Chart, Exxon, Indian Oil Ink Gas Transport Pact

Chart Industries has signed a letter of co-operation with ExxonMobil India LNG, an affiliate of ExxonMobil, and state-run Indian Oil Corp (IOCL), to develop virtual pipelines to expand gas access in India, it said February 24 in a statement. Rather than via physical pipelines, the LNG will be delivered by road, rail and waterway.

In early 2019, Chart signed a memorandum of understanding with IOCL to promote the development of the LNG market in India, focusing on modular liquefaction, regasification applications, LNG bunkering, fuelling stations and alternative LNG mobile transportation including ISO containers. 

According to Chart, the letter of co-operation "expands the reach and potential scale within a significantly growing country that has committed to clean energy options."

“We believe this collaboration with ExxonMobil, a major LNG supplier with a local presence in India, coupled with our ongoing work with IOCL will accelerate India’s ability to offer a cleaner energy solution within the growing cities and networks," said Chart CEO Jill Evanko.  “We are excited to offer our cryogenic equipment to support what each party in this collaboration believes will accelerate clean energy progress while doing so with localised equipment manufacturing in India.” 

India is looking to expand the usage of gas to combat urban pollution. The government wants to increase the share of gas in the energy mix to 15% by 2030 from 6% at present.