India boosts LNG imports in August

India’s imports of liquefied natural gas rose 34.6 percent in August as compared to the same month a year ago, according to the data from oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).

India imported 2,144 million metric standard cubic metres (mmscm) of LNG in August compared with 1,593 mmscm in the same month last year, PPAC said.

The country imported 10,348 mmscm of LNG in April-August, up by 25.7 percent as compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.

India’s LNG imports have been rising steadily this year boosted by low prices of the chilled fuel with the exception of July when the country’s LNG imports marked the first monthly decline as gas consumption remained flat and domestic gas production rose.

Costs of importing LNG into India have dropped sharply in 2016 after India’s largest LNG importer, Petronet signed a revised long-term contract with RasGas of Qatar.

The country’s prime minister Narendra Modi said last month that the world’s fourth-largest importer of the chilled fuel could save up to US$3 billion due to the renegotiated import deal.

India imports LNG via Petronet’s Dahej and Kochi LNG terminals, Shell’s Hazira plant, and the Dabhol terminal operated by Ratnagiri Gas and Power.

LNG World News Staff