LNG terminals get busier as imports balloon
India's liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals got busier last fiscal as imports rebounded amid easing of global gas market turbulence seen in the previous two years.
Capacity utilisation at most import terminals increased during the year, with utilisation rising to 95% from 78% in FY23 at India's largest import terminal at Dahej, showed oil ministry data. Petronet LNG operates the Dahej terminal in Gujarat. Its other terminal at Kochi operated at 21% capacity in FY24, up from 19%.
GAIL's terminal at Dabhol in Maharashtra recorded 43% utilisation, up from 39%, while Indian Oil's terminal at Ennore in Tamil Nadu improved performance to 18% from 13%.
Adani Total's terminal at Dhamra in Odisha operated at 27% in its first year of operation in 2023-24. Capacity utilisation, however, fell at import terminals at Hazira and Mundra in Gujarat. Shell's Hazira terminal operated at 30%, lower than 37% in the previous year, while GSPC LNG's Mundra operated at 15%, falling from 16%.
India's LNG imports rose 19% to 31 billion cubic meters last fiscal, helping drive capacity utilisation at LNG terminals. Imports had fallen 15% to 26 billion cubic meters in FY23.
Post-pandemic recovery and the Ukraine war had created turmoil in the global gas market in the previous two years, constraining supplies and sending prices skyrocketing. This impacted India's gas imports in 2022-23. With calm returning to global markets and prices becoming more affordable for Indian buyers, imports have risen.
India has about 40 million tonnes
