Indian Petronet LNG Reports Strong 3Q Profit

India’s biggest LNG importer Petronet LNG has reported a 133% rise in net profit for the 3Q that ended on December 31, 2016 on the back of “higher volumes processed and better efficiency achieved in the operations.”

The company has reported a net profit of rupees 3.974bn ($60mn) for the quarter compared with rupees 1.709bn for the corresponding quarter last year. Total Income has increased from rupees 52.274bn for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 to rupees 63.543bn for the quarter ended December 31, 2016, it said February 13.

During the quarter Dahej terminal operated at around 98% of its increased name plate capacity. The expansion of Dahej terminal from 10mn mt/yr to 15mn mt/yr was commissioned in October, 2016. The volume of 187 trillion Btu regasified at the Dahej terminal was up 36% over the corresponding quarter of last year. Meanwhile, its Kochi terminal continued to be grossly underutilised, owing to lack of pipeline connectivity, as it processed only 4 trillion Btu of LNG.

The company registered the highest ever profit of rupees 12.35bn over the nine months period that ended December 31, 2016 compared with rupees 6.68bn in the corresponding period last year. 

Shardul Sharma