Adnoc Gas, TotalEnergies, Gunvor in fray for BPCL’s ₹35,000-crore LNG contract

India’s refiners and gas supply firms are actively scouting for long-term gas contracts around the world to ensure energy security amid an uncertain trade scenario and after Russian major Gazprom reneged on a contract with India’s state-owned Gail in 2022.

Earlier this month, India’s second-largest oil marketing company BPCL had launched a tender to secure around 68 liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes worth around 68 liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes. ₹35,000 crore.

“BPCL is currently conducting an investigation; we want to supply cargo for the next 10 years, four cargoes (per annum) in the first three years and then eight cargoes per annum for the remaining seven years,” said one of the two persons cited above, requesting anonymity. “A total of 68 cargoes would be around 4 million tonnes over a 10-year period… The company received more than 10 bids from NOCs (national oil companies) as well as global traders.”

“Adnoc Gas, TotalEnergies and trading giant Gunvor are among those interested in this major tender. In terms of value, it could be somewhere around that.” ₹35,000 crore,” said a second person cited above, who requested anonymity.

This development is important for India, which is the world’s fourth largest LNG buyer and spends approximately 15 billion dollars on LNG supply annually. Imports meet about half of the country’s LNG demand; Qatar, USA and UAE are the main suppliers. In FY25, India imported 35,720 mmscm (million metric standard cubic meters) of LNG worth $14.9 billion, while in FY24 it purchased 31,795 mmscm worth $13.4 billion.

Emailed queries to BPCL, Adnoc Gas, TotalEnergies and Gunvor remained unanswered by press time.

India’s gas consumption is expected to increase driven by urban gas distribution and transportation, and LNG terminal usage is expected to increase by 20% by 2030 as supply increasingly shifts towards LNG imports. BPCL is preparing to invest on its own behalf ₹25,000 crore in the city’s gas distribution network in the next five years. Already invested ₹8,000 crore across 26 geographical regions.

BPCL had signed a five-year agreement with Adnoc Gas in February last year to purchase 40 cargoes of LNG totaling 2.5 million tonnes from April 2025.

During the ongoing India Energy Week, BPCL signed a forward contract with Brazil’s Petrobras to purchase crude oil worth $780 million in FY27. Earlier this month, during UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s visit to India, Adnoc Gas signed an agreement to supply crude oil worth $2.5-$3 billion to another Indian state-run refining and marketing company, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), for a period of 10 years.

As global LNG supplies expand, India is positioning itself as a reference-driven “variable buyer”, leveraging spot and short-term cargoes as international price indicators align with domestic alternatives, while also accelerating the adoption of biofuels to meet transport decarbonisation targets, industry experts said.

“India has increasingly become a benchmark-focused swing buyer, stepping into spot or short-term markets during shifts between WIM (West India Marker) and Henry Hub and Brent-linked pricing. India imported just under 26 mtp of LNG in 2025,” said Kenneth Foo, global director of LNG price reporting at S&P Global Energy. “An additional long-term contracted volume of 3.5-4.0 million tonnes per annum will begin to be delivered from 2026. Higher term supply leaves limited scope for spot LNG in 2026, particularly if prices are not competitive against propane, naphtha and fuel oil.”

This comes against the backdrop of concerns about a possible glut on the global market in the next few years with the opening of new liquefaction plants in the US and Qatar.

The global LNG oversupply of over 100 billion cubic meters per year is expected to continue until 2030, making it cheaper for importing countries, according to a McKinsey report published on Thursday. After that, new demand is likely to exceed supply.

(Rituraj Baruah is in Panaji on the invitation of the union ministry of petroleum and natural gas.)