MUMBAI (Reuters) – India’s Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday the country needs to look into the pricing mechanism of existing long term gas supply contracts with Qatar.

He was speaking to a gathering of oil company officials in New Delhi.

India imports 8.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually under a long-term supply deal with Qatar.

Spot prices, or current market prices, of LNG have dropped to multi-year lows in January, highlighting the loss being borne by LNG importing countries tied in long term contracts with suppliers.