AGARTALA, Feb 19 - Tripura�s surplus hydrocarbon will be transported to the other North Eastern States or the mainland through the proposed North East Natural Gas Pipeline (Indradhanush), which is supposed to be put into place by the 2020-21 fiscal, said Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of ONGC Shashi Shanker.
The ONGC Tripura Asset is the highest gas producing asset among the ONGC�s onshore assets, accounting for 34 per cent of the gas produced onshore by the oil major. �Currently, ONGC Tripura Asset is producing 5.01 MMSCMD gas, but around 50 per cent of the gas remains unused due to lack of demand. Due to steep downfall in gas demand, the ONGC is incurring a 30 per cent loss in revenue,� he said.
The unused hydrocarbon of the State can be transported to other North Eastern States or elsewhere once the Indradhanush pipeline which connects all the North Eastern States, is installed, he said.
Shanker, who arrived here to review the ONGC�s exploration status and future prospects, said the State�s gas production would increase soon with three wells coming up at Gajalia, Khubal and Trishna.
The ONGC CMD said that the authorities of the Monarchak Thermal Project at Sonamura, which generates only 100 MW of power daily against the installed capacity of 500 MW, have urged the ONGC to help them increase the power supply.
�We are considering the proposal, but till the evacuation process of gas is augmented, the NEEPCO authorities running the Monarchak project will have to wait,� he said.
On exploration in Nagaland, the ONGC CMD said a memorandum of understanding was yet be signed between the ONGC and the Government in this regard.
Speaking on the slump in ONGC shares, Director (Finance) Subhash Kumar said that part of this is attributable to market vagaries, while external factors like global slowdown and worldwide fall in prices of oil and natural gas are also responsible.
Meanwhile, the ONGC CMD also visited several sites like Konaban and held meetings with junior colleagues there. He had arrived in the State with a host of directors like Subhash Kumar (Finance), Rajesh Kakkar (Offshore), Dr Alka Mittal, Director in charge of HR, Sanjay Kumar Moitra (Onshore) and Sanjib Sharma, CPRO (ONGC).