According to the Press Trust of India and the Calcutta Telegraph, ExxonMobil, which has 25% in the project, will probably supply the gas. While Gorgon operator Chevron (50% equity) and Shell (25%) have announced supply arrangements, ExxonMobil has not yet made any such announcements but is known to have been negotiating with Indian customers.
Shipments would be received at Petronet’s planned import terminal at Kochi in Kerala, south-west India.
PTI and the Calcutta Telegraph have reported that Petronet plans to buy 2.5Mt per annum of LNG from Gorgon for 25 years.
According to the Indian media reports, delivery of supplies is expected to begin in 2009. However, this would be a very optimistic timetable, as there are no plans for Gorgon to begin shipments until 2010 and some parts of the project are already running behind schedule and over budget.
Petronet LNG currently imports 5Mtpa of LNG from Qatar. An additional 2.5Mt from Qatar has already being contracted from 2008-09, and the company is in talks with the Middle Eastern country for additional volumes.
