By Sethuraman N R
(Reuters) – An increase in LNG production in the United States after President Donald Trump ended a moratorium on new export permits should benefit consuming nations like India, the chief executive of the country’s top gas importer said on Monday.
Trump last week ordered the U.S. Energy Department to resume the consideration of LNG export applications after the Biden administration froze them.
“If more LNG plants come in the U.S., it will stabilise international LNG prices,” Petronet LNG Chief Executive Akshay Kumar Singh said in a post earnings media call.
“For a consuming nation (like India), it is expected that if prices are in the range of $7 to $8 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), the consumption will drastically improve because there is no shortage of customers, they are just price sensitive,” Singh said.
Singh expects LNG prices to hover around $12-$14 per mmBtu in the current quarter on strong demand from Europe.
European gas reserves are some 17 billion cubic metres (bcm) lower than at the same time in 2024, according to ICIS analyst Alex Froley.
The additional volumes required to refill them could also keep prices elevated in the second quarter of the year, Singh said.
He also said Petronet is working to start supplies of LNG to neighbouring Sri Lanka, after signing a deal to supply LNG engineering firm LTL Holdings’ power plants in Colombo for five years through a terminal in the southern Indian city of Kochi.
(Reporting by Sethuraman NR; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
