The decision was made during the first meeting of the U.S.-India strategic energy partnership in new Delhi on Tuesday. The plan of the meeting was announced by US President Donald J. trump and the Prime Minister of India Narendra modi during their June 26 summit in 2017 in Washington, DC.
New Delhi (Sputnik) — India and the United States jointly created the task force on natural gas, aiming to increase the share of gas in energy mix of India. The two countries also envisages the construction of reliable liquefied natural gas (LNG), supplied natural gas (PNG) PNG and city gas distribution (CGD) infrastructure in order to fulfill the purpose of India turns into a gas-based economy.
After meeting with his Indian counterpart, Dharmendra Pradhan, visiting the Minister of energy of the United States, Rick Perry said, “the task force will meet with Prime Minister Narendra modi on April 23.”
“The task force is a team from USA and the experts of Indian industry with the mandate to propose, develop and transfer innovation policy recommendations to the government of India in support of his vision of natural gas in the country’s economy. The work of the task force is expected to promote strategic and economic interests of the United States and India,” the joint statement issued after the first meeting of the U.S.-India strategic energy partnership reads.
Both countries made up the four pillars of cooperation — oil and gas; energy and efficiency; renewable energy and sustainable growth; and coal.
“We discussed the possibility of increasing the volume of bilateral trade of electricity and increase our supply of crude oil in the US considering the reasonable prices. To explore opportunities for U.S. investment in some areas of the Indian oil and gas industry, including pipelines, LNG terminals and CGD networks,” said Minister of India Dharmendra Pradhan energy reported by the media.
Over the past six months, India imported about 12 million barrels of crude oil from the United States along with the first batch of LNG from the US in March.
“In LNG and crude oil, we expect bilateral trade of about $3 billion and Indian companies are looking for investments in the segment of exploration and production in the United States,” added Mr. Pradhan.
Both countries are also exploring the possibility of participation of American companies in India’s Strategic petroleum reserve. India has built three strategic oil reserves with a total capacity of 5.33 MMT at three locations viz. Visakhapatnam (1.33 MMT), Kochi (1.5 MMT) and Padur (2.5 MMT). The UAE was the first country to participate in the strategic scheme.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
