New Delhi: The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has invited Expression of Interest (EoIs) from entities for capacity booking in the 2.5-MTPA Palwal-Jewar Airport common carrier Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) pipeline. In a notice released on Thursday, the watchdog said, "In line with Regulation 5(3) of PPPL Authorization Regulations, this public notice is being web-hosted to facilitate possible contracts for capacity booking by different entities with the entity that may be interested in the development of the proposed petroleum and petroleum products pipeline so as to facilitate decision on optimum sized pipeline through the bidding process as stated in Regulation 7."
It added, "The request from any entity may be submitted to the office of the Secretary, PNGRB through e-mail at secretary@pngrb.gov.in within 15 days of issuing of this notice to further process the above-mentioned Expression of Interest."
Commenting on the EoI submitted for the development of the pipeline by Indian Oil, various stakeholders like Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) had urged the PNGRB to consider making the ATF pipeline from Palwal to Jewar Airport a common carrier, allowing access to all interested parties without any operational constraints. "To promote a competitive market for supply and distribution of ATF to Jewar Airport, the proposed pipeline should be declared Common Carrier and the storage facilities at Palwal are to be provided on non-discriminatory basis with equal opportunity to all the shippers to place their product at the injection point, either by connecting through pipelines or through tank trucks. This offsite infrastructure is a critical part of the overall ATF supply chain and hence due importance is to be accorded to inclusion of the facilities in the scope of Common Carrier pipeline so that all interested shippers can get access to the infrastructure without any operational constraints," RIL had said.
While access to the common carrier ATF pipeline is open, the storage facilities at the terminal are not part of the pipeline development project. Responding to RIL's comments, Indian Oil had said earlier in March, "Indian Oil's EoI submitted to PNGRB is for developing a Common Carrier Pipeline for ATF service from Palwal to upcoming Jewar Airport. Pumping facilities at Palwal are a part of proposed pipeline as given in the EoI; other facilities of the terminal along with storage facilities proposed for development by Indian Oil are not a part of the proposed pipeline." The same has been clarified by the PNGRB in the past, including in the EoI for the JNPT-Navi Mumbai ATF pipeline.
The government had announced its plan to set up an independent gas transport system operator for facilitation and coordination of booking of common carrier capacity in all-natural gas pipelines on a non-discriminatory open access basis. The announcement was made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her 2021-22 Budget speech in February. The decision taken by the PNGRB is in line with the government's plan.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) had submitted an EoI to the PNGRB in January for laying, building and operating a 36-Km-long common carrier ATF pipeline from Palwal in Haryana to the upcoming Jewar International Airport. The total capacity of the proposed pipeline is 2.5 MTPA. The project will take off once the PNGRB grants authorisation to IOC after seeking comments from various stakeholders and holding an open house discussion on the same.
Currently, Indian Oil operates two refineries in the proximity of the NCR — Mathura and Panipat refinery — which are interconnected through Mathura – Delhi (Bijwasan) product pipeline and Panipat – Bijwasan pipeline. The Mathura – Delhi pipeline en route to Bijwasan terminal passes through Palwal (located at about 80 Km from IOC's Mathura refinery) where Indian Oil is proposing to set up the pumping station for ATF.
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