NEW DELHI, March 7: Pakistan has short-listed around 10 companies, including oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and Total, to build the country’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal by 2010, its oil minister said on Wednesday.

“Up to 16 companies had expressed interest for setting up the terminal... Around 10 have been selected,” said Pakistan’s Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Amanullah Khan Jadoon while talking to media after attending second Saarc energy meeting here.

He said they included Italy’s Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, Malaysia’s state-run Petronas and France’s Total, as well as some unnamed Japanese firms.

Pakistan is building the terminal, set to have an initial import capacity of 3.5 million tonnes a year of LNG, in order to meet a supply deficit expected to open as soon as next year amid strong power demand growth and limited domestic supplies.” Our preference is that the company which builds the terminal should ensure us LNG supplies too, but we are open to having the companies participating at various levels,” he said, adding that they could separate supply, transmission and storage elements.

Pakistan’s state-run Sui Southern Gas Co. Ltd. invited the short-listed candidates to place binding bids last month, for a project expected to cost more than $15 billion, including the long-term LNG supply contract.

Pakistan is also hoping to see pipelines built from gas-rich neighbours Iran and Turkmenitan, helping it meet gas demand expected to rise at about 6.5pc a year. “Our intentions are to have the terminal before the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline can be laid in 2009/2010,” the minister said.

The country is expecting to sign a final deal with India and Iran on building the much-delayed $7bn gas pipeline by the end of June after the countries agreed on a key pricing formula.—Reuters