Petronet LNG, India’s largest importer of liquefied natural gas, reported record profit after tax as well as LNG terminals activity during the financial year ending March 31, 2020.
During the financial year under review, Petronet LNG reported a profit after tax (PAT) of 26.98 billion Indian Rupees ($357.15 million) which compares to 21.55 billion Indian Rupees ($285.30 million).
Petronet LNG noted this is the company’s record annual profit.
The profit after tax for the current quarter was reported at 3.59 billion Indian Rupees ($47.5 million) which compares 6.75 billion Indian Rupees ($89.3 million) and 4.40 billion Indian Rupees ($58.2 million) for the previous quarter and corresponding quarter, respectively.
The robust financial results in 2019-20, have been attributed to higher volumes processed at the Dahej terminal with the capacity expansion and better efficiency in operations.
LNG terminals posting highest volumes
Dahej terminal operated at around 103 per cent of its nameplate capacity and processed 885 trillion British thermal units (tBtu) of LNG, the highest annual result for the company. This compares to 820 tBtu processed during the previous year.
The overall LNG volume processed by the company in the current year was 928 tBtu, highest ever in a year, which compares to 844 tBtu processed in the previous year.
The Kochi terminal processed 43 tBtu in the current year as against 24 tBtu in the previous year, Petronet LNG said.
During the quarter ended March 31, 2020, Dahej terminal processed 206 tBtu of LNG as against 222 tBtu processed during the previous quarter and 199 tBtu processed during the corresponding quarter last year.
The overall LNG volume processed by the company in the current quarter was 219 tBtu, as against the LNG volume processed in the previous and corresponding quarter, which stood at 233 tBtu and 205 tBtu respectively.
Petronet LNG rolls out fueling infrastructure development plan
The company noted in a statement it has called on compatriot oil marketing companies (OMCs) and other authorized city gas distribution (CGD) entities to develop LNG fueling stations.
The company is looking to develop LNG fueling infrastructure in three phases that would add up to 1000 facilities once the project is completed beyond 2023.
The first phase would see the development of 50 facilities through a pilot project on Western Corridor and Southern Corridors through 20020 and 2021.
The second phase would push the cumulative number of LNG fueling stations to 300 through development on India’s Golden Quadrilateral, North-South & East-West Corridors, through 2022-2023.
The third phase would start beyond 2023 pushing the number of filling stations to 1000 and would develop an LNG dispensing network on a pan India basis, Petronet LNG said.