India calls for oil partnership

With volatile international oil prices costing the country $43 billion in import bill, energy-hungry India has called for forging enduring partnerships between oil producing and consuming countries to contain the effect of surging oil prices.

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora in his key note address at the International Energy Forum at Doha this week, said highly volatile global crude oil prices, which had touched a record $75 a barrel this month, put tremendous strain on consuming economies specially developing countries like India.

India is 73 per cent import dependant to meet its oil need and spent 43 billion dollars on imports to meet its requirement in 2005-06.

Deora called for forging enduring partnerships between the oil producing and consuming countries and emphasised the need for innovative thinking to address the situation arising out of high oil prices, an official press release said here.

More efficient use of hydrocarbons and improving oil recovery from fields, as was done during the oil shocks of 1970s, was the need of the hour, he said.

On the sidelines of the conference, Deora held one-on-one meetings with his counterparts from Russia, Qatar, Saudi Arabi, USA, Venezuela, Norway, Japan and South Korea for forging closer energy ties.

He raised the issue of import of gas from Sakhalin-I project and India's participation in Sakhalin-III project with Russian oil minister Victor Kristenko.

Deora also sought more liquefied natural gas from Qatar, which had agreed to provide LNG for meeting the fuel needs of Dabhol power project on interim basis till Ratnagiri Gas and Power Project Ltd ties up its gas requirements on a long-term basis.

Deora discussed cooperation in exploration and production, particularly in third world countries and setting up strategic oil reserves storages with Japanese oil minister Nikai.

In his meeting with South Korean vice minister for oil WonGul Lee, he discussed ship-building expertise of Korea and possible cooperation.

Venezuela offered Indian oil firms long-term supply contracts of crude oil and E&P opportunities in the Latin American nation.

Deora also discussed technological cooperation in deep-sea drilling with his Norwegian counterpart, while with Egyptian Minister he talked of Indian firms exploring oil in that country.

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