State-owned natural gas distributor GAIL will expand its overseas business by investing on gas infrastructure projects in Nigeria, Ghana, Papua New Guinea and Egypt, GAIL chairman BC Tripathi said on Monday.
In Papua New Guinea, GAIL is looking at the possibility of picking up a stake in upstream assets and a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, he added.
“We are in discussions with InterOil… it is at a preliminary stage and I cannot say what stake GAIL can get?A lot will depend on due diligence,” Tripathi said on the sidelines of a conference on natural gas jointly organised by the gas distributor and industry chamber Ficci.
“In Nigeria, we have been short-listed as one of the companies to develop the Nigeria gas master plan, worth about $7 billion,” the company chairman said. GAIL’s partners are Shell and France’s Total.
In Ghana, the company is talking to potential partners to process and transport gas to the desired location, while in Egypt, the possibility of expanding city gas distribution is under consideration, he added.
Papua New Guinea last year granted initial approvals for the Pacific nation’s second LNG project. The venture would cost about $5 billion for a plant producing 3.5 million tonne a year of LNG, with shipments due to start in 2014.
GAIL, which mainly focused on distributing gas within the country through its huge pipeline network, is diversifying into exploration business by acquiring interest in global and local oil and gas assets. Along with ONGC, GAIL owns a minority stake in two gas blocks in Myanmar. The company also has a presence in city gas distribution projects in Egypt and China.