Qatar's Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (RasGas) is talking with India's Petronet LNG for the supply of more gas in addition to 7.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) already contracted for 25 years.

The Qatar energy major is also in talks with Petronet LNG for taking an equity stake, a move that has been under negotiation for some time.

"We are talking to Petronet LNG," RasGas managing director Jerry Wolahan said here Monday on the sidelines of an energy conference Petrotech 2005.

"We have a lot of requests from India for gas volumes. This justifies India tapping various sources for import of LNG and piped natural gas," said Wolahan.

In addition to 7.5 million tonnes of LNG from Qatar, India has already contracted with Iran for the supply of similar quantities of LNG from 2009.

RasGas is supplying five million tonnes of LNG at Petronet LNG's Dahej terminal in Gujarat and would be supplying 2.5 million tonnes more at the terminal being set up by Petronet at Kochi in Kerala.

The terms of the 2.5-million- tonne LNG supply to Kochi are yet to be finalised.

"Pricing in contracts is directly related to the market at that time," the official said, refusing to comment on whether there could be any escalation in the new price to be negotiated by Petronet LNG after the five-year fixed price schedule.

With Petronet LNG planning to double capacity at the Dahej terminal to 10 million tonnes, the company is looking at Qatar in addition to other sources for meeting the additional capacity demands.

Wolahan disclosed that of the 36.6-million-tonne capacity RasGas would have by 2010, as much as 27 million tonnes have been committed, including 7.5 million tonnes to India, while the contracts for the remaining volumes are under negotiation with companies in the US and Europe.

"The global situation currently is such that demand is more than supply. There is no shortage of gas but the challenge is the time it takes to get it to the market. An LNG project takes five to six years to be completed," said Wolahan.

In the case of India, Wolahan said it might not be possible to commit supplies in addition to the 7.5 million tonnes already committed till after 2010.

But at the same time he did not rule out the possibility of diverting spare capacities to India, stating, "We will be in discussion with Petronet LNG for additional supplies."

On state-owned exploration major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) move seeking equity stake in RasGas' third LNG train, Wolahan said, "ONGC has had talks with us and also done the due diligence of the project. By the yearend we should be able to finalize the terms and conclude the deal by next yearend."

He added that during negotiations with ONGC, which is seeking five percent equity stake in RasGas' LNG train three, "we could discuss equity on both parts. We haven't as yet decided on the equity stake we would like in Petronet LNG".

Petronet LNG Limited (PLL) is promoted by four Navratna Public Sector Units (PSUs) - Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), ONGC, GAIL India Ltd and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) - with the objective of setting up LNG (liquefied natural gas) import and regassification facilities.