The Hindu Business Line : India to import more crude oil from Africa

India is Asia's third-largest oil consumer and is set to import 4.5 per cent more crude overall in the current financial year to end- March 2008, he said.

He added, "16 per cent of our crude imports, around 18 million tonnes, are from Africa.

As requirement increases, imports will go up. In the next two to three years, our imports from African countries are expected to be 20-21 per cent, around 24-25 million tonnes."

DIVERSIFY IMPORTS

Mr Srinivasan said overall India's import of crude will rise slightly next year. Last year 110 million tonnes were imported and 2007-08 it is going to be around 115 million tonnes.

"We are trying to diversify our crude basket. We have been importing crude from over 30 countries," he said.

India imports about 70 per cent of its crude needs and is adding export-oriented refining capacity.

The Petroleum Secretary said India wants to acquire more oil and gas fields as well as other energy projects like refineries, petrochemical plants, and pipelines in the region.

Besides oil, India is also targeting import of gas in its liquefied form (LNG) from African nations like Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt. "We are in negotiations with some of them," he said.

Mr Srinivasan said India will try to adopt the strategy of offering large infrastructure development packages to gain access to Africa similar to that offered by ONGC-Mittal Energy Ltd. OMEL got two blocks in Nigeria by promising an investment of $6 billion in refinery, power plant and railway lines, he said.

2-day conference

With an objective to provide a platform for exploring mutually beneficial partnership opportunities between Africa and India in the hydrocarbon sector, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development are jointly organising a two-day conference from November 6.

So far, 15 ministers of the 25 invited African countries have confirmed participation in the conference. These include ministers from Nigeria, Sudan, Chad and Ghana. In all, around 100 international participants from 25 African countries like Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Libya, Mauritiana, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia are expected to attend the two-day conference.

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