IOC, Chart Industries and ExxonMobil partner to expand gas access

Cryogenic equipment manufacturer Chart Industries has signed a letter of cooperation (LoC) with ExxonMobil India and Indian Oil (IOC) to trial virtual pipelines to expand gas access in India.

The LoC aims to supply liquified natural gas (LNG) by road, rail and waterways to areas not connected by physical pipelines.

Chart Industries said: “This LoC expands the reach and potential scale within a significantly growing country that has committed to clean energy options.”

In March, Chart signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IOC aiming to promote the development of the LNG market in India.

The MoU focused on modular liquefaction, regasification applications and LNG bunkering for barges. It also covered fuelling stations and alternative LNG mobile transportation, including railcars and International Standards Organisation (ISO) containers.

Chart Industries president and CEO Jill Evanko said: “We believe this collaboration with ExxonMobil, a major LNG supplier with a local presence in India, coupled with our ongoing work with IOC will accelerate India’s ability to offer a cleaner energy solution within the growing cities and networks.

“We are excited to offer our cryogenic equipment to support what each party in this collaboration believes will accelerate clean energy progress while doing so with localized equipment manufacturing in India.”

In March, IOC commissioned the Rs51.5bn ($734.82m) Ennore LNG import and regasification terminal at Kamarajar Port, Tamil Nadu, India.