Qatar , the world's top liquefied natural gas exporter is in talks with Pakistan over possible LNG shipments, and with India over annual deliveries of as much as 4 million tons of the supercooled gas, the country's oil minister said Tuesday.

Abdulla bin Hamad Al Attiyah said his country had diverted 5 million tons of LNG from existing production to China and had signed a memorandum of understanding to ship another 7 million tons.

"We have the right, if we see better conditions and a better price, to divert [LNG]," Al Attiyah told reporters in Doha .

Driven by strong economic growth, energy requirements are rising rapidly in Asian economies such as India , Pakistan and China , in turn driving up demand for gas and LNG imports.

Qatar , holder of the third-largest natural gas reserves in the world after Russia and Iran is investing billions of dollars into its gas export infrastructure. The Persian Gulf state has become the biggest exporter of LNG by far, with exports to hit more than 77 million tons a year by the end of 2010.

LNG is gas cooled down so it becomes liquid and can be transported in special vessels over long distances.
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