"Based on the intermittent spot requirements during the FY 2019-20, GAIL plans to charter hire additional LNG ship(s) on spot / short term basis," it said. "Recently, GAIL has signed a Charter Party Agreement with Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) for the hiring of a new build LNG vessel for a period of three years from the year 2021 onwards. Supplies under this contract started in February 2018.Also, it has booked 2.3 million tonnes per annum of capacity in the Cove Point LNG liquefaction terminal in the US, with supplies commencing from April 2018.With Gazprom of Russia, it has signed a contract to buy 2.85 million tonnes per annum of LNG beginning 2018-19. "In parallel, your company has also optimized LNG sourced from the US through destination swap transactions to optimize the cost of shipping this LNG to the Indian ports resulting in the efficient management of the portfolio. Your company has also undertaken time swap transactions to even out the LNG supply-demand fluctuations," the report said.GAIL is looking at the fertilizer sector for market some of the LNG and is also looking at refineries and steel plants for the same.

Source: Economic Times July 23, 2019 12:11 UTC