Jamnagar, 30 April 2012

Cairn India- one of largest oil and gas major currently produces 1, 75,000 barrels of crude oil from its Rajasthan Block. It is transferred through world’s longest heated insulated pipeline to private refiners in coastal region of Gujarat.

The pipeline project is facing confrontations from local community and stakeholders despite company’s continuous and sustained efforts to reach out to all stakeholders to obtain alignment with land owners and stake holders in RoU (Right of Use) areas.

This pipeline, a project of national importance, was accorded the status of one of the major projects in the state during Narendra Modi’s Vibrant Gujarat campaign two years ago.

The delay is inflicting huge cost overruns on the energy company. After it ran into a hurdle on access to ROU the last phase of ONGC-Cairn India’s pipeline project – between Salaya and Bhogat – continues to be in limbo despite a favourable compensation package announced by the company which is said to be one of the highest in the region.

The Right of Use (RoU) is quite different from the land acquisition. In the case of RoU, the farmer is free to carry out normal agriculture activities in his field. According to the information, the company has repeatedly communicated with land owners, all stake holders and district level authorities in order to make a breakthrough in this standstill situation. Challenges being faced can be dealt with only with active support of all stake holders

One of the main reasons for it getting the status of national importance is that in the last leg, the project will have a mini port from where the crude from Rajasthan oil fields could be supplied to all the costal refineries of India and thereby allowing all PSU refineries on the coastal region to use the domestic oil and reduce the heavy import bill.

So, while the nation is faced with increasing import bills due to rising crude oil prices, the standstill situation and uncertainty of the project is taking centre stage here to hold a project of high importance.

At present the Barmer to Salaya section with its delivery infrastructure is delivering crude oil to IOCL and private refiners and contributing nearly 15% of India domestic demand. In Q3 FY 2011-12, more than 11 mmbbls of crude oil was safely delivered through the pipeline while maintaining a system availability of more than 99%.

ONGC and Cairn JV shares a vision for attaining 240,000 bopd production from the Mangala, Bhagyam and Aishwariya fields in CY 2013, that will play a key role towards energy security of the nation.

Cairn and ONGC have till date spent $3.9 billion on the Rajasthan block. In FY 2013 another $1.0-1.2.5 billion investment is planned. Close to $1 billion will being spent on laying a pipeline to Gujarat coast to transport the oil to local refineries.

Pipeline is lifeline to business operations and has been commissioned for transportation of crude oil traversing through two districts of Rajasthan and six districts of Gujarat. The business has touched lives in 222 villages and partnering with more than 40,000 families for a symbiotic relationship through innovative development models and micro-intervention at panchayat level.

🗃️ This story is from our archives and may contain outdated information.