Financial Express: Shell Bets Big on India With its Second LNG Terminal

Royal Dutch Shell, which set up a 5 million tonne LNG terminal at Hazira in Gujarat nearly a decade back, is targeting to grab a bigger share of the growing demand for imported gas in India. The Hague-based global energy giant is planning to set up a floating LNG facility on the east coast — at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.

Recently, Andhra Pradesh Gas Distribution Corporation (APGDC), GDF Suez, Shell and GAIL have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up a floating LNG terminal with an initial capacity of 5 mt, which could be doubled at a later stage. “We have been very constructively working on the project (LNG terminal) on the east coast. We really believe in the India gas market,” said Maaten Wetselaar, executive vice present for Shell Integrated Gas in Singapore.

Although the company did not reveal the cost of the project, a 5 MT LNG terminal is expected to cost around $1 billion. India is the world’s fourth-largest LNG importer in, following Japan, South Korea and China, and consumed almost 6% of the global market. “I see a big future for gas in India. We are keen to open the east coast. We are working with the partners,” Wetselaar told FE. Currently, India gas consumption hovers around 100-110 million metric standard cubic metre per day (mmscmd). Of this, about 30-35% is sourced through R-LNG. MORE