Shirish Nadkarni
OGJ Correspondent
MUMBAI, Jan. 15 -- India's first consignment of LNG will be delivered later this month to Petronet LNG's new $547 million, 5 million tonnes/year receiving terminal at Dahej on the Gujarat coast, following the recent signing of a competitive supply agreement with Qatar's RasGas Co. Ltd.
"We've got a special fixed price from RasGas for 5 years of the 20-year contract," said P. Dasgupta, finance director of Petronet, a joint venture of government-run oil and gas companies and overseas investors, including Gaz de France.
Petronet will import 5 million tonnes of LNG from Qatar for an aggregate fixed price of $800 million/year until December 2008.
The price equates to about $3.25/MMbtu, at least 25% cheaper than current Asian LNG prices. The Indian price is indicative of fierce competition in the Asian LNG market, with China having signed a similar lucrative deal recently.
Manila-based Asian Development Bank will take a 5.2% equity stake in the Indian pipeline firm for $75 million and also will guarantee a $154 million bond sale by Petronet.
Petronet has planned a similar 2.5 million tonne/year LNG terminal at Kochi, in the southern Indian state of Kerala and is considering doubling the capacity of the Dahej terminal (OGJ Online, July 28, 2003).