Gail India Ltd has entered into a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with Natural Gas Hydrate (NGH) AS of Norway for developing and commercialising synthetic natural gas hydrate storage and transportation technology. The MoC was signed in London by Proshanto Banerjee, chairman and managing director, GAIL India and Oscar Fr Graff, vice president, gas technology, Aker Kvaerner and professor Jon Steinar Gudmundsson of Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

The scope of the MoC includes feasibility studies of natural gas hydrate transport as an alternative to conventional pipeline and LNG transport. The possibility to set up a demonstration facility for this technology in India will be evaluated and the two companies will jointly develop and commercialise this new technology.

GAIL has identified storage and transportation of natural gas in hydrate form for monetising stranded gas fields as a priority. Natural gas hydrate is a solid ice-like compound composed of natural gas and water. Such hydrates are formed under moderate conditions and are stable at atmospheric pressure and at about minus-15°C. Natural gas hydrate has been identified as a promising non-pipeline gas transport method for reasonable volumes and transport distances.