BW LPG-Confidence Petroleum withdraws from the J N Port

BW LPG Ltd, the world’s top owner and operator of LPG vessels, including Very Large Gas Carriers (VLGCs), has abandoned a plan to construct what would have been India’s largest liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) on shore import terminal in partnership with Confidence Petroleum India Ltd and Ganesh Benzoplast Ltd at state-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port near Mumbai. Oslo and New York-listed BW LPG Ltd had planned to invest about $10 million to jointly develop and operate the proposed LPG onshore import terminal. BW LPG said it will scale back its infrastructure activities to optimise resource allocation and maintain operational agility in the wake of rising global market uncertainties.

A joint venture – 55 per cent owned by BW Confidence Enterprise Pvt Ltd and 45 percent by Ganesh Benzoplast Ltd – had earlier agreed to fund the construction of the 120,000 cubic metres (cbm) capacity terminal for handling and storing propane and butane. The facility was designed to fully offload the latest fourth-generation VLGCs (93,000 cbm) in a single discharge operation within 24 hours and also had the potential to connect to the Uran Chakan pipeline to ensure competitive and efficient supply of LPG into India. The consortium planned to utilise the LPG jetty run by state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) at J N Port for importing LPG. BW Confidence Enterprise Pvt Ltd is an equal joint venture formed by BW LPG and Mumbai-listed Confidence Petroleum India to explore investment opportunities in onshore LPG import infrastructure.

The JV will collaborate with BW LPG’s trading division as well as its India subsidiary, BW Product Services and BW LPG India respectively, to source and deliver LPG from the international markets to meet Confidence Petroleum’s and India’s growing LPG import needs. “In light of increased market volatility and a dynamic global business environment, Confidence Petroleum India Ltd (CPIL) has undertaken a comprehensive review of its strategic priorities. As part of this strategic realignment, CPIL has decided to discontinue its involvement in the planned LPG import terminal project at JNPA,” the company said in a regulatory filing.