Qatar will consider picking up 10 per cent stake in Petronet LNG, its Energy and Industry Minister Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah said today.
“We will consider it (buying 10 per cent in Petronet LNG). If it is done, it will be through the Qatar Investment Board,” Al-Attiyah said after a meeting with India’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora.
Shares of Petronet shot up almost 15 per cent on news of Qatar considering buying stake in India’s largest liquefied natural gas importer.
Petronet share prices have since eased a bit. They ended at Rs 37.30 on the National Stock Exchange, up 8.27 per cent from close Tuesday.
Petronet currently imports 5 million tonnes of LNG from Qatar’s Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas under a 25-year contract and has commitment for supply of another 2.5 million tonnes from the last quarter of 2009. It has recently doubled capacity at its terminal in Dahej, Gujarat, to 10 million tonnes per year. Earlier, Qatar was offered equity stake in Petronet through purchase of the company’s $100 million foreign currency convertible bond issue, but Qatar had not taken up the offer.
Deora said if Qatar picks up a stake in Petronet now, it will be a welcome step as the company is in a long-term LNG purchase pact with RasGas.
“Given that the two companies have a long-term commitment to each other, such a move will benefit both,” Deora said. Apart from a firm commitment for 7.5 million tonnes LNG supply, Petronet seeks a commitment of 24 additional LNG cargoes for the current calendar year from the West Asian nation to meet the demand for the Dabhol power plant in Maharashtra and the upcoming Pragati power plant in Delhi.
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Al-Attiyah said RasGas has already promised to supply six LNG cargoes from February, and was “trying hard to accommodate” the 18 other cargoes.
“When his Excellency (Deora) has requested for extra cargoes, we cannot say no. We will divert some cargoes and we are working hard for the procurement of more,” he said.
He said Qatar aims to increase its LNG capacity to 77 million tonnes per year in the next few years from the current 31 million tonnes.
“We will commission a new 7.8 million tonnes LNG train in a few weeks, and there will be more such trains coming up,” the minister said.
Urging cross-investment between the two nations, Al-Attiyah said GAIL (India) and Reliance Industries were welcome to explore investments in the petrochemical sector in Qatar.