BETUL, Goa: India Energy Week, currently underway in Goa, is seeing “phenomenal” participation with delegates from Gulf Cooperation Council countries present, the host said on Thursday, as New Delhi eyes more cooperation with the region.
The Indian government’s flagship energy exhibition, running Feb. 6-9, has attracted more than a dozen ministers, industry leaders including top executives of the Saudi oil giant Aramco and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and some 4,000 delegates from around the world.
It is the second edition of India Energy Week, after its inauguration in Bengaluru last year. It is hosted by the Oil and Natural Gas Corp., the largest crude oil and natural gas company in India owned by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
“This year’s participation in IEW has been phenomenal. We have the presence of multiple GCC firms and countries here,” Rajarshi Gupta, ONGC foreign wing managing director, told Arab News.
“It is very significant. They are one of the largest groups present here, and there are multiple touchpoints with them, multiple contracts.”
During one of the event’s sessions, Aramco’s senior vice-president for liquids to chemicals development, Dr. Faisal Faqeer, told delegates that the oil giant was in investment discussions with companies in India and that “hopefully, we will see some announcements soon.”
For India, boosting cooperation with the Gulf is key to its development as one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies.
“We would like to increase this partnership,” Gupta said. “Saudi Aramco is the leader in production, it’s the leader in reserve, it’s a leader in the export of oil and gas ... With them, and their presence and their increasing presence in IEW 2023 and IEW 2024, and going forward, I believe it is an important impetus to the conference and it also will grow bigger in coming years.”
India currently imports 80 percent of its crude oil, two-fifths of which comes from Russia.
Imports from Russia have grown since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine when Moscow offered New Delhi deep discounts on its crude. Before the war, Russia was a marginal player in the sector.
