India will host the Ministerial meeting of the 16th International Energy Forum (IEF) in April, this year. China and South Korea are co-hosts of the meeting that will see a shift in discussions from energy suppliers-driven agenda to energy consumers-driven agenda. India, a member of IEF, is currently the Chair of its Executive Board (2016-18).
About 50 energy Ministers from the world and nearly 50 CEOs of the oil and gas supplying companies will be taking part in the three-day event from April 10-12 in New Delhi, making it the largest global gathering of Energy Ministers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the event while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will deliver the concluding address.
Talking of the significance of the event, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said: “India, China and South Korea are consumer countries... We are hosting IEF... Certainly when consumers will host the programme, consumers' interests will dominate the discussions.” India had last hosted the IEF Ministerial Conference in 1996.
“Hosting of the meeting by India marks a watershed since the last few hosting countries were mainly oil producing nations (Algeria- 2016, Russia - 2014 and Kuwait- 2012),” said Sanjay Sudhir, Joint Secretary (International Cooperation), Petroleum Ministry. India, China and South Korea havce replaced United States, Japan and Europe as the biggest consumers of oil and gas.
While talking about the issue of Responsible Pricing in the oil and gas sector, India will also raise the issue of removal of discriminatory premium charges against the Asian buyers.
IEF, with a membership of 71 countries, both producers and consumers, is the most representative international organisation in the field of oil and gas. The members account for over 90 per cent of global oil and gas production and consumption.
India's chairing of IEF during 2016-18 coincides with India's increasing profile in the field of energy by becoming the third largest energy consumer in the world, the third largest crude importer and fourth largest importer of liquefied Natural Gas (lNG). Besides, the country has also enhanced its global engagement in the field of oil and gas and expanded its market.
“The upcoming IEF ministerial meeting will provide us an important opportunity to convey India's priorities as one of the leading oil and gas consuming nations as well as highlight our policy initiatives such as Hydrocarbon Exploration and licencing Policy (HElP) and initiatives to promote FDI and technology infusion,” Sudhir said.
Terming the ministerial meeting to be a “milestone” event, Dr Sun Xiansheng, Secretary General of IEF said that the meeting will provide a platform for dialogue between gas producers and consumers besides narrowing the gap between the two.