Dubai—Qatargas said Feb. 28 it delivered its first LNG cargo to India's Ennore LNG receiving terminal as the Asian country seeks to increase its use of natural gas.
The cargo was delivered via a Q-Flex vessel, named Al Nuaman, which was loaded with 147,000 cm of LNG on Feb. 11 at Ras Laffan port, and called at the Ennore terminal, near the southern Indian city of Chennai, on Feb. 20. The cargo was delivered to Indian Oil LNG Private Ltd., a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corp., which operates the 5 million mt/year terminal.India relies on both domestic gas production and the more expensive LNG imports to meet its gas demand. The country is targeting a 15% share of gas in its energy mix by 2030, from about 6% in 2019.
Earlier in February 2019, Qatargas helped commission the Ennore terminal by supplying LNG volumes, which were delivered by the Swiss commodity trader, Gunvor, Qatargas said. The $735 million LNG terminal, commissioned in February 2019, is the first one to be built on India's east coast, at Tamil Nadu's Kamarajar port.
The terminal has two above-ground storage tanks, with a capacity of 180,000 cm each, and two 36'' lines fitted along the jetty trestle that are used for transferring LNG from ship to the storage tanks. The terminal is dedicated to LNG import, storage, regasification and send-out. Qatargas started supplying LNG to India in July 1999, serving Petronet.
India is set to commission the Jaigarh LNG receiving terminal in Maharashtra later this year, in addition to other gas-related infrastructure projects, Qatargas said. These additional terminals will "significantly" increase India's capacity to import LNG, it said.
In 2020, India took advantage of low spot prices, and boosted its purchase of LNG cargoes, as COVID-19 related demand destruction started impacting northeast Asia.
