The Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore limited (FACT), the major consumer of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in the district, is yet to sign an agreement with the Gas Authority of India Limited to receive LNG from the Petronet LNG terminal at Puthuvype.
As the renovation process of the company is at its final stages, if the FACT do not sign the agreement, the commissioning of the terminal will be
delayed further. It is learnt that only BPCL-KR and Nitta Gelatin have signed agreement with GAIL to receive LNG.
As the first phase of the LNG infrastructure project in the state, 45-km pipeline has been laid in Ernakulam district to supply LNG. The prospective customers at the first phase are BPCL-KR,TCC, BSES/REL, Nitta Gelatin, FACT-Cochin Division and HOCL.
According to sources with Petronet LNG Limited, the company is receiving queries from small industrial units to supply LNG.
“FACT is yet to sign an agreement with GAIL to receive LNG. Since it is a political decision, a proper time frame can not be announced now. We are renovating the plants with twin facility to use LNG or Naphtha. The major problem now is the pricing of LNG,” sources with FACT said.
Earlier, there were reports that the pricing of LNG from Puthuvype will be $14 per Million Metric British Thermal Units.
The officials of Petronet LNG Limited said only the customers in Kochi and premises are ready to receive LNG. The capacity of the terminal is much higher compared to the requirement at present, they said.
The delay now is caused mainly because the customers have not finished the maintenance works to equip themselves to receive LNG.