Indian liquefied natural gas imports plunged over 20 percent for a second successive month as the costs of LNG shipments soared, though falling volumes were again offset by offshore domestic natural gas pipeline supplies on the East Coast.
Petronet, the largest Indian importer with two terminals on the West Coast at Dahej and Kochi, is now planning a third import facility on the East Coast where only one currently operates.
Höegh LNG Holdings, the Norwegian shipping company acquired in a takeover by Norwegian interests and a unit of US investment bank Morgan Stanley, posted a wider loss in the first quarter of 2021 as it reported setbacks in its tenders for projects.
Indian liquefied natural gas imports jumped by more than 45 percent in April from a much lower figure in April 2020 caused by last year’s drop in economic activity after the appearance of the Covid-19 pandemic.
India’s liquefied natural gas imports edged higher for the first month in four, along with domestic gas production, as a new LNG import facility on the West Coast is being commissioned to boost delivery capability amid the nation’s slow economic recovery from the ongoing effects of Covid-19.
Höegh LNG, the Norwegian-US fleet owner, has seen its floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), the “Höegh Giant”, leave Singapore to be deployed offshore India at the end of this week as the Asian nation’s seventh LNG import terminal.
Indian liquefied natural gas imports increased by almost 12 percent last month and were on track for record fiscal-year and calendar-year totals as shipments increased due to rising demand, backed by higher terminal capacity use and a steady infrastructure build-out.
The Hiranandani Group of India said its H-Energy subsidiary had entered into a binding commitment with Norway’s Höegh LNG for the supply of a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to be deployed at Jaigarh Port in the West Coast Indian state of Maharashtra.
Indian liquefied natural gas monthly imports increased by more than 16 percent last month and were back on track for a record fiscal-year total as cargo shipments rose along with economic activity and the nation was set to have its seventh regasification facility in early 2021.
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.