QatarEnergy, India's Petronet pen 20-year LNG deal

QatarEnergy has entered into a 20-year deal with India’s Petronet LNG for the supply of 7.5mn tonnes/year of LNG, it said on February 6.

The LNG volumes from Qatar are expected to be delivered ex-ship to terminals across India using QatarEnergy's LNG fleet starting from May 2028.

The signing ceremony took place in Goa, India, and was attended by Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, CEO of QatarEnergy, and Hardeep Singh Puri, Indian minister of petroleum & natural gas.

This deal builds upon the existing relationship between Petronet LNG and Qatar. The first agreement for the supply of LNG from Qatar was signed in 1999, involving the delivery of 7.5mn tonnes/year. In 2015, another agreement was reached, adding an additional 1mn tonnes/year of LNG to the contract. 

The existing long-term agreement between Petronet LNG and QatarEnergy today accounts for around 35% of India’s LNG imports, according to Petronet LNG. 

Similar to the earlier agreement of 1999, the LNG volumes under the new deal shall also be offtaken by Gail (60%), Indian Oil Corporation (30%) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (10%) after regasification primarily from Petronet's Dahej terminal, the Indian company said in a separate statement. 

Petronet LNG presently operates two land-based LNG import and regasification terminals on the west coast of India, located at Dahej in Gujarat and Kochi in Kerala. The Dahej terminal has a capacity of 17.5mn tonnes/year while the Kochi terminal has a capacity of 5mn tonnes/year. The company is building its third terminal in east India.