India’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports dropped in May 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 2.22 billion cubic meters, or about 1.6 million tonnes of LNG, in May, a drop of 24.1 percent when compared to the same month in 2022, PPAC said.
During April-May, India took 4.74 bcm of LNG, or some 3.4 million tonnes, down by 5.4 percent, PPAC said.
India paid $1.4 billion for May LNG imports, down from $1.8 billion last year, while costs dropped from $3.2 billion in the April-May period last year to $2.5 billion during the same two months this year, it said.
As per India’s natural gas production, it reached 2.90 bcm, almost flat when compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.
During April-May, gas production dropped 1.5 percent to 5.65 bcm, PPAC said.
India’s monthly LNG imports have been constantly dropping last year due to mostly high spot prices.
However, Asian spot LNG prices dropped significantly this year, prompting some buyers in India to return to the spot market.
Compared to the year before, India’s LNG imports rose in January, February, and April, but they dropped in March.
At the moment, India imports LNG via seven facilities with a combined capacity of about 47.7 million tonnes.
India’s Adani and France’s TotalEnergies started supplying natural gas in April to the grid from their Dhamra LNG import facility located in Odisha, on India’s east coast, as part of the terminal’s commissioning phase.
Petronet LNG’s 17.5 mtpa Dahej terminal operated at 95.4 percent capacity, while Shell’s 5 mtpa Hazira terminal operated at 21.2 percent capacity in April, PPAC said.