[270616.EN.BIZ] India's Top LNG Buyer To Complete Terminal Expansion by September

INDIA'S biggest buyer of liquefied natural gas, Petronet LNG, is to complete its import terminal on the west coast by September, Bloomberg reports.

The expansion will allow Indian buyers to ship additional volumes from overseas, taking advantage of a global glut that's cut prices for the fuel by two-thirds since September 2014.

The capacity of the Dahej terminal, the nation's largest LNG import and regasification plant, in India's Gujaratstate will increase 50 per cent to 15 million tonnes a year, officials said.

The expansion will lead to additional LNG imports of at least a million tonnes in the September to December period, they said.

While Petronet uses the terminal for its own imports, it also allows other companies to take delivery of their own LNG purchases.

Higher processing will increase Petronet's income from regasification, boosting profits.

Petronet CEO Prabhat Singh didn't answer two calls to his mobile phone seeking comment.

The New Delhi-based company has already leased out about half the expanded capacity to other energy companies such as Gail India, Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum. These firms import LNG to Dahej and pay Petronet regasification fees.

Source : HKSG.