Petronet LNG Limited, one of the fastest growing world-class companies in the Indian energy sector, has set up the country's first LNG receiving and regasification terminal at Dahej, Gujarat, and another terminal at Kochi, Kerala. While the Dahej terminal has a nominal capacity of 15 MMTPA, which is being expanded to 17.5 MMTPA, the Kochi terminal has a capacity of 5 MMTPA. The company is also exploring suitable opportunities within and outside India to expand its business presence.
The Company had set up South East Asia's first LNG Receiving and Regasification Terminal with an original nameplate capacity of 5 MMTPA at Dahej, Gujarat. The infrastructure was developed in the shortest possible time and at a benchmark cost. The capacity of the terminal has been expanded in phases which is currently 15 MMTPA and the same is under expansion to 17.5 MMTPA. The terminal has 6 LNG storage tanks and other vaporization facilities. The terminal is meeting around 40% of the total gas demand of the country.
Sourcing of LNG
The company is importing 7.5 MMTPA of LNG with Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. Ltd. (RasGas), Qatar on a long term basis under a 25 year agreement. The supply under the LNG agreement started in the year 2004.
To meet the requirements of customer from Kochi terminal, the company has tied up 1.4 MMTPA of LNG from MARC - An ExxonMobil’s venture in Australia. Further, in 2017 Company executed a new LNG SPA for 1.20 MMTPA LNG with ExxonMobil
Company has successfully reworked pricing under the LNG SPA with RasGas and MARC to align pricing with current market pricing.
To bridge the natural gas demand-supply gap in the country, Petronet LNG Limited imports LNG from various parts of globe on long term & short/ spot term basis.
Three LNG ships, namely ‘Disha’, ‘Raahi’ and ‘Aseem’ carry the entire LNG volumes from RasGas under a long-term contract to Dahej. Besides Japanese companies, Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) is also an equity partner in the ship-owning companies. All these ships are manned, managed, maintained and operated by SCI. The ships operate on a long-term time charter basis with Petronet as the charterer.
The fourth LNG vessel “Prachi” was delivered on 30th November 2016. Besides Japanese Companies NYK, MOL and K-Line, SCI is an equity partner in the ship-owning companies. PLL has taken 26% equity in this LNG ship. As is the case with the first three ships, the fourth ship is also being manned, managed, maintained and operated by SCI. Supply of LNG from MARC is now on delivered basis and "Prachi" has been novated to Exxon Mobil.
