Zawya Dow Jones/Seoul
India’s largest importer of natural gas Petronet LNG is in talks with Qatar, Oman and Kuwait to sell a minority stake in itself that’s owned by the Asian Development Bank, its chief executive officer said yesterday.
“We welcome any credible player who has experience in the oil and gas business that can add value to the company,” said chief executive A K Balyan, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of energy ministers in Seoul.
The investment authorities of the three Middle Eastern countries are interested but there is no clear frontrunner, Mr Balyan said. He expected a deal in two to three months, he said.
Asian Development Bank started investing in Petronet in 2003. It said in 2010 that it plans to sell its 5.2% stake or 39mn shares in Petronet. Based on Petronet’s share price of Rs119.25 ($1.9) yesterday, the stake is worth about Rs4.65bn ($74mn).
State-run Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp, GAIL (India) and Oil & Natural Gas Corp each hold 12.5% stakes in Petronet, while French group GDF holds another 10% in the company.
India’s demand for cleaner fuel like natural gas is expected to rise as the country ramps up capacity in gas-based power generation plants and expands refineries and steel plants.
Meanwhile, Petronet is seeking long-term supply or a partnership for LNG and investments at its LNG terminals, a senior oil ministry official has said.
Mr Balyan said yesterday that he expected Petronet, its partner ONGC Videsh and possibly a third Indian partner to buy a stake of about 10% in the Russian Gazprom OAO Yamal LNG project.
“The stake...is to show our presence and commitment to the long term,” he said. “We are going to be major off takers from there.”
Petronet is seeking to import 1.5mn-3mn metric tonnes of LNG a year from the Yamal project in northern Russia, he said.
