GAIL, India’s top gas utility, is looking to import ethane from the US, and, according to UK consultancy Drewry, it has issued an expression of interest (EOI) for chartering a very large ethane carrier (VLEC) for 20 years, with an option to extend it for another five years.
GAIL intends to use the same vessel for co-transporting ethane and LNG in different compartments.
GAIL is following in the footsteps of another big name in Indian energy, Reliance Industries, which has been importing US ethane for the past nine years. Reliance now has a fleet of six VLECs which it co-owns with Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL).
India’s ethane imports crossed the 2m tonne mark last year according to Drewry.
“The attractive economics favouring ethane is expected to lure more operators towards the commodity, in turn increasing the demand for VLECs,” Drewry stated in a new report.
