ONGC to restart Hazira on Aug 19

Oil and Natural Gas Corp will restart its flood-hit Hazira gas plant in Gujarat on August 19, two days ahead of schedule to avert a fuel supply crisis, particularly for CNG operations in the Capital.

"The situation is better than anticipated. We think we will be able to restart the Hazira gas processing complex earlier than the previously anticipated date. We are hoping the plant will come alive on August 18," ONGC Chairman and Managing Director RS Sharma said after visiting the marooned facility.

Sharma, who took a chartered flight from Dehradun to visit the plant as soon as the water level receded, said Hazira would restart in phases, six million standard cubic metres per day to begin with.

The shutdown of the plant, which received 40.5 mmscmd gas from ONGC's Bassein and B-55 fields and ONGC-Reliance-BG operated Panna/Mukta and Tapti fields, cost ONGC Rs 21 crore in revenues and Rs 16-17 crore in profits per day.

"Preliminary estimates put the revenue loss during the entire shutdown period at about Rs 500 crore and profit loss at over Rs 200 crore," he said.

Sharma's Hazira visit, whose crisis management skills helped ONGC save hundreds of lives when a key facility in Mumbai High fields caught fire last July, infused new life in operations for restarting the facility with over 650 employees and labourers working round-the-clock to remove 2-3 feet slug, repair 1,400 motors and replace digital control systems.

Hazira, whose shutdown tripped half of India's gas supplies, would be back just in time before stocks for CNG operations in Delhi and some power plants run out. Sharma said the Hazira plant would resume its normal operations by second or third week of September.

"Twenty teams have been created to attend to various repair, refurbishment and replacement jobs."

As per the ONGC's insurance policy for onshore facilities, insurers would pay for all the repair, replacement and refurbishment after deducting $2-million (Rs 9.2 crore), he said.

Sharma said his visit to Dehradun, where he had gone to attend the company's Golden Jubilee celebrations and Independence Day function, paid off the huge multiples. "The employee morale is very high. Everybody wants to put the facility back in order as soon as possible.

The damage was quite a lot... 45 employees were trapped on the first floor of the plant for 48-hours, surviving only on biscuits and sugar cubes. I met the stranded employees but no one seems to be complaining, they all want the plant to restart."

ONGC had to shut its Bassein, B-55 and Panna/Mukta and Tapti gas fields on August 8 as the water-marooned Hazira complex could not take any gas. About 40.5 million standard cubic meters per day of natural gas went out of the system as a result of the closure, affecting operations of industries.

ONGC's Hazira produced 1,650 tonnes of LPG, 3,350 tonnes of aromatic naphtha, 417 tones of kerosene and 48 tonnes of diesel and supplied 40.5 mmscmd gas to Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishapur (HVJ) pipeline for shipment to industries in the north.

Officials said natural gas supplies up north have been rationed with power, transport sector (CNG in Delhi) and fertiliser sectors getting priority.

Gas supplies in Delhi to commercial establishments like hotels was cut to sustain CNG supply to automobiles for another week.

The shutting of Hazira Gas Processing Complex has also affected the operations of Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur (HBJ) pipeline and its operation are likely to resume within a day of resumption of Hazira complex.