Shell petrol station by year end

Royal Dutch Shell today said it will open its first petrol station in India by the year-end and begin importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the first quarter of 2005.

Shell will be the first multinational to begin fuel retailing in India after the opening up of the sector. The company has government permission to set up 2,000 petrol stations across the country.

"I cannot give you the numbers but we certainly will start several petrol pumps by the year end," Shell India chairman Vikram Singh Mehta said on sidelines of a business conference here.

Mehta did not say by when the company's entire chain of retail outlets will be in place.

The company would also complete construction of the over $500 million LNG import and regasification terminal at Hazira by next month-end. "The terminal would be ready by December-end. LNG imports would begin sometime in first quarter of 2005 after we conduct through testing of the terminal," Mehta said.

The Hazira terminal would have a capacity to import 2.5 million tonne of liquefied natural gas every year. The regasified LNG would be sold to industrial customers, mostly in Gujarat.

Mehta did not say from which country Shell would import LNG. "We have the option LNG from several countries in the Middle East and South East Asia (where Shell has stake in liquefication trains."