Amid the Indian government's plans to set up strategic natural gas reserves like its state-run facilities to store millions of tonnes of crude, an oil analyst has predicted a surge in Russian LNG volumes to the South Asian country.
The comments of Arpit Chandna, associated with global data and analytics firm Refinitiv, a London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) company, come at a time when the Indian government is taking strong measures to secure the country's energy security amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Eurasia.
Against this backdrop, Chandna stated that the Government of India (GOI) has recently given a nod for drawing a plan for natural gas strategic reserves to store up to 4 billion cubic meters of imported gas.
He elaborated that the Indian government was moving ahead in achieving India's energy security plan which was halted previously because of exorbitant costs & assured gas supplies available then.
Geopolitical Tensions Affecting Supply Chains
Chandna explained that since last year, global energy supply chains have been badly affected by geopolitical issues, especially the Russia-Ukraine conflict and current instability in the Middle East.
This according to him, turned the focus of the Modi administration towards mitigating the risk of uncertainty in secured supplies and higher prices.
Chandna pointed out that India imports nearly 50% of its total domestic gas demand, making it essential to have sufficient secured supplies to meet its local requirements.
Taps at a gas station
© AP Photo / Michael Probst
India's LNG Imports on the Rise
As per data compiled by Refinitiv, India's LNG import volumes in the months of August & September have surged by 35% & 21% respectively when compared with last year's import volumes. Interestingly, Russian LNG exports to India in September also witnessed a jump.
"India and most of the energy-dependent countries are currently seeking cheaper energy supplies which is visible in the matter of oil already. Thus, it would not be amusing to find a higher percentage of LNG volumes imported from Russia in the future to decrease the dependencies on traditional LNG suppliers," Chandna asserted.
He opined that at present, India is looking towards multiple choices and venues for gas storage and the government has already ramped up required infrastructure through Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) and other state-owned gas companies for its end distribution.
New Delhi Setting Up Infrastructure to Store Large Volumes of LNG
"There are various new LNG plants which are planned around Indian coastal belts indicating that the GOI is looking towards developing a gas hub for meeting domestic demand which is expected to rise from various sections, especially from the transportation, petrochemical & residential sector," the oil trade analyst added.
Chandna stressed that the neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, etc. would also benefit from available gas supplies from these hubs.
India has already progressed in building crude oil strategic reserves and its commitment towards energy transition from an oil-based economy to a gas-based economy is clearly in line with the steps being taken for creating a strategic gas reserve in India, he summed up.