Pipeline Delays to Keep India’s Ennore LNG Terminal Underutilized Until 2023

The Ennore LNG terminal operated by state-owned Indian Oil Corp. will remain underutilized until 2023 because of delays in the construction of the gas distribution pipeline, company officials said Tuesday.

The facility, which has a nameplate capacity of 5 million mt/year, is expected to import around 0.75 million mt in 2019, and 1.3-1.4 million mt/year by 2021. The $735 million LNG terminal, commissioned in February, is the first one to be built on India's east coast, at Tamil Nadu's Kamarajar port.

IOC received a commissioning cargo from Swiss trader Gunvor in February after completion of works related to dredging and pipeline around the berth. A second cargo was delivered last week by the same trader, officials said.

The entire pipeline network associated with the project is expected to be completed by March 2021, and will connect cities across the southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.