It bought the cargo for delivery over Feb. 20 to March 5 at $8.70 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) from Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company, two of the sources said.

Ras Laffan was set up in 1993 in Qatar to produce LNG and related products from its two production trains, with a combined capacity of 6.86 million tonnes of LNG per annum and 44,000 barrels per day of condensate, according to the company website.

IOC is also seeking a cargo for delivery on March 10 to Dahej through a tender which closes on Wednesday, the third source said.

(Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan in Singapore and Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; Editing by Rashmi Aich)