India's Petronet LNG Reports Record Annual Profit

India’s Petronet LNG witnessed its highest ever net profit during the year April 2017-March 2018 thanks to higher volumes of LNG processed.

Company’s net profit for the year stood at rupees 20.78bn ($310mn), up 21% year on year. For the January-March quarter (4Q2018), Petronet’s net profit was rupees 5.23bn, up 11% year on year.

During the year, Petronet’s Dahej terminal operated at 107% of its name plate capacity and processed highest ever LNG volumes of 816 trillion Btu, which is 14% above the volumes processed in the previous year. The overall volumes processed by the company in the year was 848tn Btu as compared to 728tn Btu processed in the year before, registering a growth of 16%.

During 4Q2018, Dahej terminal operated at around 109% of its name plate capacity and processed 207tn Btu of LNG which is 17% higher than the volumes processed during the corresponding period of last year. The overall LNG volumes processed by the company in 4Q2018 was 213tn Btu, registering a growth of 18% year on year. Petronet LNG operates two terminals in India: at Dahej, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, and at Kochi, in the southern India state of Kerala.

India's LNG imports during April 2017-March 2018 were the highest ever, as demand for gas rose thanks to affordable prices.  LNG imports for the 12 month period were 26.4bn m³, up by more than 7% year on year, according to data published April 20 by the Indian oil ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), and also reached an all time high for India's financial year period.