US energy giants eye India LNG network

US energy giants Exxon-Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. are eying entry into India's LNG infrastructure business, including terminals and pipelines, said two people in the know, even as the two nations look to thrash out differences over New Delhi's Russian oil imports.

- Rituraj Baruah & Dhirendra Kumar

"American energy companies such as Exxon and Chevron are looking at investing in the gas infrastructure space here and directly selling their product," said the first person quoted earlier, speaking anonymously. "The gas space in India has been growing significantly and the prospects are good with the government's plans to expand the adoption of natural gas, thereby attracting global interest."

Their interest coincides with US pressure on India to cut Russian energy imports and increase American supplies. India, the world's fourth-largest LNG importer, meets about half of its natural gas requirement with shipments from the US and Qatar. The two are raising LNG capacities, and analysts expect an oversupply of the fuel by 2028. The potential glut can be absorbed by India as the government targets increasing the share of gas in the country's total energy mix from around 7% to 15% by 2030.

So far, the US giants have been supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Indian energy majors, including IndianOil Corp. and GAIL (India) Ltd. Their potential entry into the gas infrastructure business will pit them against Indian public sector competitors.