Government to trade 10 per cent in Petronet for Qatari gas

India has offered a 10-per cent stake in state-run procurer of liquefied natural gas Petronet LNG Ltd, to Qatar in return for an additional 18 LNG cargoes this year and a long-term supply deal for meeting fuel needs of the beleaguered Dabhol power plant.

Petroleum minister Murli Deora made the offer to visiting Qatari deputy premier and energy minister Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah after the Gulf kingdom agreed to increase LNG supply to India.
 
"Qatar has been our most trusted and reliable friend and we hold this friendship in high esteem. It has come to our rescue several times in the past and I am confident Attiyah will not disappoint us when we desperately need fuel for Dabhol," Deora said after a breakfast meeting with the Qatari leader.

"Our companies will certainly examine the offer," Attiyah said, adding, "It will be done through Qatar Investment Board."

Qatar had in 2004 offered Indian firms a five per cent stake in Qatar Petroleum but state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) was reluctant to part with $135 million then. The stake is now worth around $1 billion.

Qatar has already committed to sell six 'loose' LNG cargoes to India, its largest customer, in the first half of the current year.

State-run energy companies GAIL India, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation each hold a 12.5 per cent equity in Petronet, while GDF International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of French national gas Company Gaz De France, owns 10 per cent and the Asian Development Bank holds 5.2 per cent in Petronet LNG. The balance equity of 34.8 per cent is held by the public.