No match for Dahej LNG terminal, says Mishra
Dahej is simply the best, better than all the rest.
That's the firm conviction of Petronet-LNG director finance Vinod Kumar Mishra, who believes the terminal's domination will continue despite competition from new LNG terminals. Mishra was speaking at an analyst conference call hosted by stock broker Philip Capital on May 23 (2024).
"We are the leader in this market," thundered Mishra. "And we will remain the leader because nobody can match our capabilities in R-LNG evacuation because Dahej is connected to five R-LNG evacuation pipelines."
Mishra was speaking at the conference to announce Petronet-LNG's audited financial results for the fourth quarter (January to March 2024) and the financial year ended March 31 (2024). He made the claim when replying to analyst Yogesh Patil of Dolat Capital, who asked about the competition Dahej would face from new LNG terminals like Chhara (HPCL) terminal and Dabhol (GAIL) terminal after the breakwater completion.
"No, I don't expect competition because we cannot compare the geographies of these two terminals," stressed Mishra. "It is not possible for any customer to switch from Dahej to Chhara or anywhere else."
He added this was because of the gas pipeline connectivity challenges involved. "Our Dahej terminal is well connected with five pipelines," he repeated.
"Evacuation capacity is so high that nobody can match it." But Mishra was quick to clarify he was not saying other terminals would not be used.
"Other terminals will also be used, but they cannot match Dahej," he said. "It is not the case that some volumes which are coming to Dahej will go to Chhara; they may see additional demand; but our capacity is booked."
Mishra cited the high Dahej utilisation of 97% in 2023-24 compared to poor utilisation at other terminals. According to the oil ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, Dahej capacity utilisation stood at 95.1% in April 2024, much higher than Hazira at 30.3%, Dabhol at 42.7%, Kochi at 20.6%, Ennore at 18.3%, Mundra with 14.6% and Dhamra with 27.4%.