The company says it will invest Rs7,000 crore (US$1.05 billion) in an FSRU, 330,000m³ of storage capacity and an LNG plant at Karawar in Karnataka, with support from the state government. It has pledged to create 3,000 jobs, 90 per cent to be allocated to local people.

Australia-based director John Raciti says the company has asked three shipyards in South Korea, Spain and Japan to quote “the unit cost of each terminal component”. Fox estimates the FSRU costs at US$563 million and the onshore infrastructure at US$495 million.

Fox Petroleum is positioning itself to deliver gas and oil to India, its prospective interests spanning FSRUs, gas-based power plants, pipelines, transportation and storage. Mr Raciti says Fox will name the EPC contractor – “who will be shortlisted among the world’s seven most reliable developers of FSRU terminals” – in mid-May.

“We are in touch with Samsung, Hyundai, Exmar, Excelerate, one Chinese and one Spanish company,” Mr Raciti told LNG World Shipping. “We have our own resources of LNG from Russia, Nigeria and, with our associate company, from Angola. We will also offer regasification for all Indian companies importing LNG. India will import LNG from the US from 2017 for the next 20 years.”