India's February LNG Imports Jump 63%

India’s LNG imports during February witnessed a sharp jump amid low prices.

According to oil ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), LNG import during the month was 1,788 million metric standard cubic meters (mmscm) which was 62.6 percent higher than the corresponding month of the previous year. During the current fiscal (which started April 1, 2015) till February 2016, cumulative import of LNG was 19,563 mmscm, up 13.1 percent on year.

International spot LNG prices have seen sharp drop during the past year. New Delhi has also successfully renegotiated its long term contract with RasGas. Qatar will now charge a much lower price for the LNG it supplies to India on a long term basis. New price is in the range of $6-7 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) as against $12-13 per mmBtu previously. New price regime came into effect from Jan 1, 2016.

India consumed 3,175 mmscm of natural gas in February, compared with 2,666 mmscm in the year-ago period 

Gross production of natural gas for the month of February was 2,565 mmscm which was higher by 1.2 percent compared with the corresponding month of the previous year. The cumulative gross production for the current year till February was 29,710 mmscm, which was lower by 3.6% compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, PPAC said.

Commercial production of coal bed methane during the month was about 33 mmscm.