Petronet LNG net up 55 per cent at Rs 377.86 cr in June quarter

NEW DELHI: Petronet LNG, the nation’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) importer, has reported a 55 per cent increase in quarterly profit on higher volumes and efficiency.

The company posted a profit of Rs 378 crore in the April-June quarter, compared to Rs 244 crore in the year-ago period.

Net sales fell to Rs 511 crore from Rs 826 crore in the yearago quarter as the price of natural gas fell in a year.

The company’s main regasification terminal at Dahej in Gujarat operated at 130 per cent of its nameplate capacity, regasifying almost 77 per cent more gas compared to the year-ago quarter.

Kochi terminal, however, handled only 6 per cent of its capacity due to delay in laying of pipelines needed to evacuate gas from the terminal to customers. The expansion of Dahej terminal from 10 million tonnes per annum to 15 million tonnes has been partially commissioned and will be completed by October.

Its further expansion to 17.5 million tonnes per annum is expected by end-2019. Petronet has purchased 26 per cent stake for about Rs 80 crore in a ship that will carry the gas it has contracted to buy from the Gorgon project in Australia, managing director Prabhat Singh said.

The ship will be delivered in November. Petronet will start receiving the gas from the Gorgon project from January 2017.