GAIL Sets Aside $1 bn for North American Shale Assets

GAIL (India) Ltd plans to spend $1 billion on shale gas assets in North America in order to hedge against planned imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas, the company's managing director said on Thursday, Reuters reported.

"We need gas, so equity gas is also required," B.C. Tripathi told reporters on the sidelines of the World Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur, the news agency reported.

GAIL signed a deal with U.S.-based Cheniere Energy in December to buy 3.5 million tonnes of LNG a year under a 20-year contract starting from 2017.

Reuters said that GAIL has also been in talks with Macquarie Energy, which has a share in the U.S.-based Freeport LNG project, and last year, agreed to buy a 20-percent stake in one of Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc's U.S. shale gas assets for $300 million.