By NNN-PTI,
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s maiden three-day visit to energy-rich Gulf nations from on Saturday is expected to feature discussions on sourcing natural gas to address India’s food and energy security needs.
Singh’s discussions with the heads of state in Oman and Qatar are likely to be on sourcing feedstock for the joint venture fertiliser company in Oman as also liquefied natural gas for use back home, officials said.
Talks in Muscat, the Prime Minister’s first stop, may see India seeking a share of gas that Oman has begun to receive from Qatar through the Dolphin project, to fire Oman-India Fertilizer Co’s capacity expansion to 3.8 million tonnes. The entire urea production from this plant is shipped to India.
From Qatar, where Singh will reach on the evening of November 9, New Delhi is keen on buying an additional 2.5 million tonnes of LNG to meet the growing energy needs of industry.
Qatar being home to the world’s third-largest gas reserves, discussions there may feature a proposal of state-run gas utility GAIL India Ltd to set up a mega petrochemical plant in a joint venture with Reliance Industries, they said.
The GAIL-Reliance joint venture had earlier this year sought rich gas from Qatar for the petrochemical plant but Doha had made no commitments, saying all its current production was tied up.
Singh in his pre-departure statement issued yesterday evening said India attached great importance to bilateral ties with Qatar, which is one of the “largest and most reliable suppliers of our energy needs from the region”.
India currently buys 5 million tonnes a year of LNG from RasGas of Qatar under a long-term contract. The ex-ship price of USD 2.53 per million British thermal unit is considered ‘steal’ in current times of LNG prices breaching USD 20 per mmBtu.