State-owned GAIL (India) Limited has signed a long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales and purchase agreement with Vitol Asia Pte. Ltd. GAIL said in a media release that the deal for the supply of approximately 1 million tonnes per annum of LNG for 10 years resulted from a binding Term Sheet signed in January 2024.
Under the agreement, Vitol will deliver the chilled gas to GAIL from its global LNG portfolio starting in 2026.
“GAIL is expanding its long-term LNG portfolio to meet demand growth. We are pleased to partner with Vitol Asia Pte. Ltd., and this agreement represents a key milestone in reinforcing GAIL’s capability to reliably serve its diverse and evolving customer base”, Sanjay Kumar, Marketing Director at GAIL, said.
India emerged as the world’s fourth-largest LNG importer in 2024, with demand expected to rise steadily over the next decade, GAIL noted. India’s government is targeting an increase in the share of natural gas in its primary energy mix from 6 percent currently to 15 percent by 2030. GAIL added that in support of this plan, India’s LNG regasification capacity has nearly doubled from 2014 volumes of 21 million metric tonnes per annum.
“The growing Indian market is core to Vitol’s strategy and Vitol’s diversified portfolio enables it to offer India a stable supply of cleaner and competitive energy”, Jay Ng, Chief Financial Officer of Vitol Asia, said.
GAIL operates LNG import and regasification facilities and a 16,421-kilometer (10,200 mile) network of natural gas pipelines spread across the country. It is executing multiple pipeline projects to expand its network.
Source: By Paul Anderson from Rigzone.com