GAIL Looking To Buy Up To 26 Per Cent Stake In LNG Projects In US: Report

GAIL, either directly or through its affiliates, exploring the opportunity to buy equity from an existing or post-commissioning of a proposed LNG liquefaction plant or project in the US

The LNG supply contract period may be extended further by 5 or 10 years on a mutual basis, GAIL said.

State-owned gas distributor GAIL (India) Ltd is looking to buy an equity stake of up to 26 per cent in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction plant or project in the US, reported Reuters. Citing a document issued by the company, the news agency said that the company is, either directly or through its affiliates, exploring the opportunity to buy equity from an existing or post-commissioning of a proposed LNG liquefaction plant or project in the US.

The document dated February 16, said, “In addition, GAIL, directly or through any of its affiliates, is interested to source 1 million tonnes per annum LNG from the LNG liquefaction plant or project on a free-on-board basis for a period of 15 years on mutually acceptable terms and conditions."

The LNG supply contract period may be extended further by 5 or 10 years on a mutual basis, and supplies are to commence tentatively from the last quarter of 2026, it added. 

According to the document, interested companies have until March 10 to submit their offers to GAIL.

According to the head of finance at GAIL, the company is searching for long-term gas import agreements to make up for its interrupted supply and is in talks with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) and other partners to obtain gas to meet local demand, the report said. 

This comes as last year, GAIL’s, India's largest gas distributor, supply chain was disrupted as Russia-owned Gazprom Marketing and Trading (GMTS) failed to deliver some LNG cargoes, following western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, the report noted. 

In 2012, GAIL and GMTS agreed to a 20-year agreement for the purchase of an average of 2.5 million tonnes of LNG annually.

After the western sanctions, the parent company, now known as Sefe, abandoned GMTS, a division of Gazprom Germania.