Import Price of Qatari LNG for India Drops Below $5 mmBtu

Cost of LNG that India imports from Qatar has slipped below $5 per mmBtu post signing of revised long-term deal, Indian oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Monday.

"Earlier the prices during 2015 were in excess of $12 per mmBtu. The current price applicable under the contract works out to less than $5 per mmBtu based on prevailing crude prices," the minister said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian parliament, Press Trust of India reported.

In December, a revised long-term contract was signed between Petronet LNG and RasGas. The revised formula bases the price on a three-month average figure of Brent crude oil, replacing a five-year average of a basket of crude imported by Japan, with a rider that Petronet buys an additional 1 million tons of LNG annually.

Qatar also waived off a $1.5 billion penalty against India for lifting less gas than agreed.

India and Qatar have a contract under which New Delhi imports 7.5 million tons a year of LNG. The contract will run till April 2028.