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Kochi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today called upon major Asian buyers of LNG to come together to demand a fair pricing mechanism for gas being imported from outside of continent as the region has been a driver of the global LNG demand in recent times.
"Asia has been the driver of the global LNG demand in recent times. It is therefore important that major buyers of LNG in Asia come together to demand a fair pricing mechanism for gas being imported from outside of Asia," Singh said while dedicating to the nation the Rs 4,500 crore Petronet LNG terminal at nearby Puthyvype here.
The Prime Minister expressed hope that India would contribute towards an effort of this kind in the future.
"Our country has less than one per cent of the world's known natural gas reserves. Therefore for augmenting the supply of natural gas in our energy mix, we must necessarily import natural gas either by by setting up LNG terminals or through trans-national pipelines," he said.
Import of natural gas and pricing the imported gas constitute challenges that we must meet successfully in the time to come, he added.
Pointing out that the terminal should be utilised to its fullest capacity, Singh urged the agencies concerned to do everything possible to ensure this.
Petronet LNG has already tied up to supply 14.4 lakh tonnes of LNG per year for the Kochi terminal from the Gorgon project in Australia for a 20 year period, he said adding the company was also at an advanced stage of discussion with other LNG suppliers for long-term contracts.
To make full use of the large investment in this project, the focus should be on increasing penetration of natural gas in Kerala by augmenting the pipeline network as done in the northern and western parts of the country. There was also need to explore how industrial units could make greater use of natural gas, he said.
