GAIL uses Shell's Hazira terminal to import LNG.

In a bid to diversify portfolio, state-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd. has imported its first shipload of LNG at rival Royal Dutch Shell's Hazira terminal in Gujarat.

GAIL, which part-owns Petronet LNG that operates 10 million tonnes Dahej terminal in Gujarat and operates 5 million tonnes a year capacity Dabhol plant in Maharashtra, last weekend imported a cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Hazira.

The company previously imported all the LNG it bought from overseas either at Dahej or at Dabhol.

'We couldn't import at Dahej since it was facing haulage problem so we decided to use Hazira terminal,' a top GAIL official said.

This is the first time since India started importing LNG in January 2004 that GAIL, the nation's largest gas marketing and transmission firm, has used a privately operated terminal for imports.

The cargo imported a Hazira came from French energy giant GDF Suez which whom GAIL had in 2012 signed a term contract to buy 0.8 million tonnes of LNG.

'If our customers need gas, we are open to using Hazira more often,' the official said.

ET