ISLAMABAD, Sept 20 — Pakistan has approved the construction of five liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals by groups that include Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell, aiming to triple imports and ease the country’s chronic gas shortage.

The five terminals could be in operation within two to three years, Omar Ayub Khan, Pakistan’s minister of power and petroleum, said in an interview today.

Pakistan is chronically short of gas for power production and to supply manufacturers such as fertilizer makers, hobbling the country’s economy.

"It will make a significant dent in the gas shortage,” Khan said.

The groups Pakistan selected to build terminals are: Tabeer Energy, a unit of Mitsubishi Corp; Exxon and Energas; Trafigura Group and Pakistan GasPort; Shell and Engro Corp; and Gunvor Group and Fatima.

The identities of the five groups were reported earlier by Bloomberg. — Reuters