGRB, which has been lying vacant since December 2020. The oil ministry this week issued an advertisement inviting applications for the post of chairman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board.

The Supreme Court has dismissed the plea filed by Adani Gas and others over the contract award of piped gas distribution network in Tamil Nadu. The contract was awarded to AG&P LNG, Torrent Gas and SKN Haryana by PNGRB. The apex court bench upheld the contract saying that calling the bidders with the highest composite scores cannot be rebuked, and denied any merit in the submission.

Metro construction workers, on Monday, damaged GAIL’s underground gas pipeline while drilling a road in Bengaluru. GAIL’s fire safety team attended to the damaged pipeline, as the fire brigade rushed to the spot. Bengaluru Metro Corp. and its contractor have been booked under various sections of PNGRB and IPC. BMRCL cited lack of knowledge about the pipeline presence in the area as the reason of not asking permission from GAIL.

The 9th City Gas Distribution results for 48 out of 86 cities have been declared, with Adani Gas winning big. The Gautam Adani-led group won rights to market CNG in 11 cities of India, wherein licenses for six cities are its own while the rest are in JV with IOCL. Bharat Gas Resources Ltd and Torrent Gas Pvt Ltd each won licenses for six cities. The bidding round was regulated by PNGRB.

India’s largest oil guzzler, IOCL, in an open house discussion organized last week, opposed the sector regulator PNGRB’s unified tariff proposal. The oil giant voiced its opposition with the argument that the proposal would only aid old LNG terminal and pipeline units; refinery input cost, however, will increase. PNGRB is of the belief that a unified tariff will help customers get rid of multiple pipeline tariffs currently being levied.

The battle for access to Mumbai’s ATF pipelines is heating up with aviation companies, like Emirates, now standing alongside RIL for third-party access to the pipelines. PNGRB, which acts as a watchdog for oil and gas industry related matters, in May, sought opinions on making Mumbai’s ATF pipelines, operated by HPCL-BPCL, a common carrier. While RIL is supporting the thought, the PSUs are negatively opinionated on the matter.

India’s 9th City Gas Distribution (CGD) bidding round is scheduled for closure today evening. 86 permits for retailing CNG and piped cooking gas in 22 states and union territories have been offered in this round. Major oil and gas companies like Indraprastha Gas Ltd, India Gas Solutions Pvt Ltd (RIL-BP JV), IGL and Essel Infraprojects Ltd are bidding for the licenses, auctioned by PNGRB.

PNGRB is formulating safety regulations for LNG fuelled vehicles, as emphasized by it in the ninth bidding round for the City Gas Distribution (CGD) network. With this, the CGD companies could have LNG administering offices for trucks at their own stations. This would be a decent open door for original equipment makers who can plan and work on the LNG fuelled engines. The infrastructure work would begin post-2019 elections.

India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has charged ONGC Rajahmundry’s top executives, alleging them with a scam of Rs. 80cr, in a Rs 312 crore contract, awarded to Deep Industries Limited. The company had to supply ONGC with Gas Dehyrdation Units (GDUs). The case filed by CBI states that Deep Industries was awarded with the contract by overlooking the guidelines of ONGC and that the company was technically unqualified.

India's Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has released a new set of guidelines to reinvigorate the stunted gas distribution across the country. The new provisions have lent a higher weightage to work program than tariff, raised the amount of performance guarantee, and relaxed the licensee’s obligation on financial closure, in securing gas supplies, and during delays due to restrictions imposed by the government.

The oil regulator, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), has fundamentally changed the bidding parameters for procuring a license to retail CNG and piped cooking gas in cities. According to the new regulations, future auctions would be conducted by asking companies to quote the number of CNG stations to be established and number of domestic cooking gas connections to be given in the first eight years of operation.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) approved GAIL India Ltd's 'Urja Ganga' pipeline’s extension. This is part of Jagdishpur-Haldia-Bokaro-Dhamra natural gas pipeline; GAIL is currently laying this pipeline with a spread of 2,655-km at a cost of Rs 12,940 crore. The project would be executed in 36 months from the first notification of Right of User (RoU) acquisition and is likely to be completed by 2021-22.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has terminated the license of state owned GAIL to build Surat-Paradip natural gas pipeline. The regulatory body got encashed a quarter of performance bank guarantee i.e. Rs. 5 crore when the latter failed to begin with the project for six years. GAIL failed to submit the requisite BG within 15 days following which, its license has been terminated.