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According to preliminary data from the oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, the country imported about 2.79 billion cubic meters, or about 2.1 million metric tonnes, of LNG in August via long-term contracts and spot purchases, a rise of 2.4 percent compared to the same month in 2023.
PPAC’s data previously showed that LNG imports rose in July and June this year compared to the previous year.
During April-August, India took 15.06 bcm of LNG, or about 11.2 million metric tonnes, up by 17.4 percent compared to the same period last year, according to PPAC.
India paid $1.2 billion for August LNG imports, up from $1.1 billion in August last year. The country paid $6.1 billion in the April-August period, up from $5.4 billion in the same period last year, PPAC said.
India’s natural gas production reached about 3.04 cbm in August, a drop of 3.7 percent from the corresponding month of the previous year.
Natural gas production of 15.18 bcm in April-August was up by 2.2 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
Currently, India imports LNG via seven facilities with a combined capacity of about 47.7 million tonnes.
These include Petronet LNG’s Dahej and Kochi terminals, Shell’s Hazira terminal, and the Dabhol LNG, Ennore LNG, Mundra LNG, and Dhamra LNG terminal.
The Chhara LNG import terminal in Gujarat should receive its commissioning cargo later this year after it failed to unload the cargo from the 2015-built 159,800-cbm, Maran Gas Mystras.
India’s Hindustan Petroleum, a unit of state-owned ONGC, aims to launch its delayed Chhara LNG import terminal in November or early December this year, according to its management.
PPAC said that during April-July this year, the 17.5 mtpa Dahej terminal operated at 106.8 percent capacity, while the 5.2 mtpa Hazira terminal operated at 50 percent capacity.
The 5 mtpa Dhamra LNG terminal operated at 27.9 percent capacity, the 5 mtpa Dabhol LNG terminal operated at 40.8 percent capacity, the 5 mtpa Kochi LNG terminal operated at 22.5 percent capacity, and the 5 mtpa Ennore LNG terminal operated at 25.2 percent capacity.