Last Update: February 17, 2023, 18:09 IST
GAIL is also looking to buy 1 million tonnes of LNG per year from the facility for 15 years from the last quarter of calendar year 2026.
GAIL has floated a tender seeking expression of interest (EOI) from operators of existing LNG liquefaction plants or proposed projects in the US that would be operational by 2027.
India’s largest gas company GAIL is looking to buy up to 26 per cent stake in an LNG project in the United States in an effort to increase supply sources to meet growing demand. Last year, supplies were disrupted after GAIL (India) Ltd, Russia-owned Gazprom Marketing and Trading (GMTS) failed to deliver contracted LNG due to Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
The company has issued a tender seeking expression of interest (EoI) from operators of existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction plants or proposed projects to be operational by 2027 in the US. Liquefaction plants convert natural gas into liquid form, increasing its capacity. sea transport.
As per the tender document, the company is looking to buy 1 million tonnes of LNG per year from the facility for 15 years from the last quarter of calendar year 2026.
GAIL is ready to extend the supply contract for another 5 to 10 years.
The last date for submission of EOI is March 10.
GAIL already has a contract to buy 5.8 million tonnes of LNG from the US and is looking for more supplies to meet Russian shortfall as well as rising demand from a growing economy.
Earlier, Petronet LNG Ltd – a firm in which GAIL is one of the promoters with 12.5 per cent stake – had in September 2019 signed a non-binding agreement to invest USD 2.5 billion in US energy upstart Tellurian’s LNG project in Louisiana. was signed. Return for gas supply for 40 years.
That agreement expired in late 2020 without a concrete deal being signed.
Petronet was to buy up to 5 million tonnes of LNG per year from Tellurian Inc’s proposed Driftwood LNG terminal for 40 years. The deal was concurrent with Petronet making an equity investment of USD 2.5 billion for an 18 percent stake in Driftwood.
At the time, Petronet’s promoters questioned the rationale of making equity investments and locking in such huge amounts from a single supplier for a period of 40 years.
To satisfy the promoters as well as to test whether LNG from Tellurian would be competitive, Petronet invited bids to buy 1 million tonnes of LNG per year for 10 years. Tellurian was among 13 suppliers that quoted in the tender but did not meet price expectations.
“GAIL, directly or through any of its associates, is exploring an opportunity to acquire equity up to 26 per cent at par in existing LNG liquefaction plants/projects in the United States of America” or those to be commissioned latest by the calendar year 2026/27 will be done, said the tender document.
Further, GAIL is “interested in receiving 1 million tonnes per annum of LNG from the LNG liquefaction plant/project on FOB basis for a period of 15 years on mutually acceptable terms and conditions.”
Separately, GAIL is in discussions with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Russia’s Novatek PJSC for long-term LNG deals, chairman Sandeep Kumar Gupta said at a conference last week. Its current 5.8 million tonnes of LNG import deals from US projects do not involve any equity holding.
GAIL signed a 20-year contract with GMTS in 2012 to buy 2.5 million tonnes of LNG annually. GMTS was a unit of Gazprom Germania, now called SAFE, but the parent left the business last April following Western sanctions.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)