Petronet ties up 1.5 mn tonne LNG import from Australia

Petronet LNG Ltd, India's largest liquefied natural gas importer, has tied up 1.5 million tonnes of fuel imports from the Gorgon project in Australia.     

Petronet has concluded term sheets for all agreements for buying 1.5 million tonnes a year of LNG from Exxon Mobil Corp for 20 years, beginning 2014, company Managing Director and CEO Prosad Dasgupta told PTI here.     

"The Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) will be signed before June 30," he said.     

Petronet will import the LNG at its under-construction Kochi terminal in Kerala.     

Exxon has further said it can sell another 1.3 million tonnes of LNG to Petronet but the Indian buyer has not yet committed to additional volumes as it has not tied-up consumers for that.     

"Right now we have firm commitment from buyers of 1.5 million tonnes of LNG," Dasgupta said, adding NTPC's Kayamkulam power plant was supposed to be a major consumer of the imported gas at Kochi but has not yet committed to taking any volumes.     

Petronet and Exxon issued a joint statement saying they have reached agreement on supply of Gorgon LNG to Kochi but refused to divulge details like price.     

US energy major Chevron Corp is the operator of the Gorgon project with a 50 per cent stake while Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch/Shell hold 25 per cent each.

The Gorgon Project plans to develop the Greater Gorgon gas fields, located between 130 km and 200 km off the north-west coast of Western Australia. The Greater Gorgon gas fields contain resources of about 40 trillion cubic feet of gas, Australia's largest-known gas resource.     

"The agreement will provide for ExxonMobil's subsidiaries Mobil Australia Resources Co Pty Ltd and Mobil Exploration and Producing Australia Pty Ltd to supply approximately 1.5 million tonnes annually of LNG with the potential for additional supply, for a 20-year term," the statement said.     

Dasgupta said: "Petronet LNG looks forward to finalising the agreements and moving forward with the LNG infrastructure needed to supply natural gas consumers in the Kerala region."    

ExxonMobil's Luke Musgrave, Vice President LNG-Australia, said: "We are pleased to move forward with Petronet LNG on securing LNG sales from the Gorgon Project."