India receives first direct LNG cargo from Yamal LNG project -data

LONDON/NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India received its first direct cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia's Yamal LNG project over the weekend, Refinitiv Eikon LNG flows data showed.

The cargo was supplied by Russian gas company Gazprom under its long-term LNG sales deal with GAIL (India) Ltd, an industry source said.

The cargo on board the Marshal Vasilevsky sailed through the Northern Sea Route, Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean before arriving at GAIL's Dabhol terminal over the weekend, the ship-tracking data showed.

Previous cargoes from Yamal to India were usually via ship-to-ship transfer at Northwest European terminals such as Montoir and Zeebrugge.

The appeal of gas supplies to India under long-term contracts has increased after a surge in spot LNG prices.

GAIL did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.

GAIL signed the deal with Gazprom Marketing & Trading Singapore in 2012 to buy 2.5 million tonnes of LNG per year for 20 years on a delivered basis. The supplies were scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2018.

India, the world's fourth largest LNG importer, wants to raise the share of natural gas in its energy mix to 15% by 2030, from the current 6.2% to cut emissions.

(Reporting by Marwa Rashad in London and Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; additional reporting by Jessica Jaganathan in Singapore; Editing by David Goodman, Kirsten Donovan)