Tropical cyclone Laila is expected to slam India's east coast early on Thursday, putting ports, refineries and the country's biggest gas field on alert.
Tropical cyclone Laila is expected to slam India's east coast early on Thursday, putting ports, refineries and the country's biggest gas field on alert.
Here are the key oil and gas facilities and ports which may be at risk:
Oil and gas
- Reliance Industries operates the KG-D6 oil and gas block off the Andhra Pradesh coast. It has a capacity to produce 80 million standard cubic metres a day of gas, which is about half of India's total production, and about 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil.
- Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd runs a 1,50,000 bpd refinery at Vizag on the coast
- Ravva oil and gas field produces 39,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. Its owners include Cairn India, Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd
- In the neighbouring Tamil Nadu state, Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd operates two refineries with a combined capacity of 210,000 barrels per day
Ports
Andhra Pradesh has a dozen ports. The bigger ones are:
- Gangavaram: A new deep-water port that handles iron ore, coal, fertilisers, grains and petrochemicals. It handles vessels of up to 200,000 dead weight tonnes. It is located close to major city Visakhapatnam.
- Krishnapatnam: A deep-water port that handles iron ore, coal, containers and liquid bulk cargo. It is 180 kms from Chennai, the capital of neighbouring Tamil Nadu state.
- Kakinada Sea Port: Located between the Visakhapatnam and Chennai Ports. It handles bulk and liquid cargoes, project cargoes and services offshore oil and gas exploration activities in the Krishna Godavari basin. One of its services is ship-to-ship transfer of crude oil.
- Visakhapatnam: Deep-water port that handles coal, iron ore, cement, crude oil, alumina and agricultural commodities. It has elaborate road and rail linkages.
- In the neighbouring Orissa state, the Haldia port, a major hub of iron ore exports is also on alert, but local officials say they do not expect any disruption in operations as the cyclone is expected to weaken by the time it reaches the port.
Crops
- The main crop in eastern and southeastern India is rice. Local officials say heavy rains would help farmers plough the field for the summer-sown crop, which is planted in June.
Heavy rain would improve soil moisture, which is important for plant growth, and to replenish ground water.
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