Asia/Pacific News
Petronet LNG CEO: Kochi Could Become Southeast Asia's LNG Bunkering Hub
A.K.Balyan, Managing Director and CEO, Petronet LNG Ltd (Petronet LNG) said in a presentation at Friday's international bunkering conference, Destination Cochin, that Kochi could become an liquid natural gas (LNG) bunkering hub for not only India, but Southeast Asia as well, Deccan Chronicle reports.
"Given that LNG is one of the cleanest fuels that we have today, Kochi with a state-of-the-art LNG terminal can become a bunkering hub," he said.
About 36,000 ships pass through the route and about 1000 ships call at the Kochi port, Balyan noted.
Paul Antony, Chairman of the Cochin Port Trust, echoed Balyan's sentiments at the conference, saying that the trust is working toward developing Kochi as an international bunkering hub, the Hindi Business Line reports.
Antony estimates that Kochi's bunkering growth is expected to exceed 20 percent next year and is aiming to be a 1 million tonne per year bunkering port.
He added that to achieve the goal, the port plans to improve its infrastructure, further developing existing facilities in the berths, and to constructing a multi-user LNG terminal on Puthuvypeen Island in collaboration with a public sector oil company.
According to the report, India's current bunkering volumes sit at 1.5 million tonnes per year but has the potential to grow to 7 million in the next five years.
As early as 2012 Singapore authorities said the world's biggest bunkering destination is also "well positioned to become Asia's LNG Hub."
Last week, Panama announced plans to make the country the LNG hub of Central America.
