Canada may explore exporting LNG to the LNG terminal coming up at Gangavaram Port, the first in the East Coast.
A delegation of Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC), which held a meeting with the State government officials on Saturday, showed keen interest in the terminal being set up here by Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL), a company floated by BPCL, GAIL, IOCL and ONGC. The LNG terminal project proposed at a cost of Rs.4,500 crore with a capacity of five million tonne is awaiting clearance from Ministry of Environment and Forests after the public hearing was held in January, 2013.
“We are very keen on exploring the possibility,” Naval Bajaj, president of ICCC told The Hindu . Earlier, APIIC Vice-Chairman-cum-Managing Director Jayesh Ranjan briefed the team about investment opportunities in the Petroleum, Chemical, Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) being developed between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada.
On a request by the 12-member Canadian delegation which included MP Joe Daniel, a team from Andhra Pradesh is expected to visit Canada shortly. “We are very keen on exploring various options,” Minister for Infrastructure, Investment and Natural Gas Ganta Srinivasa Rao said. Canada is the world’s largest gas producer and sixth largest oil producer. During Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, a few proposals were made for development of LNG export terminal in Canada. PLL, which signed an agreement with Gangavaram Port Limited on May 2, 2012 for developing import, storage and re-gasification facility to be operational in 2016 subject to obtaining the clearances, has plans to double the capacity in three to four years after completion of first phase with additional investment of Rs.4,500 crore.
PLL meets lion’s share of its gas requirement from Qatar and the rest from Australia through long-term supply contracts. It also meets its requirement partly through short/spot term contracts. PLL has terminals at Dahej in Gujarat and Kochi in Kerala and the Gangavaram project will be its third facility.
The low-cost fuel is very often described as clean fuel useful for energy sector, refineries and other power-intensive industries. If natural gas is cooled at minus 160 degree Celsius, it becomes compact occupying 1/160 of its gaseous volume. It will be converted into LNG.
