new delhi, Aug. 4 -- India's state-run oil marketers are in joint discussions with US firms to secure cooking gas supplies beginning next year, three people aware of the development said, indicating a potential deepening of energy ties. The companies-Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd-are likely to sign near-identical contracts with the selected partners, the people said on the condition of anonymity. The negotiations, happening against the backdrop of the US tariff on Indian goods, support the target set by both countries earlier this year to increase their energy trade to $20 billion. "Indian OMCs are in talks, collectively, with at least a dozen LPG suppliers in the US. The negotiations are for supplies starting January next year, and the discussions are progressing well," one of the three people cited above said. The person added that although deals may be signed separately, given that talks are happening at a combined level, the nature of deals would be largely the same. Some of the major American LPG suppliers are Texas-headquartered Targa Resources and Enterprise Products and Oklahoma-headquartered ONEOK. Queries emailed to the Union ministries of petroleum and commerce, the Indian oil marketing companies, and the US LPG suppliers went unanswered. India traditionally imports most of its LPG from West Asia including Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia through long-term contracts, while other major LPG importing countries source it from the United States. The US so far has been supplying India LPG in small volumes through spot deals. The talks with the US firms is seen as indicating a thaw in ties between the two, even as talks on the Bilateral Trade Agreement remain active but are stuck on intractable issues such as dairy and agriculture. "India is a huge importer of LPG. US is a large producer of LPG which is produced as natural gas liquids along with shale gas. So, US can be a significant supplier of LPG to India," said Prashant Vasisht, senior vice president and co-group head, corporate ratings, ICRA Ltd. He added the price of LPG won't be very different and will be competitive compared to the West Asian LPG on a landed basis in India. LPG used in India comprises 60% butane and 40% propane. West Asian exports are better suited for this as they are primarily butane-dominated, since their LPG production is a byproduct of oil processing. On the other hand, American supplies are primarily propane-dominated, as US LPG production is the byproduct of natural gas processing. "India may source the required propane from the US, which would be 40-50% of the composition and the butane may continued to be imported from the Gulf countries," an industry executive said on the condition of anonymity....