India eyeing Iranian LNG

India’s Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan informed that Indian companies have expressed interest in buying liquefied natural gas from Iran.

As Pradhan said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Indian buyers, GAIL, Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum have all signed a bilateral sale and purchase agreement with the National Iranian Gas Export Company on 13th June 2005 for import of 5 mtpa of LNG. GAIL booked 2 mtpa of LNG while IOC and BPC agreed to import 1.75 and 1.25 mtpa of LNG respectively.

The contract price for the liquefied natural gas was linked to Brent crude with a floor and cap of $10/bbl and $31/bbl respectively.

According to the side letter signed along with the contract, NIGEC was required to obtain approval of National Iranian Oil Company for the LNG SPA within 15 days. However, NIGEC neither secured this approval nor implemented the LNG SPA.

However, with the lifting of sanctions, Iran is again planning LNG liquefaction facilities.

Pradhan added that an Indian delegation visited Iran during last week of July, 2015, wherein Indian side indicated their willingness to off take LNG from Iran.

Image: petroleum.nic.in