$200 bn investment in oil sector likely: PM

NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 26

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India’s energy consumption would double over long term, providing ample opportunities for investments.

“Leading global bodies project that world demand will contract for the next few years. But these agencies project India as a leading consumer,” he pointed out while speaking in virtual format at the Fifth India Energy Forum. Other top participants were Dan Brouillette and Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, Energy Ministers of the US and Saudi Arabia, respectively, both of whom hope to benefit from India’s increased energy consumption.

Washington has prioritised selling energy and weapons systems to India with energy related trade touching $8 billion last year.

Energy sector to be growth-centric

Our energy sector will be growth-centric, investor-friendly and environment conscious. Access to energy should be affordable and reliable. —Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

The subject will be on the table during the Indo-US two-plus-two talks on Tuesday, the US State Department has said. Saudi Arabia has traditionally been India’s biggest source of crude. PM Modi’s invitation to invest comes at a time when India may see total investments of over $200 billion in the sector. This includes $70 billion in gas infrastructure alone with US and European oil majors such as Total, Exxon Mobil, and Shell showing interest. In exploration and production, another $60 billion is envisaged. Plans to grow oil refining capacity to 450 million tonnes by 2025 from 250 million tones should see investment of $ 80 billion in the downstream segment. “Our energy sector will be growth-centric, investor-friendly and environment conscious. Access to energy should be affordable and reliable,” the PM said. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the interest shown by Abdulaziz and Brouillette reflected growing strategic partnership with the US and Saudi Arabia.