June 7, 2012. GAIL (India) Ltd has around $1 billion to spend on shale gas assets in North America, which will act as a hedge against planned imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas, the company said. GAIL signed a deal with U.S.-based Cheniere Energy in December to buy 3.5 million tonnes of LNG a year under a 20-year contract starting from 2017.