Trying to expand its source of crude oil beyond the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region, India is seriously targetting latin and Central American nations and even Africa for sourcing cheaper shipments of crude. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is currently on a tour to Mexico and Colombia, is leading a delegation of top level officials of ONGC Videsh ltd (OVl), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) as well as leading private sector oil players like Cairn India and Adani Gas, with the aim of establishing long term contact with these nations for seeking long term supply of crude.
In fact once he comes back from his latin America tour, he would be off to Nigeria on May 29, where the focus again would be sourcing crude from the African nation. The main aim behind the Nigeria tour would be to present India as a refining hub and according to sources close to the development, IOC is eager to develop Nigerian refineries as well as source crude from there.
According to official sources, currently more than 20 per cent of India’s crude import is sourced from latin America and New Delhi wants to increase its shipments from there, considering the fact that State-owned upstream company ONGC’s overseas arm OVl already has presence in oilfields of Colombia and Venezuela. In fact OVl has seven blocks in Colombia. Significantly India imports around 10 metric million tonnes of crude from Mexico and Colombia.
Both Mexico and Colombia have introduced deregulation in a phased manner and have also set up independent regulatory frameworks for oil and gas. Their strategic location also allows them an easy access to both the Pacific and Atlantic markets, industry sources said.
Pradhan had left for the five-day twin tours of Mexico and Colombia on May 18. He has wrapped up the Mexico leg of the tour and is currently in the Colombian capital Bogota. Meanwhile, according to a statement issued by the Petroleum Ministry, the highlight of Pradhan’s two-day visit to Mexico was the agreement between both the nations on OVl opening a dedicated office in the Central American nation.
The Petroleum Minister, the statement added, said in Mexico that the country figures high on the priority of India to enhance bilateral energy ties. Pradhan held meetings with the Mexican Energy Minister Pedro Joaquín Caldwell, Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo Villareal and Chief Executive of PEMEX, the national oil company of Mexico, Emilio lozoya Austin.
As part of the delegation, Pradhan is accompanied by Indian Oil (IOC) Chairman B Ashok, ONGC Videsh Managing Director N K Verma, Cairn India CEO Mayank Ashar, Adani Gas CEO Rajeev Sharma, Reliance Industries’ President-Strategy Atul laul and l&T’s Deputy General Manager Manish Mishra, among others. As per information, IOC, Reliance Industries and Essar buy around 6 million tonnes of crude oil from Mexico.
The official statement quoting Pradhan said that Indian companies are willing to participate in the exploration and production activities in Mexico including in deep-water and unconventional resources. He also said India has emerged as a modern refining hub with expertise to develop complex refineries at most cost-effective manner.