RIYADH, 26 January 2006 — India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Mani Shankar Aiyar told Arab News yesterday that the Kingdom is “India’s main source of oil” mentioning that since last year, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi had personally assured him that the Kingdom would continue to meet India’s growing oil needs. “Saudi Arabia is our single most important supplier of oil,” he said.
The minister also said that Saudi Arabia was a strategic partner in the energy sector and the visit of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah would open new venues for cooperation in the liquid gas sector. He said that India was keen on the Kingdom’s investment in the hydrocarbon sector and mentioned that an investment in that area “would have good returns for the Kingdom.”
He also said that India was particularly interested in the Kingdom’s investment in LNG terminals and green-field refineries in addition to the expansion of current refineries. He said there was a disappointment that India was not short-listed in the Yanbu refinery projects opened for foreign investment last year, hoping that future venues for Indian involvement in Saudi projects to see the light.
The minister said that as part of the growing economic relations between Saudi Arabia and India, the Engineers India Limited would be opening an office in the Kingdom before the end of this month.
He said that currently, India has technical consulting firms in the Kingdom, but added that cooperation in the field of LNG “needed to be established.”
He stressed the importance of a network between the two countries, saying that there would be a future cooperation with Saudi Aramco in the field of oil and gas and with the King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals in the field of studies.
He said that the 21st century was a century for “Asia”, saying that the continent “was set to be the world’s largest oil producer.” He also said that Asia has the fastest growth rate in oil and that China and India alone represent 35 percent of the global trade in that area. It was important that Asian suppliers meet the needs of Asian importers, he added.
India is Saudi Arabia’s fourth largest trading partner, with Saudi exports, mainly crude, amounting to SR30.8 billion and Indian exports crossing SR6.2 billion. There are 106 Indian joint ventures in Saudi Arabia and over 50 Saudi joint ventures in India.