NEW DELHI, March 15 (UPI) -- India's private majors Essar and Anil Ambani Group are in talks with Iran to buy liquefied natural gas as New Delhi asks Tehran to honor its LNG import deal.
"They are talking with Iranian authorities to buy LNG at a time when we have asked them to honor the LNG deal with India," India's Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora told reporters.
He said the Iranian ambassador had during a meeting Tuesday asked him to recommend a private company to buy LNG while official-level talks on the deal continue.
"I asked him to tell his government that we would prefer you honor the commitment that was made between two governments. Once that glitch is over, they are welcome to sell their LNG to private companies," Deora said.
The minister said Essar and the Anil Ambani Group are among the two or three Indian companies talking with Iran. State-controlled Gas Authority of India Ltd., and Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. signed a pact with Iran in June 2005 to import 5 million tons of LNG over a 25-year period beginning 2009.
There was an option to buy an additional 2.5 million tons per year in the deal. India pressed for this option as it would help meet its energy needs.
Iran, however, backed out of the deal in May 2006 saying its Supreme Economic Council had not endorsed the pact. Initially, the price was fixed at $3.25 per million British thermal units. Iran wanted more when global oil prices rose sharply.
