Page 154 - CW E-Magazine (8-4-2025)

Fertilisers Hydrocarbons

PROJECT PROGRESS EPC CONTRACT
‘Delayed Talcher fertiliser project only 60 percent complete’ L&T’s hydrocarbon business bags mega order

Acknowledging inordinate delay, plant lighting, boiler and water treat- India in Odisha, a joint venture com- from QatarEnergy LNG
Union Minister of State for Chemi- ment plant as well as DM water plant pany named TFL was incorporated
cal and Fertilisers Ms. Anupriya are at advanced stage of mechanical for setting up coal gasifi cation-based Engineering major, Larsen and comprising of large offshore platforms
Patel has assured completion of the completion, she added. ammonia urea plant with an annual capa- Toubro (L&T), has announced that its with compression & power generation
Rs. 13,288-crore Talcher Fertiliser city of 12.7-lakh metric tonne. This was Hydrocarbon Business (L&T Energy facilities, living quarters, fl are plat-
Ltd. (TFL) at the earliest. The minister Ms. Patel said, the project is being a fi rst-of-its-kind project in India. Hydrocarbon – LTEH) has received an forms, interconnected bridges, and other
informed this while replying to an regularly reviewed by joint venture ‘ultra mega’ offshore contract for the associated structures to be located at
un-starred question raised by Dhenkanal partners and TFL board and all efforts Ms. Patel blamed COVID-19 pan- second phase of North Field Production approximately 80-kms off the northeast
MP Rudra Narayan Pany in Lok Sabha. are being made for an early completion. demic for the delay in the implementa- Sustainability Offshore Compression coast of Qatar.
The targeted completion of the project The company is in regular contacts with tion of the project. Progress of the pro- Project (NFPS COMP 4) from Qatar-
was September 2024. China-based Wuhan Engineering Com- ject has been impacted due to backlog Energy LNG, a subsidiary of Qatar Mr. S. N. Subrahmanyan, Chair-
pany Ltd. (WECL) which was awarded in procurement construction and equip- state-owned energy company, Qatar- orders are in the range of Rs. 5,000-crore- man & Managing Director, L&T, said,
Ms. Patel informed that overall the contract for coal gasifi cation and ment erection by WECL. Energy. The company said the deal Rs. 7,000-crore and mega orders are “Securing QatarEnergy LNG’s ultra
progress of the project was 65.66 per- ammonia urea package in 2019. marks the largest single contract ever worth above Rs. 7,000-crore. mega offshore contract-the largest sin-
cent as on February 25. As regards the Prime Minister Narendra Modi received by it. According to the com- gle order in our history, is a landmark
outside battery limit package, the prog- After the Centre decided revival of had laid the foundation stone of TFL in pany, the value of signifi cant order The scope of work encompasses the achievement. This prestigious project
ress is about 77 percent. The pipe rack, Talcher unit of Fertiliser Corporation of September 2018 at Talcher. is between Rs. 1,000-crore and engineering, procurement, fabrication, strengthens our global energy portfolio
Rs. 2,500-crore, large orders are worth installation, and commissioning of two while supporting Qatar’s energy security
GOVT. SUPPORT Rs. 2,500-crore-Rs. 5,000-crore, major offshore compression complexes, each objectives.”
Cabinet approves Rs. 37,216-cr subsidy on phosphatic, TRADE TRENDS

potassic fertilisers India’s LNG imports from the US hit record levels in 2024;

The Union Cabinet has approved including NPKS grades, will be provided The government is making avail- ethane imports down
a Rs. 37,216-crore subsidy on phos- based on approved rates for Kharif able 28 grades of P&K fertilisers to India’s imports of liquefi ed natu- accounting for 21 percent of the mar- dar year (CY). In 2023, India was the
phatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers 2025. The subsidy would be provided farmers at subsidised prices through ral gas (LNG) from the US surged to ket, followed by Australia and Qatar. second biggest ethane importer from
for the Kharif (summer-sown) season to the fertiliser companies, as per ap- nutrient manufacturers/importers. The 256.05-bn cubic feet, or roughly 7.25-bn the US, procuring 26.85-mn barrels, or
this year as part of its efforts to pro- proved and notifi ed rates so that nutri- subsidy on P&K fertilisers is governed cubic meters (bcm), during 2024 calen- According to a recent report by roughly 15.62 percent of the total out-
vide soil nutrients at a reasonable rate. ents are made available to farmers at by the NBS Scheme with effect from dar year (CY) – the highest on record. Wood Mackenzie, falling production going cargoes, the US EIA data showed.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime affordable prices. April 2010. According to the US Energy Informa- amidst rising demand for LNG is ex-
Minister Narendra Modi, approved a tion Administration (EIA), India’s LNG pected to push up imports with India In 2019, India accounted for more
proposal for fi xing the Nutrient Based FACT in talks to buy phosphate imports from the US rose by more than likely to become the world’s third lar- than one-third (30.41-mn barrels) of
Subsidy (NBS) rates for Kharif season 55 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) during gest importer, after China and Japan, by the cumulative ethane exports by the
2025 (from April 1, 2025, to September from Togo CY 2024. Compared to 2022, imports 2032, with in-bound cargoes accounting US. Since then, its share has declined
30, 2025,) on phosphatic and potassic more than doubled. for 75 percent of its gas consumption. consistently to 26.85 percent in 2020,
(P&K) fertilisers. Fertilisers and Chemicals Travan- India’s rock phosphate imports 19.38 percent (2021) and 18.24 percent
core (FACT) is in talks to sign a three- from Togo have risen steadily over the More than 15-bcm per year of new Ethane imports decline (2022). Growth in global petrochemi-
The budgetary requirement for year contract to buy rock phosphate past few years, with purchases made on sales and purchase agreements were Meanwhile, India, which is among cal demand, lower US prices and rising
Kharif season 2024 will be Rs. from Togo, a Reuters report said quot- a spot basis. signed in 2024, as per the International the top buyers of ethane from the US, tanker capacity is driving the US export
37,216.15-crore, said Information and ing unnamed sources. In what would Energy Agency (IEA). The previous has witnessed its import share of the growth. The country is a major ethane
Broadcasting Minister Mr. Ashwini mark an Indian company’s fi rst long- In the fi scal year ended March 31, high was registered in 2021 when In- commodity from the US decline for the exporter due to the shale gas revolution,
Vaishnaw. The minister said the govern- term fertiliser deal with the African 2024, Indian companies imported dia imported 5.56-bcm of LNG from sixth straight year in 2024. According which generated abundant liquefi ed
ment has ensured that the retail prices nation, FACT is said to be exploring a total 1.1-mn tons of rock phos- the North American country, which to the US EIA, India was the third lar- natural gas (LNG) and liquefi ed petro-
of DAP (di-ammonium phosphate) sourcing of 250,000 metric tons per phate from Togo, up about 30% overtook the UAE as India’s second gest ethane buyer accounting for 13.22 leum gas (LPG).
remain at the present level. year of rock phosphate for three years from the previous year, as per data largest LNG supplier in 2023 CY, after percent, or around 23.80-mn barrels, of
from Societe Nouvelle des Phosphates compiled by Fertiliser Association Qatar. In the same year, the US also be- the total, after China (46 percent) and Among the reasons behind the
The subsidy on P&K fertilisers, du Togo (SNPT). of India. came the world’s largest LNG exporter, Canada (15 percent) in the last calen- decline is India’s push for self-reliance.

154 Chemical Weekly April 8, 2025 Chemical Weekly April 8, 2025 155

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