This optimism was based on Omanese Oil & Gas Minister Mohamed Al-Rumbi's assurance as the potential gas supplier to a high-level delegation of Governemnt of Gujarat (GoG), led by Minister of State for Energy Kaushikbhai Patel, that visited Muscat recently. A similar assurance was given to the delegation during its next halt in Amsterdam by Shell Oil & Gas International Business Division, executing the Hazira LNG Terminal in south Gujarat, that its `regasification and other back-up facilities' at Hazira would be ready by fourth quarter of FY 2002.

Global oil and gas major Shell Oil, which has 30 per cent stake in Oman LNG, has entered into a concessional agreement with Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB) for locational clearance to build Hazira LNG Port at a cost of Rs 2,000 crores entirely through its own resources. GIDB is the Gujarat government's nodal agency to develop 383 infrastructure projects in the state at a cost of Rs 117,000 crores under Vision-2010.

In a siginificant development, Patel has for the first time admitted that out of four LNG Terminals proposed by GIDB in Vision-2010, GoG was upbeat about Hazira coming up first.

While the other two LNG terminals proposed at Dahej and Pipavav by Petronet and British Gas respectively are taking their own time, he said, Maroli is at a dormant stage after the withdrawal of Unocol from the consortium led by Natelco.

Elaborating the advantage of Hazira, he said that such LNG chains could materialise only on long-term basis contract between suppliers and end-users for 15 to 20 years. In this case, he explained that it was Shell Oil, which has stake is Oman LNG and which is executing the LNG Import Terminal at Hazira.

The minister exuded confidence that this visit would act as a catalyst to bring LNG early to Gujarat for its prestigious Gas Grid Project, being executed by GSPC. The phase of the project, comprising the 525-km line between Maharashtra border and Vadnagar, via Baroda and Ahmedabad, to be ready at a cost of Rs 1,400 crores by March 2003.

Similarly, the phase-II of 600-km long line connecting Ahmedabad to Pipavav and distribuition centres in the Saurashtra region at a cost of another Rs 1,100 crores by March 2005.

The delegation which visited Muscat and Amsterdam, besides other facilities in the viscinity, satisfied itself with the progress made in the project with Gujarat's point of view as the state has to depend on importing gas to meet its projected demand of 42.53 mmscmd by 2003-04 and 64.54 mmscmd by 2011-12.

The delegation found that Oman LNG already has two trains of 3.3 million tonnes capacity each, dedicated for US, Japanese and other companies. The third train of 2.5 million tonnes is expected to be ready by March 2003, to be raised to 3.3 million tonnes subsequently. It also visited Shell's already `regasification, interconnector and distri-gas master control facilities' between England-Europe in London.