India's Petronet to begin shipping LNG to Sri Lanka in 2025 (updated)

Petronet LNG

08/02/2024 10:50

(Recasts, adds detail)
    By Sethuraman N R and Nidhi Verma
       QUITOL, India, Feb 8 (Reuters) - India's state-run
Petronet LNG  PLNG.NS  plans to begin supplying liquefied
natural gas (LNG) to neighbouring Sri Lanka for five years
starting in 2025, its chief executive said on Thursday.
    Petronet will ship 850 metric tons of gas daily to the
island nation in 50 containers of 17 tons each, CEO Akshay Kumar
Singh said during the India Energy Week event in Goa.
    The project will supply two gas-fired power plants in Sri
Lanka, which has suffered from crippling power blackouts and
fuel shortages. 
    It will require land to be allocated in Colombo for a small
regasification unit, Singh said.
    Petronet also plans to commission a floating storage
regasification unit (FSRU) in Sri Lanka and hopes to gain
government approval by 2025 to build the facility by 2028.
    Earlier at the same event Sri Lanka Energy Minister Kanchana
Wijesekera told Reuters that Petronet and Sri Lanka power plant
officials were working out the "mechanics" on shipping LNG to
the country.
    Singh also said that Petronet, India's top gas importer, is
looking for more long-term gas deals. 
    On Tuesday the company signed a deal for QatarEnergy to
supply it with 7.5 million tons of LNG annually from 2028 to
2048, extending an existing agreement.
    "We need more long-term deals. It is a country requirement,"
he said.
        
  

 (Reporting by Sethuraman NR and Nidhi Verma
Writing by Tony Munroe
Editing by David Goodman
)
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