AG&P aims for its first LNG terminal in India by 2024 end - official

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore-based Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific is looking to set up its first liquefied natural gas terminal in India by 2024 end, a top company official said, although it is evaluating other sites as an alternative to the terminal's location in the south of the country.

"AG&P is very bullish on an India import terminal and our aim is to have a terminal up and running in the next two years," Karthik Sathyamoorthy, president of LNG Terminals and Logistics division at AG&P, told Reuters.

The company broke ground on its first LNG import facility in India, at the Karaikal port in the southern city of Puducherry, in February 2020. But then COVID-related curbs led to a slowdown in the terminal's development, said Sathyamoorthy.

"Today we have restarted focus on the import terminal... But in addition to Karaikal we have a couple of other options as well," he said. "We are looking at a terminal in India but it doesn't need to be in Karaikal per se."

Sathyamoorthy declined to say why the company is now considering other locations for an LNG terminal in India.

The terminal at the Karaikal port was planned to have an initial capacity of one million tonnes per annum (mtpa) and would provide natural gas to power plants, industrial and commercial customers within a 300-kilometre radius.

On AG&P's LNG import terminal in the Philippines, Sathyamoorthy said it was on track to begin operations by the first quarter of 2023 and will source supplies of the chilled fuel from a portfolio player.

"We have a contract with a portfolio player... we will be bringing a combination of spot, short-term and mid-term (supplies) as well," he said.

The terminal, named PHLNG, was previously scheduled for commissioning in July 2022, but was delayed due to COVID-induced supply-chain issues.

It will have a 5 mtpa capacity and will fuel the existing 1,200-MW Ilijan power plant in the Batangas province.

(Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Arun Koyyur)