LNG

Indian liquefied natural gas imports in the fiscal year from April 2021 to March 2022 declined by 3.4 percent, though still amounted to 350 cargoes even as costs jumped by 40 percent to almost $12 billion.

Indian liquefied natural gas imports dropped for a third month, though by a lesser amount that the previous two months as the costs of LNG shipments soared, though falling volumes were again offset by offshore domestic natural gas pipeline supplies on the East Coast.

H-Energy of India, whose chartered floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) is currently deployed as the seventh LNG Indian import terminal at the West Coast port of Jaigarh in the state of Maharashtra, said the facility would be importing up to 4 million tonnes per annum by 2022 and more after that for truck-loading and bunkering.

Two years after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first Indian East Coast liquefied natural gas import terminal at Kamarajar Port, also known as Ennore, Qatargas has delivered its first and largest commercial cargo as the terminal seeks to boost its capacity utilisation, currently under 12 percent.

Höegh LNG, the Norwegian LNG fleet owner and floating terminal projects company, returned to profit in the fourth quarter as it prepared to deploy a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) as India’s latest import terminal in the West Coast port of Jaigarh in the state of Maharashtra.

The Hiranandani Group of India and Höegh LNG of Norway have confirmed they are on track to deploy a floating import terminal in March 2021 to supply liquefied natural gas to the West Coast Indian state of Maharashtra and become to become nation’s seventh terminal.

Höegh LNG and Hiranandani Group subsidiary H-Energy have just completed and signed all documentation for the 10-year charter of the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), the “Höegh Giant”.

The agreement is for a period of 10 years with annual termination options after year five.

“The ‘FSRU ‘Höegh Giant’ is currently completing its LNGC charter with Spanish utility Naturgy, and will then proceed directly to Keppel Shipyard (Singapore) for minor modifications, in addition to pre-completion of the vessel’s five-year periodic class survey, originally scheduled for 2022 as this will improve efficiency and reduce costs.,” explained Höegh.

“The vessel is expected to be off hire for approximately 40 days in the first quarter of 2021 before the start-up under the H-Energy contract in March 2021,” added the Norwegian firm.

The Indian company is aiming to develop LNG regasification terminals and cross-country pipelines on the West and East coasts of India and is making a start with the FSRU at Jaigarh port.

H-Energy’s first vessel, the “Höegh Giant”, was built in 2017 and has a storage capacity of 170,000 cubic metres and peak regasification capability of 750 million standard cubic feet per day to handle up to 6 million tonnes per annum of LNG.

“The FSRU will deliver regasified LNG to the 56-kilometres Jaigarh-Dabhol pipeline connecting to the Indian National Gas grid and will also deliver LNG onshore for LNG truck-loading facilities,” the companies explained.

The FSRU will also deliver LNG for onshore distribution through LNG truck loading facilities, as well as reloading LNG onto small-scale LNG vessels for downstream distribution or LNG bunker services.

Höegh President and Chief Executive Sveinung J.S. Støhle said he was delighted to have completed the agreements with H-Energy for the first FSRU LNG import terminal in India.

“A roadmap with H-Energy also includes the joint development of the downstream small-scale LNG market in the region, using the FSRU as the terminal for storage and re-loading to smaller vessels,” added Støhle

“India is a high-growth market and we see clear potential for Höegh LNG to provide additional FSRUs and clean energy solutions to this market over the coming years,” he stated.

Indian liquefied natural gas imports rose for a seventh month in the current fiscal year as the increase in volumes gathered pace with cargoes arriving from Qatar and West African nations such as Nigeria and Angola.

Indian liquefied natural gas imports rose for a sixth month in the current fiscal year as volumes steadily increase from Qatar and the Atlantic Basin countries such as Nigeria and Angola.

Indian liquefied natural gas imports jumped for a fifth month of the current fiscal year as volumes received rose more than 10 percent with supplies coming from Atlantic Basin countries such as the US, Nigeria and Angola and traditional suppliers like Qatar.

Indian liquefied natural gas terminal developer H-Energy and Kakinada Seaports signed an agreement for an LNG regasification and reloading terminal to be sited at Kakinada port in Andhra Pradesh, which would be only the second such facility on the East Coast of India.

Kakinada Seaports controls the concession for the Kakinada Deep Water Port under an agreement with the government of Andhra Pradesh.

“H-Energy shall develop an LNG hub at the Kakinada Port catering to the needs of domestic customers in the state of Andhra Pradesh and shall supply LNG through small LNG vessels to H-energy’s proposed Kukrahati LNG terminal in the state of West Bengal and neighboring countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar,” explained H-Energy.

Darshan Hiranandani, Chief Executive of H-Energy, said the company was excited to partner with Kakinada Seaports for this East Coast project.

“We believe that Kakinada with its existing breakwater and deep draft combined with its close proximity to various natural gas pipelines makes this an efficient and successful project for our customers, our partners, and ourselves,” said the CEO.

“The PSA along with its associated agreements envisages a long-term association between the two organizations contributing towards India’s growth story, especially, the vision of the Government to promote a gas-based clean economy," he added.

Depending on the timing, the Kakinada terminal could be only the second on the East Coast of India after the start-up in March 2019 of the first facility at Kamarajar Port in Tamil Nadu.

The Kamarajar terminal is owned by Indian Oil Corp., the refining and fuel marketing company, and has 5 MTPA of import capacity and two tanks each with storage of 180,000 cubic metres.

The Hiranandani group also has plans to deploy a floating storage and regasification import project at Jaigarh port, south of Mumbai, by the end of 2019.

The H-Energy subsidiary will operate the Jaigarh terminal with annual capacity of 4 MTPA of LNG and with re-loading capabilities.

H-Energy has explained that the FSRU charter to H-Energy is for a period of five years and the ship will arrive at the LNG jetty at Jaigarh just before the start-up.

Most of the onshore infrastructure work has almost been completed by Engineers India Ltd, a project construction company.

H-Energy said the West Coast facility would be of great benefit to Maharashtra state in western India by providing clean fuel for transportation and for city-gas use.

When operational, the regasified LNG will be supplied to customers through the pipeline connected to national gas grids at the city of Dabhol.

The facility would be the fifth LNG import terminal located near Mumbai, with three of them located at Hazira, Dahej and Dabhol for use by importers Shell, Petronet LNG and Gas Authority of India respectively.

A fourth is mechanically completed at Mundra. It is owned by Gujarat State Petroleum and the Adani Group, though has yet to be fully commissioned.

H-Energy also recently signed a cooperation accord with Russian company Novatek, operator of the Yamal LNG plant in Siberia and developer of the Arctic LNG II project.

Novatek said the memorandum of understanding envisaged cooperation in LNG supplies to India on a long-term basis, joint investment in future LNG terminals of H-Energy and in Russian LNG projects.

The Hiranandani conglomerate and Novatek said they also planned to establish a joint venture to market LNG and natural gas to end-customers in India, Bangladesh and other markets.