Romanov Points

India has asked Iraq, the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to increase LNG supplies, Indian Business Standard reports, citing sources.

“India made the decision to increase LNG imports from these countries at affordable prices against the backdrop of a reduction in the supply of this energy carrier from Gazprom since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine,” the newspaper cites sources.

The traditional supplier of Russian LNG to India is Gazprom Marketing and Trading Singapore (GMTS), a subsidiary of Gazprom. In 2018, it signed an agreement with India for the supply of 2.5 million tons of LNG over 20 years.

According to the interlocutors of Business Standard, GMTS, under pressure from Western restrictions, began to reduce LNG supplies to India since May, but the republic refused to apply penalties to the company. Efforts are now being made at the diplomatic level for Gazprom to resume LNG supplies in full.

In the current environment, given the increase in gas consumption in India, the government of the country decided to diversify the sources of gas and “acquire it wherever possible, at the most suitable prices.”

“At the moment, the problem is not the availability of gas, but the price of it,” the interlocutors stressed.

At present, TASS notes, natural gas provides 6.2% of India’s energy needs.

The government plans to increase gas consumption to 15% by 2030. India supplies 85% of its oil and 55% natural gas needs through imports.