Published on September 24, 2013
Expedition on the discussions over joint ventures between the oil and the gas sector, have been agreed and brought on priority by the Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil Mustafa Al- Shimali and Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas M Veerappa Moily. An assured confirmation by Al-Shimali to Moily that Kuwait is open for further cooperation with Indian oil companies in refinery and petroleum projects to strength relations. Earlier as well, India and Kuwait have signed several agreements relating to scientific and technological cooperation including medical cooperation and in the areas of culture and education. Kuwait being the third largest supplier of crude oil, providing more than 10 percent of India’s crude oil imports annually is going to boost the market scenario as far as the petrochemical and chemical sector. Since the proposals are still being examined, a final decision has not yet been made, although the discussion on the petroleum project has been placed as a subject of priority. The two sides also discussed a possibility of a joint project for trading US shale gas. The discussion on associated planning and projection of these proposals with action is expected to boost the domestic petrochemical sector with further appreciated relations between the two countries.
The bilateral meeting was attended by Charge d’Affaires at the Kuwaiti Embassy in Seoul Abdulrahman Al-Shehab and a high level delegation from the Oil Ministry and KPC. At the one day gathering co-hosted by South Korea and Qatar, energy leaders from 21 countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, China and Japan, discussed energy-related issues in the Asian region. Heads of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the International Energy Agency and the International Energy Forum also took part in the biennial meeting. The agenda of the meeting was to attend to the energy related issues and business upheaval in the Asian region. The meeting was in complete context to the history and the statistics it shares and balances on the subjects of oil and trade. The balance of trade has always been heavily in favor of Kuwait with Indian exports to Kuwait amounting to a mere $1.1 billion in 2011–12. Petroleum imports worth $15.67 billion from Kuwait makes it India's second largest supplier of oil from the GCC countries next only to Saudi Arabia. Indian exports to Kuwait in 2011–12 consisted of value added goods such as iron and steel products, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances, electrical machinery and equipment and food items.
As per the reaffirmation by Al-Shimali, Kuwait’s oil investment and expansion projects aims at reaching its production target at 4 million barrels per day by 2020, a move that would help ensure stable crude supply to Asia, which accounts for 40 percent of global energy demand along with the non-associated gas to reach ultimately 2 billion standard cubic feet per day by 2020. Top issues in the forum included energy demand and supply outlooks in Asia, strategic petroleum reserve and enhanced cooperation within the same. A venture with an aim to achieve oil supply stability within the Asian region by seeking measures to develop and expand the current domestic response system to oil price and supply instability into a bilateral multilateral joint stockpiling system and production management by producers was forecasted, that is expected to majorly promote the Indian market because of its aforesaid contribution and participation it has had in the previous years.
The plan and the discussion is very well focused to the bombastic upheaval in both energy producers and consumers as they will provide both India and Kuwait, opportunities to explore possibility of new energy cooperation, which could be beyond petroleum trade.
Shruti Acharya - Author.
