US-indexed LNG catches fancy of Indian firms on Trump's return

Nearly 13 years after Gail, a state-run gas distributor, had agreed to source liquefied natural gas (LNG) from two American projects at Henry Hub-linked prices, companies are taking the same path under short-term contracts and based on the same formula.

- S DINAKAR

This coincides with the return of Donald Trump to United States (US) presidency. Trump, in his earlier stint, had pushed New Delhi to boost sourcing crude oil and LNG from the US, and a clamour by Indian city gas utilities and industrial consumers for purchase contracts linked to Henry Hub.

Gail, state-run refiners Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, and IGL, India's biggest city gas utility, plan to secure among them a combined 4 million tonnes of LNG a year, with supplies starting in 2025-28 under a mix of short- and medium-term contracts, industry officials said.

Gail awarded Qatar Energy this week a contract for 60 standard-sized items of LNG cargo under a five-year supply tender, which closed this month. That translated into around 3.6 million tonnes of LNG shipment from April 2025 to March 2030, sources said.

Gail declined to comment.

The impending Trump administration will ask India to boost purchases of oil and LNG to shrink a growing trade surplus, industry officials said.