India Seeks Stake in Iran LNG Terminal
Indian Petroleum Minister Minister Dharmendra Pradhan says India has expressed interest in setting up an LNG terminal at Chahabar port in Iran to ship back home natural gas from Persian Gulf nation, reports PTI.
India is ready to invest $20 billion in the development of Iran’s Chabahar port and has requested it to allocate adequate land in the Chabahar Special Economic Zone (SEZ), state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) said in a statement.
"Dharmendra Pradhan conveyed to the Iranian side that Indian companies could invest upto $20 billion and were interested in setting up petrochemical and fertiliser plants, including in the Chabahar SEZ, either through joint venture between Indian and Iranian public sector companies or with private sector partners," the statement said.
India is keen to set up its engagement with hydrocarbon-rich Iran, which has recently come out of western sanctions. India’s intent to invest was made by Dharmendra at a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Bijan Zangeneh in Tehran.
India will be picking stakes in both offshore gas discovered in the Farsi offshore block, also known as Binaloud, as well as developing gas fields. The project consists of storage and loading facilities at the port.
India is reportedly talking to Iranian government officials, which will look into the details of how to proceed with the stake sale. However, a foreign ministry official said that India will have a presence in both developing the offshore block and laying pipeline to get the gas out at the LNG terminal. The gas can also be sent to India through LNG ships or via pipeline that is still needs to be deliberated on.
Discussions between the two countries are still going on, a Foreign Ministry source said.
The Iran LNG is a project located at Tombak Port in southern Iran. It consists of the LNG plant, including storage and loading facilities.
