PM Modi meets CEOs of global oil companies, bats for producer-consumer partnership to reduce cost

Amid rising concerns of fuel price hike, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday attended a meeting with chief executive officers (CEO) and experts of oil and gas sector from India and abroad to discuss on the emerging energy scenario.

Interacting with the global leaders of the energy sector, Modi noted that the oil market is producer driven; and both the quantity and prices are determined by the oil producing countries.

Modi appealed to oil producing countries to channel their investible surplus to pursue commercial exploitation in oil sector in the developing countries.

"Though there is enough production, the unique features of marketing in the oil sector have pushed up the oil prices and a partnership between the producers and consumers, in the oil market will help stabilise the global economy which is on path of recovery," Modi said.

The meeting, which was also attended by union finance minister Arun Jaitley, union minister for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan and NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar, PM Modi said due to the increase in crude oil prices, the consuming countries like India face a lot of economic challenges including resource crunch.

The gathering also included ministers from Saudi Arabia and UAE, and CEOs and experts from organisations including Saudi ARAMCO, ADNOC, BP, Rosneft, IHS Markit, Pioneer Natural Resources Company, Emerson Electric Company, Tellurian, Mubadala Investment Company, Schlumberger Ltd, Wood Mackenzie, World Bank, International Energy Agency (IEA), NIPFP, Brookings India and various Indian companies involved in both upstream and downstream operations.

Terming the role of private participation in the distribution of gas sector is very important, Modi appealed for assistance in areas where high pressure and high temperature technology applications are relevant to commercial exploitation of natural gas.

He highlighted the liberalisation in gas pricing and marketing which has been particularly in deep waters and requiring technology for high pressure high temperature exploitation.

Prime Minister also mentioned the open acreage licensing policy, early monetisation of coal bed methane, incentives for discovery of small fields and seismic survey at a national level.

"During the interaction, global CEOs and experts appreciated the steps taken by the union government over the last four years, for ease of doing business, and specifically in the energy sector in India. The experts made a special mention of India’s competitive ranking from the upstream investment point of view which has gone up from 56 to 44," the government said.

"Subjects such as expansion of oil and gas infrastructure in India; enhancing exploration and production; potential in solar energy and biofuels; and the union government’s holistic approach to the energy sector came up for discussion. The experts appreciated the unique initiative of this kind of a dialogue, which brings various stakeholders together on policy matters," the government added.