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Commissioning of India’s Chhara LNG terminal delayed
India’s Hindustan Petroleum, a unit of state-owned ONGC, has reportedly delayed the commissioning of its Chhara LNG import terminal in Gujarat. LNG Prime reported on April 15, citing shipping data, that the 2015-built 159,800-cbm, Maran Gas Mystras, has arrived at the 5 mtpa LNG terminal in the Chhara port on April 11.
Prior to that, Maran Gas Mystras picked up a cargo of LNG at Marathon Oil’s Punta Europa LNG terminal in Equatorial Guinea. However, the LNG carrier did not unload this shipment at the facility. Instead, the vessel delivered the shipment to Petronet LNG’s Dahej terminal, according to its AIS data provided by VesselsValue.
LNG Prime invited HPCL to comment on the terminal’s commissioning, but we did not receive a reply by the time this article was published. Kpler said in a report that the commissioning of HPCL’s Chhara LNG terminal “is likely to be delayed due to infrastructure issues, with operations expected to extend beyond the monsoon season.”
Other reports said that the issues were related to the terminal’s jetty. Also, HPCL has reportedly not yet completed the breakwater for the LNG facility to protect it during the monsoon season which typically lasts from June to September.
India’s eighth LNG import facility
HPCL LNG (HPLNG), a unit of HPCL, built the 5 mtpa LNG terminal with all associated facilities for receipt, unloading, storage, regasification of LNG, and gas supply to the grid. The firm, formerly known as HPCL Shapoorji Energy Private Limited (HSEPL), was incorporated as a 50:50 joint venture between HPCL and SP Ports Private Limited (SPPPL) on October 15, 2013.
However, HPCL purchased the 50 percent stake from SPPPL in March 2021, becoming the sole owner of the LNG import facility.
The LNG terminal features a 1.2 km long jetty capable of receiving carriers with a capacity of 80,000 cbm to 266,000 ccbm, two LNG storage tanks each with a capacity of 200,000 cbm, while GSCP built the connecting pipeline, according to HPLNG.
This is India’s eighth LNG import facility. At the moment, India imports LNG via seven facilities with a combined capacity of about 47.7 million tonnes per year. These include Petronet LNG’s Dahej and Kochi terminals, Shell’s Hazira terminal, and the Dabhol LNG, Ennore LNG, Mundra LNG, and Dhamra LNG terminal.
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