LNG

July 10 (LNGJ) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ended a visit to Russia and a statement said that both countries were exploring the possibility of expanding cooperation in the natural gas sector and India would continue to import around 3 million tonnes per annum of Russian LNG and the volumes could be increased.

   It was also stated that the Indian state-owned company, Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), is maintaining its participation in the Sakhalin 1 oil project in the Russian Far East while the choice of a new operator of the joint venture was now underway after the withdrawal of US major ExxonMobil Corp.

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.

India hit a landmark annual total in liquefied natural gas imports in 2020 as the economy continued to grow along with pipeline and terminal infrastructure, even amid the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and with several months of shipments under the 2019 level.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the Kochi to Mangalore natural gas pipeline linking the LNG terminal in southwest India to the port in the central state of Karnataka and declaring in the Web ceremony “One Nation, One Gas Grid” as he stated that India would attain its goal of having a plentiful supply of clean natural gas .

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally open the long-awaited 450-kilometres natural gas pipeline from the Kochi LNG import terminal in the southwest state of Kerala to the port city of Mangaluru in the state of Karnataka further north.

Tellurian Inc., the developer of the Driftwood LNG plant in Louisiana, has confirmed that its prestigious accord with India’s Petronet LNG for volumes and investment first signed in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now elapsed.

Tellurian Inc., the developer of the Driftwood LNG export plant, said it had extended its accord with Petronet LNG of India on seeking a firm agreement for the purchase of LNG volumes and the Indian company investing in the venture.

The accord involving the supply of 5 million tonnes per annum of LNG was signed in September 2019 with the aim of being finalized by March 31, 2020. 

“The timing has been extended to May 31, 2020 to support Petronet’s consultative review process,” said Tellurian.

Tellurian and Petronet are also negotiating an equity investment in the Driftwood project in Louisiana by the Indian firm of up to $2.5 billion.

The Driftwood plant is proposed for the west bank of the Calcasieu River, south of Lake Charles, and with output of just over 26 MTPA.

“Tellurian was in India this week meeting with Petronet and affiliates to progress negotiations, and we are very supportive of Petronet’s process to ensure their robust project review,” said Tellurian President and Chief Executive Meg Gentle.

“With India’s LNG demand increasing 27 percent year-over-year, and  Prime Minister Narendra Modi planning for $60Bln of investments in natural gas infrastructure, India is perfectly poised to benefit from strategic project agreements such as Petronet’s equity investment in Driftwood,” added Gentle.

Petronet currently operates India’s busiest regasification facility at Dahej, north of Mumbai, with 15 million tonnes per annum of capacity and six storage tanks. The terminal is being expanded to handle 17.5 MTPA.

The company was formed by the Government of India in 1998 specifically to import LNG and will be expanding its interests in the years ahead into LNG fuel distribution.

Shareholders in Petronet, which began operations in 2004, include the other big Indian energy players, Gas Authority of India, Indian Oil Corp., Oil and Natural Gas Corp. and Bharat Petroleum Corp.

President Donald Trump concluded his two-day visit to India by issuing a joint statement with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a variety of issues, including future cooperation on liquefied natural gas as both leaders noted that the US-Indian energy relationship over the last four years had been worth $20 billion.

They said they welcomed growing links between the United States and India in trade and investment in hydrocarbons. 

“Through their Strategic Energy Partnership, the United States and India are seeking to enhance energy security, expand energy and innovation linkages across respective energy sectors, bolster strategic alignment, and facilitate increased engagement between industry and other stakeholders,” they said.

Trump and Modi noted the potential for the US to meet India’s goal to diversify its import base for coking and metallurgical coal and natural gas.

“We welcome recent commercial arrangements intended to accelerate access to LNG in the Indian market,” they added, in reference to the accord between US company Tellurian and state-owned Petronet LNG, the nation’s largest importer.

They also referenced moves by ExxonMobil and others to advance with the provision of more LNG fuel use for transportation and small-scale distribution.

“The US has indeed become a very important oil and gas source for India,” they said.

“Over the last four years, our total energy trade volume is about $20 billion,” added the statement.

They also noted that they encouraged the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and US company Westinghouse Electric to finalize the techno-commercial offer for the construction of six civil nuclear reactors in India at the earliest date.

Westinghouse and the Indian nuclear power operator plan to build the 1,100 megawatts reactors in the southeast Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. 

However, there was no statement on the firming up of Petronet’s  supply agreement with Driftwood LNG developer Tellurian, nor on its accord on a possible equity stake.

The initial agreement between Tellurian and Petronet for up to 5 million tonnes per annum of US LNG was signed during a visit to Houston in September 2019 by Modi, who also held a Texas rally for Indians living in the US.

Petronet and Tellurian will continue their talks on the Indians investing $2.5 billion in the Driftwood plans proposed for the west bank of the Calcasieu River, south of Lake Charles in Louisiana.

Petronet currently operates India’s busiest regasification facility at Dahej, north of Mumbai, with 15 million tonnes per annum of capacity and six storage tanks. The terminal is being expanded to handle 17.5 MTPA.

The company was formed by the Government of India in 1998 specifically to import LNG and will be expanding its interests in the years ahead into LNG fuel distribution.

Shareholders in Petronet, which began operations in 2004, include the other big Indian energy players, Gas Authority of India, Indian Oil Corp., Oil and Natural Gas Corp. and Bharat Petroleum Corp.

Feb 3 (LNGJ) - Indian importer Petronet LNG is expected to sign a firm supply agreement with Gulf Coast liquefaction plant developer Tellurian Inc. during the scheduled visit to India on February 24-25 of US President Donald Trump. The initial agreement between Houston-based Tellurian and Petronet for up to 5 million tonnes per annum of US LNG was signed during a visit to the Texan city in September 2019 by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

   Petronet is also negotiating an equity investment in Tellurian’s Driftwood project proposed for the west bank of the Calcasieu River, south of Lake Charles in Louisiana, and with output of just over 26 million tonnes per annum when completed in 2023.

Indian liquefied natural gas imports surged for an eighth month in the current fiscal year as more volumes were imported at a lower cost from countries like Qatar, the US, Australia and West African nations such as Nigeria and Angola.