India's appetite for liquefied natural gas is set to rise in the coming years, driven by demand ‍across the fertiliser, city ‍gas, refining and power sectors, executives from the country's top importers said.

However, further consumption would ​hinge on lower prices, they added.

India is the world's fourth-largest buyer of LNG and is seeking to raise the share of gas ⁠in its energy mix to 15% by 2030 from the present 6.2%.

It is a seen as a key growth market ⁠in driving ‌global demand, but it remains a price sensitive buyer.

GAS DEMAND EXPECTED TO RISE

Top gas importer Petronet LNG forecasts imports rising to 28 million to 29 million metric tons in 2026 from about ⁠25.5 million tons last year.

"This year, gas demand will rise as last years' summers were relatively cool," its Managing Director Akshay Kumar Singh told reporters at the India Energy Week conference.

Consumption will be boosted as more cities and households are linked to gas pipeline networks, he added, as well as by rising use by refineries ⁠and the fertiliser and power sectors.

Indian ​refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp, which recently issued a ten-year LNG import tender, said it would consider floating another long-term import tender next year amid its ‍rising gas sales to sectors including transport, industry and domestic household.

"BPCL currently sells 2.2-2.4 million tons of LNG every year, and this could triple ​to 6.5-6.6 million tons per annum by 2030," said Rahul Tandon, its business head for gas.

PRICE SENSITIVITY

India's push to raise its gas usage however depends on the price of the fuel. Asian spot LNG prices this month rose to a nine-week top of $11.35 per million British thermal unit as lower winter temperatures across the northern hemisphere lifted heating demand.

The head of state-run GAIL expects India to sign more long-term LNG import contracts if prices soften.

"We believe that with the softening of Brent prices, oil-linked gas contracts will definitely be much affordable (than at) current levels," said Chairman and Managing Director Sandeep Kumar Gupta.

Petronet LNG's Singh said $6-7 per mmBtu will be a comfortable price range to improve LNG consumption in ⁠India.

"India needs more oil-linked LNG contracts, as Henry Hub is very volatile," ‌he said, referring to the U.S. gas benchmark gas price in Louisiana.

Meanwhile, U.S. natural gas futures soared by a record 124% over the past six days on Tuesday in volatile trade on worries that extreme cold expected this week ‌in the Northeast ⁠could keep some gas wells frozen until the weekend or beyond.

(Reporting by Anjana Anil and Tanay Dhumal, additional reporting by Nidhi ⁠Verma, Sethuraman NR and Mohi Narayan; Writing by Emily Chow; Editing by Jan Harvey)