Indian biggies bid for US LNG hubs.

MUMBAI: Reliance Industries (RIL), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and GAIL want to buy shares in liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals on the east coast of the United States for shipping gas to India at about $9.5 per million metric British thermal unit (mmBtu), which will be over 50% cheaper than current imports.

Massive shale gas discoveries have made US gas-surplus, with work on converting LNG complexes from regasification to liquefaction (import to export) terminals underway. Liquefaction makes it easier to store and transport gas where pipelines are not available.

"Indian companies with shale gas assets are interested in acquiring an operating interest in terminals to ship gas to India at less than $10," said a banker directly involved with the discussions, adding one such deal could by finalized before year-end. India is already the world's eighth-largest importer of LNG. Those imports could rise five-fold in the next decade as domestic gas output falls and demand surges.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com