India’s Petronet LNG Ltd. said it still has no clarity on liquefied natural gas shipments from Qatar in June, when summer power consumption surges.
QatarEnergy will resume full supplies after the Strait of Hormuz reopens, Petronet Managing Director Akshay Kumar Singh said at a media briefing Monday, adding a force majeure for May means “this month we are not receiving any cargo.”
QatarEnergy didn’t immediately reply to an email seeking comment. Bloomberg News had previously reported the force majeure, which effectively cancels contractual obligations.
India’s largest LNG buyer hasn’t received shipments from Qatar since the Iran war disrupted flows through the Strait of Hormuz, which handled about 60% of India’s LNG flows. The supply crunch has forced India to cut gas allocations to petrochemical plants and industries, while leaning more on coal to bridge the gap.
The federal power ministry has deferred maintenance at coal-fired plants as gas-based generation remains constrained amid fuel shortages.
Petronet was to received about 10 cargoes in March and another 10 in April from Qatar under a long-term deal to import 7.5 million tons annually. The company is now looking to diversify the supply base and plans to add seven storage tanks to its existing 10 to improve resilience against future disruptions, Singh said.
“They have been talking with us and they are giving the understanding that as soon as the situation normalizes, they will start the operations and they will start supplying the gas,” he said. Petronet’s volumes weren’t coming from the two trains that were damaged by Iranian strikes at QatarEnergy massive export plant, Singh said.
Spot LNG prices have cooled to about $16 per million British thermal units from $25 after the conflict began, though they remain too high for price-sensitive Indian buyers. Prices need to fall to single digits for demand to pick up, Singh added.
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Bloomberg news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.