LNG producer Qatargas, a unit of QatarEnergy, confirmed it has supplied the commissioning cargo to the Dhamra LNG import terminal in India, owned by TotalEnergies and Adani.
LNG Prime reported on April 3 that the 138,273-cbm Milaha Ras Laffan delivered the first cargo to the Dhamra LNG terminal from the giant Ras Laffan LNG complex, operated by Qatargas.
Qatargas said in a statement on Monday it sold the LNG cargo on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis to French energy giant TotalEnergies, who delivered it to its 50-50 joint venture with Adani, Adani Total.
Dhamra is home to India’s seventh operational LNG terminal, the second of its kind on the east coast of the country.
Moreover, the facility is Adani Total’s first LNG import terminal with a capacity of five million tonnes per annum (mtpa) and it is expected to boost gas utilisation in the east coast of India.
The terminal features two tanks of 170,000 cbm capacity each. The facility’s jetty is capable of handling LNG carriers from 70,000 to 265,000 cbm capacity.
It also offers breakbulk services, enabling reloading of LNG to smaller vessels for further distribution and an LNG truck loading facility.
Commercial ops in May
TotalEnergies said in a separate statement on Monday that the Dhamra LNG terminal adds more than 10 percent to India’s regasification capacity.
The facility strengthens the country’s position as the world’s fifth largest LNG importer and allows it to increase the share of natural gas in its energy mix from 8 percent to 15 percent by 2030 to reduce its carbon intensity, TotalEnergies said.
At the moment, India imports LNG via six facilities with a combined capacity of about 42.7 million tonnes.
These include Petronet LNG’s Dahej and Kochi terminals and also Shell’s Hazira terminal.
TotalEnergies expects the Dhamra LNG facility to start commercial operations at the end of May 2023.
As per capacity takers, the JV entered into 20-year LNG regasification agreements with state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) as well as GAIL.