Top India LNG buyer to expand import terminal

Petronet LNG, India’s largest buyer of liquefied natural gas, will complete the expansion of its import terminal on the nation’s west coast by September.    Petronet LNG Ltd., India’s biggest buyer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), will complete expanding its import terminal on the nation’s west coast by September, boosting shipments to the facility, according to three officials with knowledge of the matter.
   The capacity of the Dahej terminal, the nation’s largest LNG import and regasification plant, in India’s Gujarat state will be boosted by 50 percent to 15 million metric tons per year, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The expansion will lead to additional LNG imports of at least 1 million tons in the September to December period, they said.
   While Petronet uses the terminal for its own imports, it also allows other companies to lease the facility for taking delivery of their LNG purchases. The expansion will allow Indian buyers to ship additional volumes from overseas, taking advantage of a global glut that’s cut prices for the fuel by two-thirds since September 2014. Higher processing will increase Petronet’s income from regasification, boosting profits.
   Petronet Chief Executive Officer Prabhat Singh didn’t answer two calls to his mobile phone seeking comment.
   The New Delhi-based company has already leased out about half the expanded capacity to other energy companies such as Gail India Ltd., Indian Oil Corp. and Bharat Petroleum Corp. These firms import LNG to Dahej and pay Petronet regasification fees.
   India’s LNG imports have more than doubled in the past seven years as domestic gas supplies dried up. The nation purchased 2.08 million tons of the super-cooled fuel last month, a 43 percent increase from a year earlier, according to provisional data from the oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell.