GAIL signs deal with Vitol for LNG supply

GAIL (India) Limited has signed a deal with global commodity trader Vitol Asia to buy around one million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually for 10 years, starting 2026, the state-owned firm said on January 5.

Vitol will deliver LNG from its global LNG portfolio to GAIL at various locations in India, GAIL said in a statement.

Indian companies are investing billions of dollars to build natural gas infrastructure and are scouting for long-tern LNG imports deals as the nation wants to raise the share of natural gas in its energy mix to 15 percent by 2030 from the current 6.3 percent.

India was a growing LNG market and the company would bring the supply from its global portfolio to meet India’s demand.

GAIL is a leading natural gas company of India involved in its trading, transmission and  production and operates a network of more than  16,000 km of natural gas pipelines.

The state-owned oil and gas company has over 70 percent market share in gas transmission and a gas trading share of over 50 percent.

Gas consumption in India would rise to over 500 million standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd) by 2030 from the present 155 mmscmd, oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.