India to increase LNG share in gas consumption to 70%

The share of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in India’s gas consumption could rise to 70 percent from the current 50 percent in 10 years, and new import terminals are needed, Report informs, referring to Reuters.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target to raise the share of natural gas in the country’s energy mix to 15 percent by 2030 from the current 6.3 percent to cut its carbon footprint.

To meet that target, India’s gas consumption needs to rise to 640 million standard cubic meters a day (mmscmd) from the current 155 mmscmd, A.K. Singh, chief executive of Petronet LNG Ltd (PLNG.NS), said at the ET Energy Leadership summit.

Indian companies invest billions of dollars in strengthening gas infrastructure, including laying 15,000-kilometer pipelines to supply cleaner fuel to households and industries. India currently has 17,000 kms of the gas pipeline network.

Also, LNG projects of 19 million tons per annum (mtpa) capacity are under construction, and plans are afoot to increase the use of LNG in trucks and buses.

“With a limited increase in domestic gas supply, LNG will play a major role in catering to this incremental demand, and share of LNG in natural gas consumption is likely to increase from present 55 to 70 percent in coming 9-10 years,” Singh said.

Petronet operates two LNG terminals in India, accounting for about 53 percent of the nation’s existing 42.5 mtpa import capacity.

Singh said India needed to increase its LNG import capacity to 155 mtpa “considering 80 percent utilization” to boost the use of the cleaner fuel.

India imports about 85 percent of its oil needs. He said replacing about 30 percent of the country’s crude oil imports with LNG would save $10 billion at the current global oil price of $74/barrel.