Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s subsidiary Shell Gas B.V. has signed a binding letter of intent (LoI) with Total Gaz Electricité Holdings France to buy its 26% equity in the Hazira LNG and port venture in India, subject to regulatory approvals.
The move would allow Shell commercial and operational flexibility over Hazira to maximise integrated value and offer creative customer value propositions, the company said in a statement adding that this portfolio action is consistent with Shell’s strategy to deepen its presence in the gas value chain in India, the fourth largest LNG consumer in the world.
‘Important milestone’
“Today marks an important milestone,” said Maarten Wetselaar, director, integrated gas and new energies, Shell. “This purchase creates a fully-owned and integrated Shell value chain — supply from our global LNG portfolio, regasification at the Hazira facility and downstream customer sales.
“It enables Shell to better serve Indian customers and meet the country’s long-term need for more and cleaner energy. This also significantly strengthens the connection of the fastest growing gas markets in the world, India and Shell’s unrivaled portfolio of competitive gas supply.”
The Hazira LNG and port venture comprises Hazira LNG Pvt. Ltd. that operates an LNG regasification terminal and Hazira Port Pvt. Ltd. which manages a direct berthing multi-cargo port at Hazira in in Gujarat.
Shell aims to contribute in bridging the energy deficit and further augment gas supplies in India, the statement added.
Shell Energy India (SEI) was established in 2017, to aggregate demand from downstream customers and secure competitive international supply to meet such demand and will market and sell that gas to customers across India.