He told newsmen here that laying of pipelines to transport crude oil, natural gas and other petroleum products at various places was progressing at a fast pace.

He said an agreement to purchase LNG for the refineries in Kochi and Gujarat would be signed tomorrow with a Qatar-based firm.

On future projects, he said a six million tonne capacity refinery would be set up in Cuddalore under the private sector within a few years. A memorandum of understanding for a Rs 6,000 crore joint venture refinery at Nagapattinam would be signed soon with equity participation of IOC, Madras refineries and one company each from Iran and Malaysia. The capacity of the proposed refinery was nine million tonnes, he added.

Earlier, talking to reporters Ramamurthy reiterated that he waswilling to surrender his portfolio if AIADMK general secretary Jayalalitha wanted it, so that the Prime Minister could allocate it to the AIADMK.