ONGC Seeks Closer Ties With Nigeria, Others for Oil Supplies
INDIA will enter into a deeper diplomatic dialogue with Nigeria and other African countries including Sudan, as well as Latin American countries like Venezuela, Columbia and Ecuador to ensure enduring supplies of Oil & Gas from these countries.
India is currently the world's sixth largest energy consumer nation, in terms of energy demand. The Minister of External Affairs, Mr. Natwar Singh, made this disclosure during his valedictory address at Petrotech-2005, which ended in New Delhi last week. Estimates indicate that the oil production capacity of sub-Saharan African countries will almost double by 2008, with that of Nigeria currently put at 3.0 million barrels per day, while that of Angola has hit the 1.0 million barrels per day mark.
Mr. Natwar Singh said, "Apart from harnessing technology to maximize production of oil and gas from within the national boundaries, we need to step up diplomatic efforts to ensure immediate energy security of the country". Referring to the announcement of the fifth round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) by the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar, the External Affairs Minister said that the two ministries should work together to assure the nation of its much-required sustainability in energy supplies. "India is not alone in its import dependence, as countries like USA, Japan and China are importing a sizeable part of their oil and gas requirements".
The External Affairs Minister concluded that trans-national pipelines for bringing in natural gas from countries like Myanmar and Iran through Bangladesh and Pakistan would not only help the economies of the countries, but also promote regional cooperation. The valedictory session of this sixth Petrotech conference, organized by ONGC, was also attended by Mr. Arjun Sengupta, who is the current Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Oil Diplomacy and Energy Security. Speaking in the context of importance of oil in the political economy of the world, Mr. Sengupta said that there has been a change in the equation between the producing and the consuming nations.
The earlier regime is now giving way to a cooperative environment, and India, known for its non-aligned approach, is an active party in fostering such cooperation.
In his reaction to the development, Dr. Levi Ajuonuma, the general Manager in-charge of Group Public Affairs department at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), said that he can not recall the Corporation receiving any expression of interest in Nigerian crude from the Indian authorities.
However, another official at the Corporation who pleaded anonymity disclosed that indeed, the Indians did send a delegation to the management of the NNPC to express the country's interest in closer cooperation and the purchase of Nigerian crude oil.
The official explained that he can not tell the current state of affairs between the Corporation and the Indian government, but noted that Nigeria and India have always enjoyed very cordial relationship.
Both countries have been in the vanguard of the non-aligned movement, and have always collaborated on issues of mutual interest at international fora.
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