A top company official at Gail (India) Ltd has revealed that the company will be chartering six to seven liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes for transporting LNG from the US as of 2017.
The cargoes will transport six million t of Gail’s contracted LNG from the US on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, the company’s chairman and B. C. Tripathi said at a seminar on Indian energy during Singapore EnergyWeek.
Gail would also be substituting its US cargoes with those available from alternate destinations. Gail’s Singapore offshoot, Gail Global, would oversee shipping and trading.
Mr Tripathi said that Gail Global would be trading its one million t of US LNG in the spot market. The Singapore subsidiary would also be purchasing seven to eight LNG tankers from the spot market over the next four months for India. Gail Singapore would buy some 34 LNG cargoes in the current fiscal year, and 34 to 35 in the next one, noted Mr Tripathi. GAIL bought 20 cargoes in the last fiscal year.
Mr Tripahi also revealed the company's ambition in becoming a leading LNG trader, which involves participation in all areas of the LNG industry, from upstream, to midstream and end delivery.
Other Indian corporations attending the seminar declared interest in forming alliances to source LNG for Indian markets, as Mr Tripathi stressed that Indian companies would look transform the current buyer-seller relationship into partnerships.
Edited from various sources by Ted Monroe