Reliance prepares to slash LNG imports
Bad news for Shell and Total's Hazira terminal.
Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani has declared that its much-delayed $5bn petcoke gasification project at the 1.24m b/d Jamnagar refinery is almost ready. This means the company will drastically cut LNG imports, sooner rather than later.
Ambani confirmed this in a 14-page speech delivered at the company's 40th Annual General Meeting in Mumbai on July 21. "The gasification complex is at an advanced stage of commissioning," said Ambani, without confirming a timeframe.
Reliance brought in 2,220,483 cubic metres LNG across 16 cargoes at Hazira from January 1 to June 30 this year and presently uses 11m cm/d R-LNG for its refinery and petrochemical complexes. But under the pet coke project Reliance has installed eight gasifiers, each with a capacity to produce 2.35m cm/d of 'syngas' or 18.8m cm/d - totally wiping out its requirement for R-LNG.
"Reliance might not replace the entire quantity at once," says an industry source. "But R-LNG will be replaced as it ramps up syngas production."
