Mumbai: Shell Gas B.V., a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc (“Shell”), announced today that it has signed a binding Letter of Intent (LoI) with Total Gaz Electricité Holdings France (“Total”) to acquire its 26% equity in the Hazira LNG and Port venture in India, subject to regulatory approvals.

Hazira LNG & Port venture comprises two companies; Hazira LNG Pvt Ltd (“HLPL”) that operates a LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) regasification terminal in the State of Gujarat; and Hazira Port Pvt Ltd (“HPPL”), which manages a direct berthing multi-cargo port at Hazira. The move would allow Shell commercial and operational flexibility over Hazira to maximise integrated value and offer creative customer value propositions.

The company in its statement said, this portfolio action is consistent with Shell’s strategy to deepen its presence in the gas value chain in India, the fourth largest LNG consumer in the world. Shell aims to contribute in bridging the energy deficit and further augment gas supplies in India.

“Today marks an important milestone,” said Maarten Wetselaar, Shell’s Integrated Gas & New Energies Director. “This purchase creates a fully-owned and integrated Shell value chain – supply from our global LNG portfolio, regasification at the Hazira facility, and downstream customer sales. It enables Shell to better serve Indian customers and meet the country’s long-term need for more and cleaner energy. This also significantly strengthens the connection of the fastest growing gas markets in the world, India, and Shell’s unrivaled portfolio of competitive gas supply.”

Shell Energy India (SEI) was established in 2017, to aggregate demand from downstream customers and secure competitive international supply to meet such demand and will market and sell that gas to customers across India.