Royal Dutch/Shell said on Wednesday that it will open up its first petrol station in India by the end on 2004 and begin importing liquefied natural gas in the first quarter of 2005.

"I cannot give you numbers but we certainly will start several petrol pumps by the year end," Shell India chairman Vikram Singh Mehta told reporters on sidelines of a business conference in New Delhi.

Shell, which will be the first multinational to begin fuel retailing in India after the opening up of the sector, has government permission to set up 2000 petrol stations through out the country.

Mehta did not say by when the company's entire chain of retail outlets will be in place.

The company would also complete construction of the over 500 million dollar LNG import and regasification terminal at Hazira in Gujarat by next month.

"The terminal would be ready by December end. LNG imports would begin sometime in first quarter of 2005 after we conduct through testing of the terminal," Mehta said.

The Hazira terminal would have a capacity to import 2.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas every year. The regasified LNG would be sold to industrial customers, mostly in Gujarat.