New Delhi (Platts)--9Jan2009

India faces a severe energy crisis with the possibility of power
blackouts and drying fuel pumps as the indefinite nationwide strike by
state-run oil company officials entered its third day, oil industry officials
said Friday.
Late Thursday talks between the government and strike leaders failed, a
spokesman for gas major GAIL (India) Ltd. said.
The Oil Sector Officers Association, an association of mid-level
executives in state-run oil companies, called for the indefinite strike to
press for higher wages.
A severe power crisis is a possibility as executives of India's largest
power major NTPC Ltd. are planning to go on strike in support of striking oil
officials. "That would result in severe power cuts across India," a striking
oil official, who did not want to be identified, said.
Already NTPC's gas-fuelled power plants are either shut or working below
capacity due to lack of gas.
The OSOA President Amit Kumar could not be reached, as he and other
strike leaders have reportedly gone underground to escape arrest. Several
state governments have invoked provisions of the Essential Services
Maintenance Act that provides for arrest of strikers.
The Times of India newspaper said differences over continuing the strike
because of fear of arrests had surfaced between OSOA officials. Quoting
unnamed sources, the newspaper said oil companies were preparing a list
of striking officers with their home addresses and contact numbers to be given
to the police, who would try and persuade them to either join work or face
arrest.
The situation was made worse by the truckers, who took their strike into
the fifth day. The strike by truckers has disrupted commodity supplies in
major cities, including supply of LPG cylinders, which are used as cooking
fuel.
Meanwhile, several fuel pumps were shut for want of fuel in the capital
New Delhi and other Indian cities. Most of the pumps that were still running
belonged to refiner and retailing major Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd., whose
officials have not joined the strike.
OSOA is an umbrella organization of roughly 45,000 mid-level officials
from 14 state-run exploration majors including Oil and Natural Gas Corp.,
Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. and HPCL.
The association also represents officers of other state-run companies
such as Chennai Petroleum Corp., Engineers India Ltd., Numaligarh Refinery
Ltd. and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd.
--Shiva Lingam, newsdesk@platts.com