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India and Russia have decided to further strengthen their energy ties by taking forward their nuclear as well as hydrocarbons business partnerships.
In a joint statement issued here after the 13th India-Russia Annual Summit: ‘Partnership for mutual benefit and a better world’ the two decided to go ahead with the second and third units of nuclear power station at Kudankulam. The first unit is expected to be commissioned shortly.
“Both the sides agreed to conclude expeditiously the negotiations on the techno-commercial offer for the construction of Units 3 & 4,” the statement said.
Hydrocarbon front
The statement said that while ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investment arm of ONGC, could hunt for upstream business opportunities in that country, Russian companies like Rosneft could look for downstream business here.
To promote co-operation, it was essential to source oil and gas from Russia and leverage the market and downstream business in India with involvement of respective oil and gas companies of both the countries.
“Both sides noted the complementarities between India and the Russian Federation in the energy sector as a major buyer and supplier of hydrocarbons and reviewed the ongoing efforts to establish joint cooperation ventures between Indian and Russian companies,” the statement said.
They confirmed their intention to continue the implementation of the Inter-Governmental Agreement on Cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector signed on December 21, 2010, the statement said.
At the summit, the Indian side reiterated its interest in equity participation through ONGC-OVL in existing and new projects in Siberia, Russia’s Far East and the Arctic Shelf.
Indian oil public sector undertakings expressed interest in acquiring equity stake in discovered/producing assets and in proposed LNG liquefaction projects in Russia along with Russian oil and gas companies as well as in procuring Russian crude oil and offtake of LNG for India.
At the summit, the Indian side noted the difficulties being faced by Imperial Energy and hoped that the ensuing tax reforms would help the company to turn around.
Gas supplies
Both sides noted that the gas supply to India by Gazprom Group will be a stable and reliable source of resources for the development of Indian gas market.
India and Russia welcomed the conclusion of long-term LNG Sales and Purchase Agreement for the supply of 2.5 mtpa of LNG between ‘Gazprom Marketing and Trading Singapore’ and GAIL and expressed hope for continuation of cooperation in the sphere of LNG supply.
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