Kevin Rudd’s government is in a celebration mode following Australia’s twin victory in finalizing 20-year-long liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply deals with India and China. A sales and purchase AUD 25 billion agreement between ExxonMobil and Petronet LNG of India signed last week is the “dawning of a new trading partnership.”
Under the agreement, Exxon Mobil will supply about 1.5 million tonnes per annum of its share of LNG from the proposed Gorgon LNG project over 20 years. The gas will be delivered to Petronet’s new LNG terminal under construction at Kochi in southern India.
The Gorgon Project plans to develop the Greater Gorgon gas fields, located between 130km and 200km off the north-west coast of Western Australia. It has Australian subsidiaries of three leading international energy companies: Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell. Chevron is operator of the Project with a 50% interest, and ExxonMobil and Shell each hold 25%.
“U.S. major ExxonMobil Corp has inked a deal to sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its share of gas from the Gorgon LNG project in Australia to PetroChina in a deal worth about A$50 billion ($41.3 billion), the Australian government said on Tuesday,” reports Forbes.
“PetroChina will buy 2.25 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of gas from the Gorgon LNG project for a period of 20 years.” More here…
The LNG trade in India started in mid 1960s and has increased rapidly. In 1992 it was around 80 Billion Cubic Metres (BCM) per annum and crossed the 100 BCM mark in 1996. World trade in LNG is currently in the range of 150 BCM. The major exporting countries of LNG are Algeria, Qatar, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Australia.
Geographically, India is very strategically located and is flanked by large gas reserves on both the east and west. India is relatively close to four of the world’s top five countries in terms of proven gas reserves, viz. Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.
The large natural gas market of India is a major attraction to the LNG exporting countries. In order to encourage gas imports, the Government of India has kept import of LNG under Open General License (OGL) category and has permitted 100% FDI.
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.