A senior HPCL official has confirmed that Shell has submitted a formal request to the company but nothing has been agreed to yet. The same source admitted that Shell did not indicate how much of HPCL's facilities it needed for its use and that the Indian company would seriously consider the proposal.

However, because HPCL does have previous infrastructure sharing agreements already in place, any agreement with Shell will not be possible until after April 2004.

Currently, Shell has commitments in the country to the tune of $US750 million and has recently been granted permission by the Indian government to set up petrol pumps and import petrol and diesel. It also has interests in the LNG, lubricant, petrochemical and solar energy industry in the country.