Chief Minister of Puducherry performs bhoomi pooja for LNG Import Facility at Karaikal Port, Puducherry for Natural Gas distribution
- Expanding Access to Natural Gas for Downstream Customers in South India
Chennai: 20 February 2020: AG&P, the global
downstream gas and LNG logistics company, has broken ground on its LNG Import Facility
at Karaikal Port, Puducherry, paving the way to broader access to natural gas
as a primary fuel in South India. The Karaikal LNG Import Facility (“Karaikal
LNG”) is expected to commence commercial operations by Q4 2021.
Owned and operated by
AG&P, Karaikal LNG Import Facility is being built on a 12-hectare site
within the Karaikal Port, which enjoys the only deep-water access on the East
Coast of India south of Chennai, with all-weather capabilities and 24/7
operations. Karaikal LNG, which will have an initial capacity of one million
tonnes per annum (MTPA), will include a Floating Storage Unit (FSU) leased
through a long-term charter agreement with ADNOC Logistics and Services (ADNOC
L&S) from 2021, providing an efficient solution that will enable the supply
of this clean fuel to be affordable.
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(L-R) Mr. Muralidharan, Chief Executive Officer, Karaikal
Port, Mr. JM Sigelman, Chief Executive Officer, AG&P Group, Mr. Kenichi
Aso, Resident Executive Officer, Regional Head for Asia and Pacific, Japan Bank
for International Cooperation, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Puducherry, V.
Narayanaswamy, Mr. M. Kandaswamy, Hon’ble Minister for Ports, Social Welfare
and Pollution Control, Puducherry, and Mr. GRK Reddy, Promoter-Director,
Karaikal Port
Strategically located
280km south of Chennai and in close proximity to Tamil Nadu’s thriving
manufacturing clusters, the new terminal will provide natural gas to power
plants, industrial and commercial customers within a 300km radius. In addition,
Karaikal LNG will serve the important city gas networks of AG&P and other
city gas companies that bring CNG and LNG to vehicles and piped natural gas to
households and other establishments. Truck
loading bays will enable delivery of LNG to remote customers by AG&P’s own
fleet of trucks.
JM Sigelman,
CEO of AG&P said, “AG&P is
deeply honored to have the opportunity to bring Karaikal LNG to fast-growing
and dynamic Southeast India. It will
become a landmark infrastructure development for the region and is ideally
suited for the Karaikal Port, a critical center of trade. AG&P takes on the
value chain from import of LNG through to delivery of gas to end-customers –
vehicles, kitchens, large and small factories, power, restaurants and malls.
Karaikal LNG is a cornerstone project for Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka
that will provide clean, affordable fuel.”
Karthik
Sathyamoorthy, President of AG&P Terminals and Logistics, said,
“With the addition of AG&P’s LNG import terminal, the Karaikal Port
will become a gateway for the delivery of cleaner and lower-cost fuel to
downstream demand centers that are unable to access natural gas today. Our goal
is to bring down the unit cost of regasification terminals for smaller volumes
to make LNG commercially viable for scattered and smaller customers. We will
achieve this at Karaikal through the unique unique solution we are implementing
with our partners such as ADNOC L&S.”
Abhilesh
Gupta, AG&P’s CFO and Chief Commercial Officer, commented, “Karaikal LNG will play a crucial
role in the GDP of Southeast India. Karaikal LNG is a vital infrastructure
project that will provide a substantial boost to the region’s economy. It will help improve the socio-economic conditions of communities within a few
hundred-kilometer radius through local employment and the development of
industries via reliable and affordable access to natural gas and LNG.”
AG&P develops and
builds LNG import terminals in nascent and growing markets around the world. These
facilities encourage the development of a downstream gas value chain and unlock
latent demand. At Karaikal LNG, AG&P has developed a flexible configuration
combining floating storage and onshore facilities, such as truck-loading. This
designincreases operational efficiencies that result in a flexible and
commercially-compelling solution for our customers.
Beyond Karaikal,
AG&P is one of the largest international players in India’s gas sector,
having been awarded exclusive rights from the Petroleum and Natural Gas
Regulatory Board (PNGRB) to build city gas distribution (CGD) networks in 12
Geographic Areas across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and
Rajasthan. At the end of 8 years, the AG&P networks will offer more than
1,500 CNG stations and natural gas connections to millions of households.
About AG&P: AG&P is a global leader in
developing and running LNG and gas logistics and distribution solutions. AG&P provides the infrastructure to
access natural gas safely and easily in new and growing markets. We act as an
owner and as a service provider covering the engineering, procurement, project
management and construction for onshore and offshore gas infrastructure,
linking suppliers to downstream customers. www.agpglobal.com
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