India’s relations with the global energy players is witnessing a fundamental transformation, as it signs record crude import deals and secures foreign collaborations to boost domestic production, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri told Moneycontrol in an interview.
“There is a fundamental transformation which is taking place. By fundamental transformation, I mean, we used to import from 27 countries, today, we are importing from 40 countries. One of my companies just bought a million barrels from Argentina. So, you are having a situation in which you are exploring more avenues, and you are stepping on the exploration and production,” said Puri.
India’s energy demand is rising at a time when the international market is facing high risk due to geopolitical tensions. Domestic refiners have diversified their crude oil sourcing and are now buying from more countries than before, to secure supplies. India is currently purchasing crude oil from 40 countries, compared to only 27 nations supplying in 2007.
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State-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) in December bought crude oil from Argentina—a newly-added supplier for India—for February delivery of a one-million-barrel cargo. On February 12, BPCL too signed a term deal with Brazil, initially valid for one year with an option to extend for another year, to import up to 6 million barrels of crude oil.
Meanwhile, in the exploration and production (E&P) segment, Indian upstream companies are tying up with global players for advanced technology to ramp up domestic production from offshore regions.
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“Today, foreign companies are bidding along with our OMCs and the private sector players. There's a bid jointly between ONGC, Reliance and BP. Petrobras (Brazilian state-run oil company) is helping in the seismic survey of the Andaman basin with OIL (Oil India Limited). So, there are basic changes taking place,” said Puri.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said that India is set to lead the global oil demand until 2035, adding nearly 2 million barrels per day (bpd) to the world demand, amid declining or stagnant consumption in other countries, including China.
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Given the current dynamics in the energy market, India holds the ‘market card’ and would negotiate deals with suppliers and global players in its favour, Oil Minister Puri had said earlier.
Disclosure: Moneycontrol is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.
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