According to the new agreement between Qatar Energy and Petronet, shipments will be supplied starting in May 2028 (Al Jazeera)
Qatar Energy announced the signing of a sale and purchase agreement with Petronet LNG Company Limited to supply 7.5 million tons annually of liquefied natural gas to India for a period of 20 years.
A Qatar Energy statement said that, according to the agreement, the agreed-upon shipments from Qatar will be supplied to a number of receiving stations in India on board liquefied natural gas tankers belonging to the Qatar Energy fleet, starting in May 2028.
Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi, Qatari Minister of State for Energy Affairs and Managing Director and CEO of Qatar Energy, said: “This agreement is another milestone in the long-term energy partnership between Qatar and India, and comes on the heels of the 20th anniversary of the first LNG shipment to India.”
The minister added, "This new partnership with our valued customer Petronet LNG and its shareholding companies will have an important role in strengthening the relationship with India and supporting its vision aimed at increasing the contribution of natural gas to the Indian energy mix."
Reuters described the new agreement as the largest single deal between Qatar Energy and Petronet.
Qatar Energy announces an agreement with Petronet to supply 7.5 million tons annually of liquefied natural gas to India for a period of 20 years #Qatar_Energy #Qatar pic.twitter.com/eAbR8yIEd1
- QatarEnergy (@qatarenergy) February 6, 2024
Petronet (the largest gas importer in India) had concluded the first agreement to supply liquefied natural gas from Qatar in 1999 to deliver 7.5 million tons annually, followed by signing another agreement in 2015 to supply an additional million tons annually, which raised the total quantities contracted between the two parties to 8.5 million tons annually.
Akshay Kumar Singh, CEO of Petronet, said in a statement that the existing long-term agreement with Qatar Energy represents about 35% of India’s imports of liquefied natural gas.
According to data from the London Stock Exchange Group, India imported 10.6 million tons of liquefied natural gas from Qatar in 2023, about half of India's total LNG imports of 20.8 million tons last year.
India wants to raise the share of natural gas in its energy mix to 15% by 2030, up from 6.2% currently, as part of efforts to reduce emissions.
Qatar (the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas) aims to increase its liquefaction capacity to 126 million tons annually by 2027 from 77 million tons annually, and has signed long-term agreements with major European companies, such as Shell, Total Energies, and Eni.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies