January 13, 2010: India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corp., which is planning
to install two LNG terminals (Dahej in
Gujarat and Kochi in Kerala), intends to
lend 40 billion rupees (~US$860 million)
to an overseas unit investing in a
gas project off Myanmar’s coast.
The interest-free loan has
no maturity date, according to
Bloomberg. By 2025, ONGC aims
to obtain two-thirds of its oil
and gas resources from overseas.
Apurva Shah, head of research
at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. in
Mumbai, notes that opportunities
are limited in India.
“Given that there is going to
be some serious growth in domestic
demand in the years to come, ONGC
needs to get its hands on whatever assets
it can get,” Shah told Bloomberg.
The company has a 17% stake
in the Shwe, Shwe-Phu and Mya areas in the A-1 and A-3 blocks in Myanmar, which are
estimated to hold between 4.5 trillion and 7.7 trillion cubic feet.
ONGC has a 12.5% equity interest in Petronet LNG Limited to import and
market LNG in India. Other partners in the venture are IOC, GAIL, and BPCL, each
with 12.5% equity.
November 30, 2009: On Nov. 13, Petronet reported
that it intends to sign a three-year
deal to buy Qatar LNG by
the end of February. According
to a Reuters report, the first shipment
from Qatar’s RasGas will
arrive in January
Petronet,
which set up India’s s first LNG
regas terminal at Dahej, Gujarat,
and is in the process of building
another one at Kochi, Kerala,
imports about 5 million metric
tons annually from RasGas
under a long-term contract.
Supplies are to be raised to 7.5
million tons beginning the
fourth quarter of 2009.
In August, Petronet
agreed to buy 1.5 million tons annually
from ExxonMobil’s share of the Gorgon
project for 20 years. The LNG will be delivered to the new Kochi terminal, which will have
2.5 million tons per year capacity and provisions for expansion to 5 MMTPA. The terminal
includes two tanks of 110,000 cubic meters capacity each, vaporization system and utilities
and off-site facilities. The estimated cost of the project is $430 million.
June 10, 2009: Petronet, India's largest buyer of LNG, has lifted force majeure at its Dahej Terminal on the western coast of India. Petronet had issued force majeure on five LNG cargoes when a problem arose with coordinating pumps at the terminal. Bloomberg reported full capacity at the terminal had been restored on June 1. Petronet declared force majeure on one short-term and three long-term shipments from Qatar's Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. and on one spot cargo.
The company completed doubling the capacity of its Dahej LNG terminal to10 million metric tons a year on March 9, Sengupta said.
August 26, 2008: Output at Dahej has had to be reduced due to a faulty high pressure pump; production is down 13%, which has forced Petronet to invoke its force majeure clause on its customers, who include GAIL and Bharat Petroleum. Petronet claims the pump problem will be remedies by the end of August.
February 13, 2008: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide Petronet with a $170 million loan for
the expansion of the company’s Dahej LNG LNG terminal in the Gujarat Industrial Estate on
the coast of the Gulf of Khambhat in western India. German development bank, KFW,
will assume 50% of the debt service risk on the ADB loan by way of risk participation.
Recently, Gaz de France, the world’s fourth-largest buyer of natural gas, signed
on as another major shareholder to provide technical support to Petronet in the expansion
of the terminal. |
