Enbridge, formerly IPL, was at one point a contender for a stake in Petronet India's equity, which was subsequently allocated to Reliance Petroleum and Essar Oil. Industry sources say it is unlikely the Petronet board will accede to Enbridge's request for a 26 per cent stake in any of the pipelines and would, at best, settle for 5-10 per cent.

In all its projects which are in various stages of planning/commissioning, Petronet accounts for 26 per cent, with the lead oil company taking a similar stake. Strategic and financial investors pick up barely 5 per cent. "This will also be applicable to Enbridge and rules cannot be changed at this point," expertssay.

Whether this would be acceptable to the Canadian company remains to be seen, as it believes it is entitled to at least 26 per cent considering that it would be involved extensively in every part of the plan. In all likelihood, it will have to settle for a nominal stake.

Enbridge has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for "collaboration in design, construction management, operation and maintenance techniques, training & consultancy, benchamrking and investment in cross-country pipelines in India and abroad".

IOC officials, however, said that the MoU would be confined to building gas pipelines, in which the other participants were likely to be the Gas Authority of India and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. There was no point looking at product pipelines, as IOC has the expertise in this field, they added.

Enbridge has also sought Government approval to set up a 100 per cent subsidiary in India for pipeline construction, though this is not likely to beapproved. The objective of forming Petronet was to ensure a common carrier principle which would protect the interests of user companies. This arrangement is unlikely to be altered to accommodate a 100 per cent subsidiary, observers say.

The Canadian company has indicated that it would also be open to picking up a stake in the Rs 4,400-crore Central India pipeline, originally the brainchild of Reliance Petroleum. This, however, seems a remote possibility, as the project's equity structure has been finalised, with Petronet, Reliance and IOC taking up 26 per cent each, and the balance to be allocated to Essar Oil and a financial institution.