Oman keen to buy 20% stake in Petronet's LNG terminal.

Oman is keen to buy up to a 20 per cent stake in Petronet LNG Ltd's Rs. 5,000 crore LNG import terminal on the east coast, the nation's oil minister Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy said recently.

'We are interested in Petronet. We are looking to invest in one of their projects in east coast. We have not decided on stake. It will be small, maybe 10-15-20 per cent,' he said after delivering Petronet's foundation day lecture.

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

'We have been in discussions with Petronet for the past two months,' he added. Oman is the largest oil and natural gas producer in the Middle East that is not a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Petronet plans to build its first terminal on the east coast through a subsidiary in which it wants to retain a minimum 51 per cent stake.

'Eight per cent stake has already been taken by Gangaravam Port and we are willing to take strategic partners,' Petronet Director (Finance) R.K. Garg said.

Petronet is looking for strategic partners that can either bring in gas turned into liquid at minus 160 degrees Celsius (LNG) or buy a minimum quantity of the imported fuel to be sold in the domestic market.


HBL