(PTI)
US energy upstart Tellurian has failed to qualify in a tender for supply of competitively priced gas to India just as its USD 2.5 billion tentative stake sale deal with Petronet LNG Ltd expired, officials said. Petronet, India’s biggest gas importer, had on September 21, 2019, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for purchase of up to 5 million tonnes per annum of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Tellurian Inc’s proposed Driftwood LNG terminal for 40 years. The deal was concurrent with Petronet making an equity investment of USD 2.5 billion for an 18 per cent stake in Driftwood.
The September MoU contemplated conclusion of the transaction by March 31, 2020, but the timeline was extended to May 31, 2020 after Petronet promoters questioned the rationale of making an equity investment at a time when gas was so abundantly available the world over, three officials involved in the negotiations said. They also questioned locking in such large volumes from one supplier for a 40-year period at a time when global rates were falling due to glut in the market.
