As many as 11.87 lakh shares were traded in the counter on BSE.

The scrip has rebounded from a low of Rs 41.25 reached on 2 April 2007, to close at Rs 46.45 by 16 April 2007.

At the current market price of Rs 47.15, Petronet LNG trades 10.38 times its Q3 December 2006 annualised EPS of Rs 4.54.

Petronet LNG has reported a surge in net profit for the March 2007 quarter at Rs 106 crore from Rs 66 crore in the corresponding previous year quarter. Total income has gone up to Rs 1553 crore from Rs 948 crore.

Recent reports suggest that Petronet LNG (PLL) had over the last year, concluded techno-commercial and legal agreements for the purchase of 2.5 mt of LNG from the Gorgon project. The Greater Gorgon gas fields, located about 130 km off the north-west coast of western Australia, contain resources of about 40 trillion cubic feet of gas, Australia’s largest known undeveloped gas resource.

Petronet LNG (PLL) has a 25-year contract to buy LNG from Qatar’s Rasgas. Through this contract, PLL currently imports five million tonne (mt) at its Dahej terminal and will start importing 2.5 mt more from 2009. The company is planning to increase capacity of the Dahej terminal to 10 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2008-09. Its 2.5-million tones per annum capacity at Kochi LNG terminal, with provisions for expansion up to 5 mtpa, is to be commissioned in 2010.

Petronet’s major customers are Indian Oil Corporation, BPCL and GAIL India.

PLL has benefited from favourable demand-supply dynamics in the domestic natural gas sector. India faces an acute supply shortage, which is expected to continue despite the expected increase in domestic gas supplies due to recent gas finds. The increased government focus on the sector, through initiatives such as the establishment of a separate gas regulatory authority, implementation of a national gas grid and deregulation of gas prices should enhance demand, analysts reckon. The demand for natural gas for 2007-08 in the country has been estimated at 179.27 million standard cubic metre per day (MSCMD), whereas the domestic production is estimated at 70.54 MSCMD. In 2005-06, PLL imported 4.81 mtpa of LNG and Hazira LNG Private imported 0.171 mtpa LNG.

As liquified natural gas (LNG) prices are passed on to the consumer, PLL remains protected from commodity price fluctuations, which helps stabilise earnings.