India's Gail seeks additional 1mn mt/yr of LNG: press

Indian state-owned gas utility Gail is looking to import 1mn metric tons/year of additional LNG for 10 years beginning 2023 to meet the country's rising demand for the fuel, Economic Times reported on May 31.

"We are trying to buy at least 1mn mt/yr LNG more for 10 years. Whatever we were selling in the international market, we are trying to bring to India as demand here has increased," Manoj Jain chairman and managing director, Gail told the newspaper.

The company is also talking to many players bilaterally to get a sense of the market and once the company zeros in on certain geographies, it would float expressions of interest. Gail is also diverting LNG from its international portfolio to the Indian market, Economic Times reported.

"Gail will buy one LNG cargo from the spot market every 30-40 days to meet city gas demand," Jain said.

The company did not rule out procuring additional LNG supplies from Russia's Gazprom. It has a contract to buy 2.5mn mt/yr of LNG from Gazprom's Singapore-based trading arm. Gail imported 2mn mt LNG from Gazprom in 2021, and plans to import 2.5mn mt in 2022 and 2.85mn mt in 2023, the newspaper reported. 

Gail also has long-term contracts to import 5.8mn mt/yr of US LNG. These are all linked to Henry Hub prices.