'Concrete' steps taken for India's first GBS offshore LNG terminal

摘要

Declining domestic gas production and a growing need to replace coal-fired power with cleaner energy continues to drive India's LNG imports and investments in gas infrastructure. As the worlds fourth largest LNG importer behind Japan, China and South Korea, India is poised to increase its LNG imports in the years ahead to meet its natural gas demands. Despite the impact of Covid-19 last year forcing countrywide lockdowns, India increased its imports of LNG 11% to 26.63M tonnes and commissioned new regasification capacity. India's natural gas consumption is expected to rise by 4.5% in 2021, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). That growth will continue beyond the next decade, based on Indian government energy and environmental policy. In June, Indian Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan said India is committed to achieving 15% share of natural gas in the primary energy mix by 2030 to help reduce environmental pollution and meet its commitments to COP-21. Currently, natural gas represents about 6.5% of the country's energy mix, with imports of LNG growing by 9.2% in May 2021, as compared to the same month year-on-year, according to government data. Transitioning the country's energy dependence on coal to natural gas will not be as simple as flipping a switch. This will require massive investment - an estimated US$60Bn - to lay gas pipeline and build LNG receiving terminals and infrastructure, according to Minister Pradhan.