India to Invest in Overseas LNG plants

India is in need of long-term sourcing of liquefied natural gas for which Indian companies are looking for investment opportunities in liquefied natural gas plants overseas, oil minister S. Jaipal Reddy said on Monday.

Due to shortage of gas from domestic sources, import of liquefied natural gas becomes inevitable and therefore India’s liquefied natural gas re-gasification capacity is being expanded, the minister said.

India's current gas demand at 166 million cubic metres a day (mmscmd) is projected to rise to 443 mmscmd by 2017.

The average price of imported gas during the last two years through Petronet was $6.33/mBtu, whereas that imported by Hazira LNG was $8.22/mBtu. The present rates of natural gas from domestic sources ranges between $2.2/mBtu to $7.03/mBtu depending on the gas source and customer.