Thread by @NarenMenon1

Two Indian refiners win Abu Dhabi’s Onshore Block 1 oglinks.news/adnoc/news/two… | Twist it any way you want but the supposedly Islamophobic Modi has done more for India's energy geopolitical interests in the Gulf states in 5 years then decades of secular-minority-friendly INC rule

To understand what drives PM Modi's energy security policies, just observe what he did as Gujarat CM. He pushed for a diversification of Gujarat's energy portfolio & particular increased the usage of natural gas in the state. Gujarat is now no. 1 in India for gas based power

Gujarat produces roughly 28% of gas generated power in India. That is an impressive stat! | State-wise all India allocated power capacity as of November 2015 web.archive.org/web/2016030405…

Natural gas is relative cheap & abundant. Gas based power plants are relatively cheaper to build & run compared to thermal plants. More importantly they’re far more energy efficient.

Gujarat is fortunate that is has both domestic gas production & a coastline (for imports)

The Gujarat experience has come in handy for India | Qatar slashes gas import price for India (2016) oilandgasmiddleeast.com/article-15036-…

Petronet, had been coerced to buy LNG at one of the most expensive rates in the world due to a 25-year contract. While spot LNG prices had fallen to $6.7 per unit, Petronet had to purchase LNG at $12-13 per unit under the contract.

"After months-long negotiations, which saw Qatari Emir His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, Indian Prime Narendra Modi and Indian Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan intervene, RasGas has now settled import prices for Petronet at $6-7 per unit from January."

"In 2015, Petronet lifted just 62% of the contracted volume and therefore would have had to pay for the balance amount worth $1.81bn. This has now been waived and the respective volume can now be adjusted during the rest of the contract term"

LNG prices lowered to Indian importers
Event (2016) country.eiu.com/article.aspx?a… | Starting January 1, 2016 RasGas began supplying LNG to Petronet at a newly-negotiated price of US$6‑7/MBtu

The original 25 year supply contract was signed in 2004 at a price of US$12‑13/mBtu where India was to import 7.5 million tonnes of LNG annually from Qatar

The new agreement covered the supply of an additional 1m tonnes/year of LNG to four Indian entities which were Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, GAIL & Gujarat State Petroleum (GSPC)