UAE Keen to Expanding Energy Partnerships and Investments with India

India and the UAE have reiterated their commitment to expanding energy partnerships between the two countries. This came during a meeting following a joint workshop organised by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on expanding investments and partnerships in the oil and gas industry, in both the UAE and India.

The one-day workshop was attended by ADNOC’s leadership team and senior representatives of India’s oil and gas industry. Among those present were executives from the ONGC-led consortium which was awarded a 10% stake in Abu Dhabi’s Lower Zakum concession area in February and the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd. (ISPRL), mandated to store crude oil for strategic needs. Last month ADNOC delivered the first 2 million barrels of 5.86 million barrels of UAE crude oil, to be stored at the ISPRL’s facility, in Mangalore.

At the workshop, the ADNOC team detailed the investment and partnership opportunities in ADNOC’s operations, in particular the recently announced offshore and onshore exploration and production licenses, which, for the first time, have been opened for competitive bidding, and ADNOC’s downstream expansion plans. Opportunities for collaboration between ADNOC and India’s growing refining sector were also explored, as well as possible expansion of ADNOC’s relationship with ISPRL and the long-term supply of ADNOC crude oil and petrochemicals within India and petroleum products marketing and retail.