Asia/Pacific News
LNG Provides Savings of Almost One Third
India's Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas R.P.N. Singh has said liquefied natural gas (LNG) can provide savings of almost a third compared to crude oil, The Hindu Business Line reported today.
"While LNG cannot be a perfect substitute of crude oil, its use for specific applications, in place of crude oil would result in savings," said Singh.
Responding to a question in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, Singh said data provided by state-owned natural gas processing and distribution company GAIL (India) Limited showed the average price of LNG from the international market during fiscal 2011-12 was $13.22 per million British thermal units (mmBtu).
The average price of imported crude oil (Indian basket) for the same period using a conversion factor of 5.8 mmBtu per barrel was $19.28 per mmBtu.
"Hence, on the energy basis, the price of LNG was less compared to crude oil by around $6 per mmBtu," he said, adding that the exact savings would vary from consignment to consignment.
India's regasification capacity was said to be 13.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), 10 mtpa at Petronet's Dahej terminal and 3.6 mtpa at Shell's Hazira LNG terminal.
By 2015-16 that will expand to 15 mtpa and will include a new terminal in Kochi.
Even further capacity is planned, including a floating storage and regasification unit on the East Coast, the Minister said.
As legislation regulating emissions from ships is set to tighten in the coming years, some shipping sectors see a switch to LNG as the natural choice for fuel not only from a cost perspective, but also in terms of regulatory compliance.
"LNG is the future of coast wide shipping," Totem Ocean Trailer Express President John Parrott told Ship & Bunker last week.
