Deora calls for enduring partnerships bet producers, consumers

New Delhi, Oct 31 (UNI) India has called upon the oil producing and consuming nations to forge "enduring partnerships" in today's world of energy interdependence.

Issuing the call at the 6th Russian Oil And Gas Week (International Energy Week - Moscow Energy Dialogue) in Moscow, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora said "both producers and consumers must forge enduring partnerships for mutual growth." Noting the robust growth in oil demand specially in India, Mr Deora clarified that oil scarcity is dismissed as a myth and rightly so as no shortage of oil has been experienced.

"However, policy makers should not lose sight of the fact that the record energy prices are due to capacity constraints across the supply chain in areas of oil production, refining and logistics.

There is a need for all of us to recognise the structural shortcomings in the supply chain and address these aggressively," he told participants attending the Oil and Gas Week on the theme of "The Global Energy Problems and Energy Security".

India, he said, had plans to double its refining capacity from 2.7 million barrels per day currently over the next 5-6 years to bridge the gap between global demand and spare and the refining capacity.

The Minister invited Russian companies to invest in India's refining sector, pointing out that Indian refineries are producing high quality environment friendly fuels.

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