Petronet imports second LNG cargo at Kochi

Petronet LNG Ltd, India's biggest buyer of liquefied natural gas, has received a second cargo at its newly constructed Kochi import terminal in Kerala.

 

LNG carrier Fuwairit ferried 1,38,000 cubic meters of gas in liquid form from Qatar's Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co (RasGas).

 

"The ship berthed at 1250 hours (at Kochi terminal) on November 15," the company said in a statement here.

 

Petronet, which owns and operates a 10 million ton-a-year terminal at Dahej in Gujarat, commissioned the 5 million ton facility at Kochi in August, when it received its first cargo from RasGas.

 

The ship Will Energy, which carried the first cargo, faced "certain technical glitches" while berthing, Petronet said. This time, the terminal "berthed the ship (Fuwairit) with higher capacity smoothly."

 

The company said gas from Kochi is being supplied to the state-run Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT), Bharat Petroleum Corp's Kochi refinery and Nitta Gelatin India Ltd.

 

"Kochi LNG terminal, in coming times with availability of pipeline network, can cater to the needs of refinery, petrochemical, fertilizer, power, steel, transportation and city gas distribution in states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra," Petronet said.

 

The Rs 4,200 crore Kochi terminal will operate at 8% of capacity in the first year of operations because pipelines to take gas to customers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are not ready.

 

In the second year, the terminal is expected to operate at 75% capacity, when pipelines connecting Kochi with Mangalore and Bangalore are built. Also, state-owned GAIL India plans to connect this pipeline to Chennai.

 

At least 70% of the total capacity, or 3.5 million tons a year, is required for the terminal to function at minimum optimum efficiency.

 

Petronet currently imports LNG from the spot market. It will get 1.3 million tons of gas-turned-into-liquid at sub-zero temperatures from Australia's Gorgon project in 2015-16 under a 20-year deal signed in August 2009.

 

State-owned gas utility GAIL, refiners Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum, and explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp each own a 12.5% stake in Petronet.