GAIL gets offers from 5 US companies for stake in LNG projects

NEW DELHI: Five US companies have submitted bids in state-run GAIL's tender for acquiring up to 26% stake in a LNG (liquefied natural gas) project alongside a long-term supply contract for a million tonne of gas annually, a move that will help India reduce trade surplus with Washington.

"We are currently evaluating five bids," company's director (business development) Rajeev Kumar Singhal said Tuesday but declined to identify bidders. Separately, people in the know said the bidders include two developers of projects in Louisiana, one of which has recently secured the Trump administration's nod to export gas to non-FTA countries.

GAIL chairman Sandeep Gupta said the company is looking to tie up more US energy, even though it has two long-term contracts for a total of 5.8 million tonne per year because of price advantage.

"We expect Henry Hub (US benchmark rate)-linked LNG prices to average $3.5-4 (per unit) in the short to medium term, making energy more affordable (than crude-linked gas) for customers. There is great scope for US energy as others (oil companies) also appear to be interested," he said.

Expanding energy imports from the US was identified as one of the measures for reducing India's trade surplus during discussions in Washisgton between PM Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump in Feb.

Gupta said GAIL has completed the construction of the Enron-era breakwater at Dabhol LNG terminal in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district, which will allow operations during the monsoon to allow import of more LNG cargos. "We are expecting (statutory) approvals this week." GAIL's director (finance) R K Jain said the company's capex plan will be about Rs 10,000 crore in current fiscal.

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