Gas running out of steam as demand in India wavers

GAIL (India), a torchbearer for India's natural gas ambitions, stumbled into the second quarter of 2022-23 (FY23), weighed down by the turmoil in the global gas markets. It was forced to slash supplies to customers after a former Gazprom unit stopped liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments.

- S DINAKAR

Farther away, in Europe, member nations have introduced gas storage obligations, and agreed upon voluntary targets to cut gas and electricity demand by 15 per cent this winter.

Germany, Russia's biggest gas customer, has reduced consumption of the fuel for both industries and residences after Europe's Title Transfer Facility (TTF) gas benchmark price scaled peaks of over $90 per million British thermal units (mBtu). India's growing dependence on natural gas, an offshoot of proposed and ongoing investments of more than 2 trillion in gas infrastructure, is happening when parts of the wealthy, developed world are withdrawing from the fuel because of lack of affordability.

The cleaner burning fuel, adopted by nations as a transition fuel en route to clean energy forms such as solar and wind, may be running out of steam, says Fatih Birol, executive director of Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA).

India's demand for the fuel has slumped 5 per cent in the April-September period of FY23 to 31.5 billion cubic metres from a year ago, after rising 5 per cent 2021-22.