Indian gas importer Petronet LNG is looking to sign a deal in a year′s time to buy at least 1 million tonnes of US natural gas annually for a period of up to 10 years, as it pushes to diversify its supply sources beyond the Middle East. As part of any deal, the firm could potentially take a stake in a US liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, said Petronet′s Managing Director, Prabhat Singh. He added that the US offers lots of opportunities and the company would like to explore that properly and make a venture there. Petronet currently runs a 15 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification site at Dahej in the western state of Gujarat and a 5 mtpa plant at Kochi in southern India. It has long-term deals to buy 10 mtpa of LNG, with 8.5 mtpa of that coming from Qatar′s RasGas. Singh said Petronet was in talks with various companies including Tellurian Inc about a potential U.S. deal. Singh said Petronet was also in talks to invest in exploration and LNG projects in Qatar, as well as continuing to scout for opportunities in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.