India requests Qatar for immediate supply of 3 million tonne of LNG

NEW DELHI: India has requested Qatar for immediate supply of 3 million tonne of LNG to India to be imported by Petronet LNG Ltd and GAIL. The requested amount will increase to 15 million tonnes in the next 3-4 years, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said in a meeting with Qatari minister of energy & industry Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada on Doha on Monday.

Al-Sada assured Sharma that needed urgency will be accorded to the on-going negotiations on the issue between his government, Qatar-based gas company RasGas and Indian agencies, according to an official release.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of an Unctad meeting in Doha.

India currently imports 7.5 MMTPA (million metric tonne per annum) of LNG from RasGas, Qatar, as per a 25 year contract signed by Petronet LNG limited (PLL) in July 1999. The supply of 5 MMTPA LNG from Qatar commenced in 2004, with the balance 2.5 MMTPA starting in January 2010. India now needs additional long-term tie up for 15 MMTPA of LNG from the country.

Qatar has expressed keen interest in an ONGC offer to jointly participate in upstream projects in third countries. ONGC offered its upstream expertise. The Qatari side welcomed the same and also said they are now looking for appropriate projects, the release said.