QatarEnergy signs 20-year LNG deal with Petronet in ‘milestone’ India partnership

QatarEnergy has signed a 20year sales and purchase agreement with India’s Petronet LNG to supply 7.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of liquefied natural gas.

Starting from May 2028, contracted volumes of the fuel from Qatar will be delivered directly to terminals across India by QatarEnergy’s LNG fleet, the state-run energy company said.

“This agreement is another key milestone in the long-standing energy partnership between Qatar and India,” said Saad Al Kaabi, president and chief executive of QatarEnergy.

The agreement will “further strengthen the relationship with India and support its vision to increase the contribution of natural gas in its energy mix”, Mr Al Kaabi said.

Petronet first entered into an agreement for the supply of LNG from Qatar in 1999 for the delivery of 7.5 mtpa. It was followed in 2015 by another agreement for the supply of an additional 1 mtpa of LNG, raising the total annual long-term volumes contracted to 8.5 mtpa.

Petronet is a joint venture with equity from four Indian state-owned energy companies. Gas Authority of India Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation each hold a 12.5 per cent stake in the company.

The volumes under the new LNG agreement will be off-taken by GAIL, IOCL, and BPCL primarily from Petronet’s terminal in the Gujarat state, BPCL said.

The existing long-term agreement between Petronet LNG and QatarEnergy accounts for about 35 per cent of India’s LNG imports, BPCL said.

Last month, UAE’s stateowned Adnoc Gas signed a 10-year agreement to supply 500,000 mtpa of LNG to GAIL.