Adani Total Dhamra LNG terminal expansion not imminent, CEO says

Adani Total Gas

13/02/2025 10:48

By Sethuraman N R
       NEW DELHI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - India's Adani Total has
yet to conduct feasibility studies to double the capacity of its
LNG terminal in Dhamra, Chief Executive Surjeet Singh Lamba told
Reuters on Thursday, a year after the joint venture announced it
was in the early stages of planning a possible expansion.
    Lamba said the 5 million tons per annum (mtpa) LNG terminal
on India's east coast, in which French energy giant
TotalEnergies SE  TTEF.PA  has a 50% stake alongside the Adani
Group, operated at an average utilisation rate of 25% in 2024.
    Utilisation has since risen to about 50%, the CEO said.
Usage has been low because the terminal has been unable to
attract new customers after locking state-run firms Indian Oil
Corp  IOC.NS , and GAIL (India) Ltd  GAIL.NS  into 20-year
take-or-pay contracts in 2023.
    Lamba said the expansion was contingent on demand, and when
asked about the potential for growth in LNG demand, he pointed
to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's target to more than double the
share of natural gas to 15% of India's energy mix by 2030.
    "It depends upon the requirement of the users, as in, when
we get some business potential," he said.
    "Once feasibilty (study) is done, only then we will be able
to comment on that (expansion)," Lamba told Reuters on the
sidelines of the India Energy Week.
    He did not comment on any financing plans.
    TotalEnergies said last year it would pause investing in the
Adani Group after U.S. prosecutors accused officials from the
conglomerate, including its billionaire Chairman Gautam Adani,
of corruption.
    

 (Writing by Sudarshan Varadhan;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
 ((sudarshan.varadhan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 91164984;))