Gujarat Gas signs agreement with GSPC for purchase of gas for 12 yrs

The Ahmedabad-based company will buy the fuel from GSPC on a long-term basis

Gujarat Gas Company Ltd today said it has signed an agreement to buy 0.65 million standard cubic meters per day of gas from Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) for almost 12 years.

Gujarat Gas, which retails CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in some cities of Gujarat, will buy the fuel from GSPC on a long-term basis, the company said in a filing to the stock exchanges.

It will buy "0.574 mmscmd (of gas) between period March 1, 2014 up to July 01, 2025, and, purchase 0.076 mmscmd between period January 01, 2014 upto July 01, 2025," the company said.

Ahmedabad-headquartered Gujarat Gas was set up by BG Group of UK in 1980. But last year, the British firm sold its stake in the company to Gujarat government owned GSPC Group in June 2012 for Rs 2,464 crore.

Gujarat Gas Company Ltd (GGCL) and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd (GSPC) on September 3, 2013 entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a long-term gas supply deal.

As per the MoU, GSPC agreed to supply 0.85 mmscmd of gas to GGCL from January 1, 2014 to June 30, 2025. GSPC will imported gas in its liquid form (called liquefied natural gas or LNG) at either Dahej or Hazira and supply the fuel to GGCL. GGCL presently supplies piped natural gas to more than 413,000 customers and retails CNG to over 200,000 users in Surat an Bharuch through 56 retail outlets, according to the company website.

Its total gas requirement is about 2.8 mmscmd at present.