Royal Dutch Shell’s subsidiary Shell Gas has taken full ownership in the INR30bn ($425.4m) Hazira LNG and Port in India by buying out the remaining 26% stake from Total Gaz Electricité Holdings France.
Image: Shell buys out Total's stake in Hazira LNG and Port. Photo: courtesy of P.L. van Till at nl.wikipedia.
The transaction will enable Shell to develop an integrated gas value chain, comprising supply from its global LNG portfolio, regasification at the Hazira LNG facility in Gujarat, and downstream customer sales.
It further claimed that the full ownership gives it scope to contribute towards the long-term requirement of India for more and cleaner energy solutions.
The oil and gas giant established Shell Energy India in 2017 to aggregate demand from downstream customers and secure competitive supply from across the world in order to address it.
The company said that by gaining commercial and operational flexibility over the Hazira LNG facility, it can offer improved customer value propositions and create a pan-India gas business.
Hazira LNG and Port venture is made up of two companies – Hazira LNG (HLPL), the operator of a LNG regasification terminal in Surat district along the Gujarat coast, and Hazira Port (HPPL), a deep-water, all-weather and direct-berthing port.
Spread over an area of 46.7 hectares, the LNG regasification terminal has a capacity of 5 million tons per annum (mtpa).
Shell Energy asia vice president Ajay Shah said: “Fifteen years ago, Shell invested in the Hazira project – the single largest foreign direct investment for India in the energy sector at the time.
“I am very proud that as a 100% shareholder, we will now be able to utilize this great infrastructure asset to its full potential and help provide much needed gas to serve the growing energy needs of India.”
The deal to acquire the remaining stake in Hazira LNG and Port was signed in August 2018. At that time, Total also signed an agreement to sell 0.5 million tons of per year to Shell over a period of five years.
The LNG sale from the French oil and gas major will be executed on a delivery basis, starting from this year, to supply the markets of India and neighboring countries.