HPCL to buy 11-15% stake in Petronet's east coast terminal.

State-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd. is likely to buy 11-15 per cent stake in Petronet LNG Ltd's Rs. 5,000 crore LNG import terminal on the east coast.

'We have a huge gas requirement at our Vizag refinery and naturally it is to our interest that we take a stake in the Gangavaram terminal in Andhra Pradesh,' an HPCL official said.

HPCL's Vizag refinery in Andhra Pradesh is being expanded to 15 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) from current 8.33 MT and the expanded unit will have a gas requirement of close to 3 MT.

'We have been in discussion with Petronet... They have told us that 11-15 per cent stake in the project is available which we are keen to buy,' the official said.

Years ago, HPCL had missed the LNG bus when it got left out of the PSU consortium that formed Petronet. Indian Oil, ONGC, GAIL and Bharat Petroleum each have 12.5 per cent stake in Petronet.

Last month, Oman's Oil Minister Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy, too, had envinced his nation's interest in buying up to 20 per cent stake in the under-construction terminal.

Petronet, India's largest importer of liquid gas, is building a 5 MTPA LNG terminal at Gangavaram in Andhra Pradesh that is expected to be ready by 2018.

BS