“The cargo will reach India’s Dahej port in early September.
Though it is a sort of distress purchase but prices may not be very high as
Petronet has good relations with RasGas,” the source said.
Petronet LNG’s chief, A.K. Balyan, declined comment on the
deal. Last week, he said the cargo was likely to reach India on Aug. 20.
Petronet LNG, which operates a 10 million tonnes a year LNG
regasification plant at Dahej in western Gujarat state, halted spot LNG imports
from last December due to a 50 percent rise in an LNG sourcing deal with
Qatar’s RasGas.
Also, India’s appetite for spot LNG has been restricted due
to a significant increase in local gas output and inadequate pipeline
infrastructure in the country.
The Panna-Mukta fields on the western coast have been shut
since July 20. Before the shutdown, the fields were producing about 40,000
barrels per day of crude and about 5.5 million cubic meters of gas, the head of
offshore operations at state-run Oil and Natural Gas Crop., Sudhir Vasudeva,
said last week.
