Petronet receives 1st cargo at Kochi terminal

Petronet on Aug 11 received a ship carrying LNG from Qatar but the ship could not dock at the port

Petronet LNG Ltd, the country's largest importer of liquid gas, has received the maiden cargo at its just constructed Kochi import terminal in Kerala which will be used commission the Rs 4,200 crore terminal.

Petronet had on August 11 received a ship carrying gas in its liquid form (liquefied natural gas or LNG) from Qatar but the ship could not dock at the port.

"The LNG carrier 'Wilenergy' laden with its cargo of about 123,000 cubic meters of liquefied natural gas berthed in PLL's jetty at Puthuvypin" yesterday, the company said in a statement.

The ship could not berth earlier due to silt reducing the navigating channel depth. The channel had to be dredged before the vessel could dock.

"This commissioning cargo has come from RasGas of Qatar," the statement said. "Though the vessel carrying LNG arrived at the outer channel eight days ago, there was an unforeseen delay in bringing the vessel to the jetty."

Most of the cargo will be used to commission terminal and commercial supplies from the terminal may start in a week's time.

The Kochi terminal, however, will operate at less than 10% of its 5 million tonnes per annum capacity in the first year of operation as pipelines taking gas to customers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are not ready, it said. The company plans to import 2 cargoes or shiploads of LNG at the terminal this year.

In year-2, the terminal is expected to operate at 75% capacity when pipeline connecting Kochi to Mangalore and Bangalore are built. Also, state-owned GAIL is planning to connect this pipeline to Chennai.

Kochi terminal is currently being connected to two main customers Bharat Petroleum's Kochi refinery and the Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT), which are in the process of converting their facilities to run on natural gas.

"The concern as of today is that only Phase 1 of GAIL's pipeline network covering about 44 Kms is complete and this caters only to the limited industrial areas of the city of Kochi. Little progress has been made for the major part of the pipeline network of more than 900 Kms that would transport the gas to the northern districts of Kerala, and the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka," the statement said.

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.