DOHA: Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (II) (RasGas) has begun supplying an additional 2.5 million tonnes per annum (Mta) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Petronet LNG Limited (Petronet) of India - increasing the total long-term contract quantities between the two parties to 7.5 Mta.
This development makes Petronet RasGas' largest customer and positions Qatar as the anchor long-term supplier to one of the world's fastest-growing markets for LNG.
The cargo was successfully loaded on to Petronet's newly-built 154,800 cubic metre LNG carrier, the Aseem, at Ras Laffan Port on December 30, 2009. The first shipment is expected to arrive in Dahej, Gujarat this month. With the commencement of these additional volumes, also known as Tranche 'A', India's long-term LNG import from RasGas will now represent approximately 10 per cent of Qatar's planned yearly LNG output of 77 Mta.
"RasGas is very pleased to commence deliveries of these additional volumes to Petronet, which demonstrates our firm commitment to supply India with clean and efficient energy from natural gas produced in Qatar," said RasGas' Managing Director - CEO, Hamad Rashid Al Mohannadi. "More importantly, this development also represents a significant milestone as Petronet is now officially RasGas' largest customer".
His counterpart in Petronet, Prosad Dasgupta, said: "Petronet could achieve this milestone primarily because of unstinted support from RasGas during Petronet's initial formative years".
"This additional volume will go a long way in strengthening the relationship between the two countries and Petronet hopes to continue to be RasGas' largest customer with the expansion of Petronet's LNG receiving terminals," added Amitava Sengupta, Director (Finance and Commercial), Petronet.
The long-term relationship between RasGas and Petronet began in July 1999, when RasGas signed a long-term LNG Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) to supply 5 Mta of LNG to India's first operational LNG terminal at Dahej. Subsequently, in August 2006, the two partners amended the existing LNG SPA to implement the sale of an additional volume of 2.5 Mta, which brought the total contracted volumes to 7.5 Mta.
As India's population grows and its economy rapidly expands, so do its energy needs. To fuel these needs the Indian government is overseeing a large expansion of the country's energy infrastructure which helps make India one of the fastest-growing markets for LNG and Qatar, which sits atop the world's third largest natural gas reserves - estimated at 900 trillion cubic feet, looks set to become the anchor supplier of long term LNG to India.
© The Peninsula 2010
