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East West Pipeline Ltd (EWPL), earlier known as Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Ltd, has sought a tripling of natural gas transmission charges across its network from this fiscal.
Justifying the higher price, it said that since gas supplies from the current sources are quite unsure from a long-term perspective, EWPL will have to source gas from other sources. The $10 a mBtu (million British thermal unit) price has been considered benchmarked with expected R-LNG price (crude oil priced at $55 per barrel with a 14 per cent linkage).
EWPL operates the 1,460 km East West Natural Gas Pipeline (EWNGP) that transports KG gas from Kakinada to Bharuch, passing through Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
EWPL wants the gas transmission charge incresaed from ₹52.23 a mBtu charged till 2017 to ₹151.84 a mBtu for 2018-2019 to 2035-36.
Justifying the hike, EWPL has estimated future operating expenses (OPEX) at ₹36,862.50 crore for 2018-2019 to 2035-36. “There is a substantial jump in projected OPEX considered from financial year 2017-18 onwards,” said a consultation paper of downstream oil regulator PNGRB.
The OPEX includes a system use gas (SUG) expense of ₹21,863.73 crore. SUG is the quantity of gas used by the transporter for the operation and maintenance of the pipeline system.
EWPL said that it has considered SUG volume at 1.2 million standard cubic meters per day from 2017-18 till 2033-34. It has assumed the price of gas at $10.10 per mBtu.
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