India’s Petronet LNG reported an increase in its quarterly profit and higher volumes at the company’s two regasification terminals.
Profit after tax or PAT reached 8.18 billion rupees ($98.2 million) in the July-September quarter, a rise of 10 percent when compared to 7.44 billion rupees in the same quarter last year, Petronet said in a statement.
PAT also rose when compared to 7.90 billion rupees in the prior quarter.
India’s largest LNG importer said its profit before tax or PBT rose by 11 percent to 11 billion rupees when compared to 9.94 billion rupees last year and also from 10.6 billion rupees in the prior quarter.
During the July-September quarter, Petronet’s 17.5 mtpa Dahej terminal processed 210 TBtu of LNG. This compares to 182 TBtu in the same quarter last year and 217 TBtu in the previous quarter.
Including the 5 mtpa Kochi facility, the overall LNG volumes reached 223 TBtu. This compares to 192 TBtu in the same quarter last year and 230 TBtu in the previous quarter.
Petronet said the “robust financial performance” of the current quarter and half year was achieved due to efficiency in operations and higher capacity utilization of the Dahej LNG terminal.
The LNG terminal remained consistently above 90 percent utilization in the current quarter and half year, “taking huge leap from the utilization level in FY 2022-23 that was below 80 percent,” Petronet said.
Petrochem project
Petronet also announced in a separate statement that its board of directors has approved the construction of a petrochemical plant in Dahej with 750 ktpa of PDH and 500 ktpa of PP,
including propane and ethane handling facilities.
The firm will invest about 20.68 billion rupees ($248.3 million) in this plant which will be located close to the Dahej LNG terminal.
According to Petronet, the project would also benefit from utilizing cold energy from its Dahej LNG terminal.
The firm and Deepak Phenolics also executed a term sheet for offtake of propylene and hydrogen from the plant for a period of 15 years, it said.