Yemisi Izuora
India is now connecting with more African nations to satisfy her crude oil need, gradually looking away from Middle East market.
India’s oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, confirmed that African nations could play a central role in efforts by India to diversify its sources of oil and gas as the nation strives to reduce its energy reliance on the Middle East.
India, the world’s third biggest oil importer, has asked state refiners to speed up the diversification of oil imports to gradually cut their dependence on the Middle East after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC+ decided earlier this month to largely continue production cuts in April.
“As India seeks to further diversify sourcing of crude oil and LNG, Africa has a central role – largely due to its proximity and absence of any choke points in trans-shipments,” Pradhan told an industry summit.
India imports over 80 per cent of its oil and has a huge oil import bill.
Africa’s share of India’s oil imports is about 15 per cent or about 34 million tonnes of oil last year, Pradhan said. India’s imports of gas from Africa are also gradually increasing.
India traditionally buys oil from Nigeria, Angola, Algeria, Egypt and Equatorial Guinea but in recent years it has bought oil from Cameroon, Chad, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire also, Pradhan said.
“Therefore, we would naturally be seeking commercial partners in Africa to meet India’s growing energy needs through imports of crude oil, LNG and other petroleum and energy products”.
State-run Indian companies have invested $8 billion in oil and gas assets in various African nations.
