India plans LNG terminal in Iraq
NEW DELHI : India is planning to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Iraq as it looks to diversify supplies and strengthen its energy security, a government official said. The terminal will liquify some portion of the gas currently flared by Iraq and transport it to India, where it will be converted back to LNG for use in city gas distribution as well as power, fertilizer, and steel sectors. A team from state-run Indian Oil Corp.
Ltd (IOCL) and Engineers India Ltd (EIL) will shortly visit Iraq, which has emerged as India’s second-biggest source of crude oil imports, the official said on condition of anonymity. “We recently held a joint commission meeting and reviewed all areas. Iraq has become India’s No.2 oil supplier.
We are looking at a deeper partnership. We want to import LNG from Iraq, for which the requisite infrastructure is required, and India is willing to set up an LNG terminal for them for liquefaction. A team from IOCL and EIL will shortly visit Iraq," the official said on condition of anonymity.
India plans to import some portion of the gas currently flared by Iraq, the official added. When natural gas is brought to the surface but cannot be processed soon enough, it is burned away, commonly called flaring. Flaring is done primarily when gas turns up as a by-product of crude oil extraction.
India aims to source some portion of around 50 million metric standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) of gas currently flared by Iraq. In FY23, Iraq was the second largest exporter of crude oil to India, with total supplies of 50.31 million tonnes for $33.37 billion. After a gap of almost 10 years, the 18th India-Iraq joint commission meeting (JCM) was held in New Delhi on 20 June.
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