GAIL (India) Ltd, the largest gas distributor in India, is looking to purchase an equity stake of up to 26% in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction facility or project in the United States. Due to western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, Russia's Gazprom Marketing and Trade (GMTS), which is owned by GAIL, had supply problems last year. According to the document dated February 16, the company is "exploring the option" to purchase equity from an existing or post-commissioning of a projected
LNG liquefaction plant or project in the United States, either directly or through its affiliates. It was unclear how much the Indian gas distributor had set up in case of any deal. "GAIL, directly or through any of its affiliates, is interested in sourcing 1 million tonnes per annum of LNG on a free-on-board basis for a period of 15 years from the LNG liquefaction facility or project." The paper further stated that the LNG supply contract time might be mutually extended by an additional 5 or 10 years and that supplies would likely start in the fourth quarter of 2026.
According to the paper, interested companies have until March 10 to submit their offers to GAIL. According to the head of finance at GAIL, the company is searching for long-term gas import agreements to make up for its interrupted supply and is in talks with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) and other partners to obtain gas to meet local demand.
In 2012, GAIL and GMTS agreed to a 20-year agreement for the purchase of an average of 2.5 million tonnes of LNG annually. After the western sanctions, the parent company, now known as Sefe, abandoned GMTS, a division of Gazprom Germania.
