India’s newest LNG import terminal welcomes its first cargo

NEW DELHI ; The latest Indian LNG import terminal, owned by state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), has just received its first cargo of the super-chilled fuel, HPCL officials told.

The terminal is undergoing commissioning activities and the shipment is expected to fully unload by January 16, the officials said.

In October, sources told Reuters that HPCL aims to commission its new LNG import terminal in December and January, and is holding talks with potential suppliers of LNG for the long term.

HPCL was looking for a cargo to commission the new facility in Gujarat State on India’s west coast in December or January, after failing to do so in April 2024, due to bad weather.

India plans to ramp up LNG imports and the use of natural gas as a fuel cleaner than coal and needed in many industrial processes.

For Indian firms, securing LNG supply is crucial as consumption of natural gas in industrial activities is set to soar.

India’s industry expansion and rising oil refining to meet higher fuel demand are set to drive a tripling of the country’s natural gas consumption by 2050, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last year.

Per the EIA forecasts, India’s gas demand – buoyed by oil refining and other industrial production – is expected to grow at an annual rate of 4.4% by 2050, more than twice the 2.0% annual growth rate of gas consumption in China, the next-fastest-growing country.

India, the world’s third-largest crude oil importer, is set to become a major force in the natural gas market, too, as its demand is expected to surge in the coming decades amid industry and population expansion.

As India sees fertilizers as a critical industry for its agricultural sector, and as steelmaking and construction are booming to meet the growing economy and population, natural gas demand will continue to rise. India’s domestic production, although it has increased over the past two decades, will not be enough to meet growth in demand. So the country will have to rely on more LNG imports, considering that it lacks pipeline connections with major gas producers such as Russia or the Gulf petrostates.