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Informist, Friday, Mar. 20, 2026

 

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--Gujarat govt aide: Eight LNG cargoes to reach India's west coast by Mar 31
--Gujarat govt aide: Gujarat State Petro Corp to get 2 LNG cargoes by Mar 24
--Gujarat govt aide: One LNG cargo to arrive from Nigeria, US each
--Gujarat govt aide: GAIL, BPCL, IOC to also get 1 LNG cargo each
--Gujarat govt aide: Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel to get 2 LNG cargoes
--Gujarat govt aide: LNG cargoes to offset 50?ll in imports from Qatar

 

By Sunil Raghu

 

AHMEDABAD – The west coast of Gujarat and Maharashtra are expected to receive eight liquefied natural gas cargoes by Mar. 31, said senior Gujarat government officials directly in know of the development. These imports will help fill the gap in natural gas supply arising out of the Israel-US war on Iran and the consequent turmoil in West Asia.

 

 

India consumes nearly 180 million standard cubic metres per day of natural gas, of which nearly 50% is imported as liquefied natural gas. Of about 90 mscmd, the total LNG imported, 50% comes via Strait of Hormuz, primarily from Qatar, and the remaining from the US, Africa, Australia, and Russia. The stoppage of LNG arrivals from Strait of Hormuz forced Petronet LNG Ltd. to issue force majeure notice to its supplier QatarEnergy and local buyers on Mar. 5. The vessels could not reach Ras Laffan load port following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, leading to an immediate impact on supply of piped natural gas to several industrial and commercial units across India.

 

On Thursday, Tehran had fired missiles at key Gulf energy sites, including Ras Laffan in Qatar, a massive complex that houses the world's largest liquefied natural gas export plant. The chief executive officer of QatarEnergy reportedly said that nearly 17% of Qatar's LNG capacity had been destroyed. On Wednesday, missiles had reportedly damaged the Pearl Gas-to-Liquids facility. This is particularly worrisome for India as nearly 40 mscmd of liquefied natural gas comes from Qatar. Any damage to them could not just prolong the force majeure announced by Qatar but force India to buy LNG at higher prices.

 

These eight LNG ships would together carry LNG volumes that will meet 8-9 days of India's needs at peak load of 90 million standard cubic metres per day. "Seven of these LNG ships would arrive on Gujarat coast before the end of March. They include two LNG ships contracted by Gujarat State Petroleum Corp. Ltd., two by Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel, one each by GAIL (India) Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd., and Indian Oil Corp. Ltd.," the official said. While most of these LNG cargoes are expected to call on Dahej terminal run by Petronet LNG, Arcelor Mittal is expected to unload one cargo at Hazira LNG terminal. GAIL is also likely to off-load one LNG cargo at its LNG terminal at Dabhol in Maharashtra, the official said.

 

Another official said that most of these cargoes have been contracted at $18-$20 per million British thermal unit equivalent, except one cargo each by Arcelor Mittal, Indian Oil Corp. and GSPC, which are part of their long-term contracts. "Before the closure of Strait of Hormuz, the LNG was being contracted at half this rate. In fact, GSPC could source LNG cargo from TotalEnergies SA of France at no less than $22 per mBtu," the official said. GSPC's one cargo is arriving from the US and another one from Nigeria.

 

These arrivals are expected to add to regasification throughput at Petronet LNG Ltd.'s Dahej LNG terminal, one of the largest LNG import facilities in India and a key supply hub for industrial clusters in Western India. Normally, Petronet LNG handles nearly 20-21 LNG carriers each month at Dahej. It earns up to INR 200 million per LNG tanker berthing and using regasification facilities at Dahej.

 

For the quarter ended December, Petronet LNG had reported consolidated net profit of INR 8.48 billion on revenues of INR 111.64 billion. At 1515 IST, the shares of Petronet LNG traded at INR 257.60 on the National Stock Exchange, down nearly 4.9%.  End

 

US$1 = INR 93.71

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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