India’s dependency on imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) has increased in the current year amid higher consumption but stagnant domestic production. The country’s LNG import dependency has jumped to 51 percent of the total domestic consumption in the current fiscal till November, compared to 46.5 percent in the same period last year, showed official data.
The country imported 24,798 million metric standard cubic metre (MMSCM) of LNG from April to November 2024, 21 percent higher than the last year. The higher imports come on the back of increased gas consumption in the period, rising 10.41 percent from last year at 48,682 MMSCM.
India’s domestic production, however, has been stagnant over the years, increasing the country’s reliance on imports and in turn resulting in higher import bill. The LNG import bill of the country in the period came in at $10 billion, compared to $8.7 billion last year.
Despite government’s efforts to boost exploration activities, the gas production from Indian exploration companies including the state-run ONGC and Oil India, and some private players have shown disappointing growth of 1.1 percent in the period.
Amid stagnant production and rising consumption, India is forced to meet demand through imports from countries such as Qatar, Australia and the US.
India’s LNG import deals
The share of imports is expected to further rise in the coming years as India has extended existing deals and signed new LNG deals with the producing countries.
In February, India’s Petronet LNG extended the deal to supply 7.5 million metric tons per year from 2028 to 2048. Recently, the country’s largest gas importer GAIL (India) signed a deal with Qatar to supply one cargo per month to the company starting April for five years, according to media reports.
With the rising demand and improving gas infrastructure, the country is scouting for more deals to meet the ambitious target becoming a gas-based economy with 15 percent share of natural gas in India’s total energy basket, compared to current 6.2 percent.
To support higher consumption, Indian oil and gas companies are building better infrastructure including LNG terminals, laying gas pipelines across the country, setting up new compressed natural gas (CNG) stations and promoting more piped natural gas (PNG) connections.
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