India SOS to Qatar for 3 mt of LNG

India on Monday sent an SOS to Qatar seeking 3 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to feed power and fertiliser plants that are functioning far below their capacity.

The demand, made through Union minister of commerce Anand Sharma, is less than what the ministry of petroleum and natural gas was seeking.

“We had made a request of 5 million tonnes. The power sector is the biggest sufferer due to a decline in natural gas production in the Krishna-Godavari Basin,” said an official in the ministry of petroleum and natural gas.

NTPC, the largest power producer in the country, has kept in abeyance plans to set up gas-based power plants.

In all, around 4,000 mw of natural-gas based power plants are awaiting allocation of gas from the government.

Gas production from KG D6 basin, operated by Reliance Industries, has not been as per targets as the company’s gas output is hovering at around 38 mmscmd as against the target of 60 mmscmd.

The production is set to further decline according to the declaration by made by the company to the petroleum ministry.