GAIL to stop LNG imports at Dabhol till October

State-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd will stop LNG imports at the Dabhol terminal from this month as the onset of monsoon will make operations difficult without a breakwater.

Dabhol terminal in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra cannot operate during monsoon in absence of a breakwater which is a massive wall built out into the sea to protect a ship from the force of waves.

GAIL received the last liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipment from Spain's Gas Natural at Dabhol last week, company officials said.

The LNG cargo was bought at a price of around USD 7.50 per million British thermal unit.

After this, GAIL will stop taking deliveries as monsoon season sets in, said an said, adding that Dabhol will resume imports in October.

The official said the 5 million tons a year Dabhol LNG terminal on the northwest coast of India was only operating at about half its capacity.

The terminal cannot receive shipments in the choppy monsoon seas in the absence of a breakwater, so it can currently import a maximum of only 2.25 million tons a year.

He said the breakwater will be built by 2016 to achieve full capacity operations.

The Dabhol LNG plant and the adjacent 1,967 MW power station are owned and operated by Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd (RGPPL). GAIL and state-owned power generator NTPC hold 28.91 per cent stake each in RGPPL. Lenders to the project hold 26.85 per cent interest and the balance 15.33 per cent is with Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB).

While NPTC is responsible for operating the power plants, GAIL is incharge of the LNG terminal. GAIL had commissioned the LNG import facility, which includes 3 cryogenic storage tanks, in January 2013.