Gail India proposes swap of Cove Point LNG cargoes in first quarter: sources

SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) - Gail India is proposing to swap three liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes across the first quarter of next year, trade sources said on Friday.

The Indian importer has 20-year deals to buy 5.8 million tonnes a year of U.S. LNG, split between Dominion Energy's Cove Point plant and Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass site.

With few LNG tankers available to ferry the fuel to India, Gail has already struck swap deals for a chunk of its Sabine Pass and Cove Point volumes.

Under the proposed swap, Gail would sell its share of output from U.S. export plant Cove Point in return for taking delivery of LNG into India.

Gail is offering a cargo a month from Cove Point for loading in the first quarter of next year in exchange for corresponding deliveries to India, one of the traders said.

Participants must submit offers by Dec. 3, the sources said.

(Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan in SINGAPORE and Ekaterina Kravtsova in LONDON; Editing by Tom Hogue)