Petronet-LNG board meets on October 20
Petronet-LNG is holding its next board meeting in Delhi on October 20, the first with new oil secretary RS Pandey present as chairman.
Officially the meeting will approve un-audited results for the half-year ended September 30, but overshadowing the meeting will be questions over future LNG supplies to the under construction terminal at Kochi amid growing pressure on investment banks to restrict lending. “Kochi isn’t the only project that will be affected by this,†we hear.
“Other LNG projects all over the world will be hit.†One such project in doubt is the 6.3m t/y Papua New Guinea LNG project, identified as a potential supplier to Kochi, and promoted by ExxonMobil, Santos and others, which has a construction price tag of $9.5bn.
“This project is 100% project financed because there are so many partners,†reports a source. “There’s no equity involved.
†For the Kochi LNG terminal itself, there’s no worry: Petronet-LNG secured financial closure in July last year.