New Delhi: India's natural gas shortage will soon be over with the import of liquefied natural gas from 2004, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik said on September 26.

"Days of shortage will be over soon. The deficit in domestic natural gas production, which is about 50 per cent, will start reducing with import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Qatar at Dahej in Gujarat from January 2004," he said at the signing of gas sales agreement for the arrival of first gas from Qatar through ships.

RasGas of Qatar signed a 25-year agreement with Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL), a consortium of state-run oil firms, for supplying $ 5 million tonnes of LNG per annum (19 million standard cubic meters per day).

The Sale Purchase Agreement was signed by RasGas vice chairman Dr Ibrahim and PLL Director (Finance) P Dasgupta. PLL also signed gas off-take agreement with state-run GAIL (Gas Authority of India Limited), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).

PLL CEO and Managing Director Suresh Mathur said the $ 400 million Dahej terminal is 95 per cent complete and will be commissioned in December 2003. Two LNG tankers are under construction and the first would bring LNG from Qatar in January 2004.

Naik said GAIL is investing $ 612 million in expanding Dahej-Vijaipur pipeline by January 2004 and $ 294 million to lay Dahej-Uran pipelines by end 2004 for transporting LNG to customers in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra, Punjab, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

"LNG will be available at a price cheaper than alternate fuels of naphtha and fuel oil," he said.

PTI