India’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports decreased just 0.8 percent in October when compared to the same month last year, according to the preliminary data from the oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.
The country imported 2.41 billion cubic meters or about 1.77 million tonnes of LNG in October, compared to 2.43 bcm in October last year.
October LNG imports rose when compared to 2.36 bcm in September.
During April-October India took 16.87 bcm of LNG, or some 17.6 million tonnes, down by 11.2 percent when compared to the same period last year, PPAC said.
India paid $1.6 billion for October LNG imports, compared to $1.2 billion last year, while costs increased to $11.5 billion in April-October from $7 billion last year.
As per India’s natural gas production, it dropped by 4.1 percent to 2.89 bcm in October. Gas production rose by 0.8 percent in April-October to 20.07 bcm.
India’s monthly LNG imports have been constantly dropping this year due to mostly high spot prices.
Asian spot LNG prices dropped during November but they remain high. The JKM LNG price price for December settled at $27.397 per mmBtu on Wednesday.
At the moment, India imports LNG via six facilities with a combined capacity of about 42.7 million tonnes.
Petronet LNG’s 17.5 mtpa Dahej terminal operated at 83.5 percent capacity while Shell’s 5 mtpa Hazira terminal operated at 48.3 percent capacity in April-September, PPAC said.