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India Widens LNG Sourcing to September After Qatar Export Hub Hit
India has secured LNG supplies through September by tapping US, UAE and Angola after Iranian attacks on Qatar's Ras Laffan. Winter demand from Europe could tighten supply, pushing Asian spot prices higher.
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New Delhi has locked in enough liquefied natural gas to meet demand through September by pulling cargoes from the US, the United Arab Emirates and Angola. The shift follows Iranian missile strikes on Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world's biggest LNG production and export hub, an official said.
State-run oil and gas companies and refiners have two months of supplies already tied up, the official added. Curbs on industrial gas use have been gradually eased. There are no signs of peace in West Asia in the near term.
Qatar supplied about half of India's LNG before the war. QatarEnergy stopped production and declared force majeure after the March attacks. Experts said the damaged facilities could take three to five years to repair.
The US became India's top LNG supplier in April and May. Cargoes from the US were valued at $728.29 million, more than triple the $199.92 million a year earlier, commerce ministry data showed. Other key suppliers included Nigeria at $580 million, Oman at $517.9 million, Angola at $301 million and Trinidad at $142.56 million. Oman and the UAE are now the only primary West Asian suppliers.
India faces a serious structural challenge in the medium to long term, said Harsh V. Pant, vice president at the Observer Research Foundation. The main impact is financial, not physical volume availability, he said.
"QatarEnergy's long-term contracts provided stable, predictable pricing. Now, replacing those lost volumes via flexible short-term cargoes or on the spot market comes at a massive premium, with Asian spot LNG prices surging," Pant said. "There is a higher fiscal burden whether you look at it from the fertilizer perspective or gas and industrial units' perspective."