PremiumNEW DELHI : India will be a growth driver of global energy demand, Igor Sechin, chief executive officer of Rosneft Oil Company recently said at the 24th St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
This comes against the backdrop of one of the world’s largest publicly traded oil company’ Asian pivot. India, as the world’ third largest oil importer has an important role to play in Rosneft's recalibrated playbook, that has a low production cost of around $2.6 for every barrel of oil equivalent.
“Igor Sechin expressed his certainty that the plans of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to improve energy availability to every citizen of the country will make India the key growth driver of the global demand for energy resources," according to a recent statement issued by Rosneft.
This comes at a time when India is leaning on its old energy partner Russia to cushion its consumers from price shocks, with the two countries exploring an approach to protect both the buyer and the seller from the sharp volatility in global prices as reported by Mint earlier. India is also eyeing more long-term crude oil contracts from Russia.
“Along with China, India will become another locomotive of the global demand recovery. According to IMF’s forecast, India will see a 7.7% GDP growth per annum over the next 5 years, while China’s GDP will grow by 5.8% per annum. Demand for energy resources will be growing at outstripping rates in both countries," Rosneft added.
This comes against the backdrop of the Indian government working on diversifying the country’s energy basket with crude oil supplies from non-Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) sources. India has said that it will source crude oil from any country that offers cheaper and favourable terms. With domestic petrol and diesel prices at record highs, India had expressed its displeasure to Opec for "backtracking" on its commitments.
“Referring to the image of India as a heavenward Sun god’s chariot mentioned by Mr Narendra (Modi), we could safely state that the development of Indian economy will make considerable influence on the image of global energy," Sechin, one of the most powerful men in Russia said, was quoted as saying in the statement.
India’s green energy space has also been witnessing significant traction, with a global shift to green energy to address growing environmental concerns. India is running the world’s largest clean energy programme to achieve 175 GW of renewable capacity by 2022.
“Igor Sechin noted that the world is at the crossroads because of the strategic issue of interfuel competition. According to him, the so-called “green" energy is already a significant force. It became especially visible during the period of oil market volatility last year when the capitalization profile of green companies considerably outpaced the performance of both petroleum majors and the market in general," Rosneft said.
Also, Rosneft has been exploring a play in India’s solar energy space.
“Igor Sechin expressed his certainty that the plans of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to improve energy availability to every citizen of the country will make India the key growth driver of the global demand for energy resources. At that, the Energy Concept of India rather than placing focus on one or two priority areas provides for well-balanced development of all energy sources—renewable energy, biofuels, gas, cleaner use of oil and coal, as well as the transition to new energy sources, including hydrogen," Rosneft added.
Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!!