GAIL (India), the largest gas transmission and marketing company in India, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with State Oil Company of Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). Under the MoU, GAIL and SOCAR intend to jointly pursue LNG opportunities through capacity booking, LNG procurement and promotion of LNG projects globally.

Both companies shall also cooperate in optimization of LNG marketing, sourcing and shipping requirements. In addition, GAIL and SOCAR will pursue business opportunities in upstream assets across the world and joint investment in petrochemical projects.

Speaking on the occasion, B C Tripathi, chairman and managing director, GAIL said ''We are happy to enter into this strategic relationship with SOCAR. Skills and strengths of both the parties would be leveraged to explore business opportunities jointly in natural gas and LNG business including new business developments across the gas value chain.''

Shares of the company declined Rs 30.15, or 5.7%, to settle at Rs 499. The total volume of shares traded was 768,485 at the BSE (Monday).