Mumbai (Platts)--19Dec2012/516 am EST/1016 GMT
India's state-run gas utility GAIL is still keen to buy the Asian Development Bank's 5.25% stake in the country's largest LNG importer Petronet LNG despite government opposition, GAIL Chairman B.C Tripathi said Wednesday. GAIL was one of Petronet's founding partners and currently holds a 12.5% stake in the company, along with other state-owned companies including Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (12.5%), Indian Oil Corp. (12.5%) and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (12.5%). The remaining 50% of Petronet is split between France's GDF (10%), ADB (5.25%), and public investors (34.75%). Though GAIL and the other state-owned stakeholders have a first right of refusal to ADB's stake, the Indian government has denied these companies permission to exercise that right in a bid to prevent Petronet from becoming a state-owned company. Article continues below...Request a free trial of: LNG DailyLNG Daily is essential reading as LNG supply dynamics continue to change in big markets like Japan, China, India and the U.S. This premier independent news publication for the global LNG industry gives readers information on every aspect of the global market from new LNG supply projects to gas quality issues.
India's state-run gas utility GAIL is still keen to buy the Asian Development Bank's 5.25% stake in the country's largest LNG importer Petronet LNG despite government opposition, GAIL Chairman B.C Tripathi said Wednesday. GAIL was one of Petronet's founding partners and currently holds a 12.5% stake in the company, along with other state-owned companies including Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (12.5%), Indian Oil Corp. (12.5%) and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (12.5%). The remaining 50% of Petronet is split between France's GDF (10%), ADB (5.25%), and public investors (34.75%). Though GAIL and the other state-owned stakeholders have a first right of refusal to ADB's stake, the Indian government has denied these companies permission to exercise that right in a bid to prevent Petronet from becoming a state-owned company.
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LNG Daily is essential reading as LNG supply dynamics continue to change in big markets like Japan, China, India and the U.S. This premier independent news publication for the global LNG industry gives readers information on every aspect of the global market from new LNG supply projects to gas quality issues.
"The market has changed. Having a public sector status is not a constraint anymore," Tripathi said, speaking on the sidelines of an energy security conference in Mumbai. "It [ADB's stake in Petronet] is a strategic asset and an opportunity we wouldn't want to let go of," Tripathi said. The Indian government has offered ADB's stake to Qatar Petroleum International, industry sources said this week. Qatar's Rasgas has a term contract to supply 7.5 million mt/year of LNG to Petronet. Petronet operates a 10 million mt/year terminal at Dahej in the western state of Gujarat, which it plans to expand to 15 million mt/year by 2016. The company is also building a 5 million mt/year terminal in Kochi, Kerala, on the southwest coast of India which it expects to commission in March next year, and has laid out plans for another 5 million mt/year LNG terminal at Gangavaram port in the southeast state of Andhra Pradesh.--M.C Vaijayanthi, newsdesk@platts.com--Mriganka Jaipuriyar, mriganka@platts.com--Edited by Deepa Vijiyasingam, deepa_vijiyasingam@platts.com
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