RIL may finally get its hands on its own gas: reports

Reliance Industries Ltd may actually get to use the gas it produces from its D-6 block in the Krishna-Godavari basin for its own petrochemicals and refinery operations.

The empowered group of ministers that is looking into the issue of allocation of KG basin gas is likely to expand the usage to other sectors, including petrochemicals and refining, according to reports.

While petrochemicals will get to use the gas as feedstock, refineries will use it as fuel, replacing costly alternative fuels. This expanded usage, if allowed, would directly benefit the two petrochemical plants of RIL in Gujarat and Maharashtra and its refinery operations at Jamnagar, The Economic Times quoted an official privy to the development as saying.

As per the agenda note of the EGoM meeting scheduledtoday, refineries are proposed to get a firm gas allocation of 5.384 million standard cubic metre of gas per day (mmscmd), while petrochemical sector may be allotted 1.918 mmscmd of gas. The allocation for refineries is much less than the demand and would be distributed among companies on pro rata basis.

''The entire proposed allocation for petrochemical sector may go to the two RIL's facilities at Gandhar in Gujarat and Nagothane in Maharashtra,'' the unidentified official said.

Reliance Industries, which owns the world's largest oil refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat, imports liquefied natural gas at about $9 per mmBtu to power its refinery.