Under scorching sun, Hazira readies for LNG cargo

While the technicians are sweating it out, the marketing professionals in Ahmedabad are also scouting for potential buyers. While at present Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) is the sole buyer of LNG from this project, the company is in talks with a number of other plants including power, fertiliser plants.

Though the second shipment at present is expected to be supplied to GSPC, which is the sole buyer, if other buyers tie up in the meantime, it can be supplied to them too.

The Hazira LNG Terminal and Port is partnered by Shell Gas BV and Total Gaz Electricite Holdings France, representing two of the largest private LNG suppliers in the world. Total has a shareholding of 26 per cent in each of the companies that comprise the Hazira LNG Terminal and Port project.

Presently, Hazira is supplying around 0.7 million standard cubic meters of gas per day to GSPC. The contract with GSPC is for 210 days and the price at which the gas is being supplied is to the tune of $3.66 per million British Thermal Units (MBTU).

The Hazira LNG terminal is also accessing existing pipeline infrastructure for transportation and delivery of gas to customers. A 17-km pipeline from Hazira to Mora has been laid to connect to the Gujarat grid. The LNG terminal, which has a capacity of 5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), has an initial throughput of 2.5 MTPA and the site has been laid out for an increase up to 10 MTPA with two additional tanks.

And to ensure that everything goes well in terms of safety, the technicians at the site do not leave anything to chance. From anti-spark clothes to anti-spark shoes, from spark detectors and mock fire fighting everyday. The drill is on.

(The correspondent was in Hazira at the invitation of Shell)