India Seeks LNG From South-East Asian Countries

India has started dialouge with South East Asian nations such as Brunei, Indonesia, Australia and Malaysia to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet the needs of a host of industries including power, fertilisers, petrochemicals and steel.

Minister of state for petroleum and natural gas RPN Singh has urged these nations to enter into long- term supply contracts with India as it is one of the largest and fastest growing gas markets, an official statement said here.

Singh is in Brunei to attend the East Asia Summit energy ministers’ meeting, where he held bilateral talks on the sidelines with the energy ministers of Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, USA, Brunei, and Vietnam regarding diversification of India’s sources of LNG supply.

“It would be a win win situation for LNG producing countries of East Asia and India to forge long- term relationships,” the statement said quoting Singh.

Natural gas now accounts for about 10% of India’s primary energy basket compared to the world average of 24%. To popularise the clean fuel, the government is doubling its present re-gassified LNG capacity of 13.6 mt a year by 2016. India is also building about 8,000 km of gas pipelines. Gas demand is expected to grow at 14% in the next five years. “This coupled with an overall economic growth rate of around 8% make India a very attractive market for any LNG producer,” the statement said.

At the energy ministers' meeting, Singh said that pricing of a finite resource such as oil could not be left unregulated and that there is a need for greater transparency in the price formation of oil.

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