India Pursues oil diplomacy at Doha

India Pursues oil diplomacy and Foreign Investment at Doha WPC
Shri Jaipal Reddy, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas who is leading the Indian delegation to 20th World Petroleum Congress(WPC) at Doha undertook a series of meetings with his counterparts from various countries on the sidelines of the WPC with a view to explore new opportunities for Indian oil companies and to seek investments . A number of areas were identified for cooperation during his bilateral meetings held over last three days.

In his meeting with Dr Mohammed Bin Hamad Al Rumhy, Minister of oil and Gas, Oman today, the two leaders reviewed the progress of Bina Refinery project, a joint venture of BPCL and Oman oil Company. The issues of possible investment by Oman in the projects in India including petrochemical projects were discussed. It was stated that the refinery production has now stabilized within a reasonable time. The refinery capacity could also be increased in view of the benefits that will accrue from higher capacity. Omani side assured to consider the interest shown by the Indian companies in participating in the downstream projects, consultancy & management, upstream opportunities and gas supply to India. Shri G C Chaturvedi, Secretary, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr A K Purwah,CMD EIL, Mr R K Singh, CMD, BPCL, Mr A K Balyan, MD, PLL and Ms Nishi Vasudeva, Director, Marketing, HPCL were also present.

Shri Jaipal Reddy, also had a bilateral meeting with Mr LyazzatKiinov, Vice Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Kazakhstan. The meeting also attended by Shri G C Chaturvedi, Secretary, Petroleum and Natural Gas and Mr Sidhir Vasudeva CMD, ONGC reviewed the cooperation in the upstream projects and expressed keen desire to continue expanding the relations further in the oil and gas sector.

During the meeting with Mr Alexander BARRO CHAMBRIER, Minister of Mines, Oil and Hydrocarbons, Gabon on 6-12-2011, Gabon invited Indian companies to invest in their oil and gas and sector. They invited representatives of Indian companies to visit Gabon for taking stock of the opportunities. It was informed that Shell is developing LNG facilities. PLL expressed desire to explore participation in the natural gas projects. Shri G C Chaturvedi, Secretary, Petroleum and Natural Gas along with CMDs of Oil PSUs was also present.

Indian Petroleum Minister in his meeting with Dr Abdul Hussain Bin Ali Mirza, Minister of Oil and Gas Affairs, Bahrain today discussed possibilities of Indian investments in Bahrain oil projects and of greater supply of crude oil to India. Bahrain invited Indian oil companies to take up new projects available after restructuring of the oil and gas sector in the country. Mr Mirza said crude production has now increased by 50% which has earlier seen decline. India sought more supply of crude oil on term contract.

During another bilateral meeting between Shri Jaipal Reddy and Mr Guenther Oettinger, Commissioner Energy, European Union, Mr Oettinger proposed enhancing cooperation in developing common safety regulations based on best practices. Indian side informed that Oil Industry Safety Directorate formulates the standards for Indian oil industry . They asked EU to send a formal proposal which can be considered by India. The issues of rising oil prices, efficient useful of fuels and alternative sources of energy were discussed in the meeting.

Earlier, late yesterday, Shri Jaipal Reddy had a bilateral meeting with Dy Minister of Natural Resources, Canada. The issues of possible participation of OVL and other Indian Companies in exploration of sand oil/tar sands and the shale oil/gas were discussed in the meeting. The Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas also met Mr Rostam Ghasemi, Minister of Petroleum, Iran yesterday evening and the issues of enhancing cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector were discussed in the meeting.

Shri Jaipal Reddy had a fruitful meeting with his counterpart Dr Mohamed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy & Industry, Qatar after the Ministerial Session at the 20th WPC in the afternoon on 5-12-2011. Shri G C Chaturvedi, Secretary, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ms Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa, Indian Ambassador to Qatar and MD PLL Mr A K Balyan were also present. The two leaders discussed enhancing cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector including possibilities of more LNG supplies to India.

Shri Reddy in his meeting with Mr Mohammed bin Dha'en Al Hamili, Minister of Energy of United Arab Emirates on the opening day of WPC i. e. 04-12-2011 discussed possibilities of expanding mutual cooperation in the oil sector including the possibilities of Indian companies being considered for participation in the upstream sector. UAE Minister assured to consider the proposal. India also proposed import of higher quantities of crude oil and LPG. The two Minister recalled long-standing friendly relations between two nations and called for strengthening the economic cooperation further.