UAE is keen on making more investments in India, both in refining and petrochemical projects, as well as stocking more crude in storage projects, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of State in the UAE and CEO of the ADNOC, said this week.
“We are looking at expanding investment portfolio in the downstream sectors (particularly) oil refining and petrochemicals,” the minister told reporters on the sidelines of Petrotech Conference in Greater Noida, near capital Delhi.
UAE is looking to go beyond merely selling crude oil to India and wants to develop a strategic partnership.
“We are only looking at strategic partnership, given that we can also bring our own crude,” he said.
“India is not only an important market for us but is a very strategic partner.”
UAE was looking to expand its cooperation with India and it will look at enhancing avenues of cooperation, the minister said.
ADNOC and Saudi Aramco have jointly taken a 50 percent stake in the planned $44 billion refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra.
State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum together hold the remaining 50 percent stake in the JV.
ADNOC has also hired space at the underground strategic oil storages built at Mangalore and Padur in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
He said UAE was also looking at storing more crude oil in Indian storages.
“India is very high on our strategic agenda and expanding our strategic reserve in India will be an item on the agenda to be discussed with our friends and counterparts in India,” he said.
India signed an initial pact In last year November to lease out a part of its underground strategic oil storage at Padur in Karnataka to ADNOC for storing crude oil.
ADNOC also signed a similar agreement for filling up half of the 1.5 MT strategic oil storage at the Mangalore storage in Karanataka last February.
The UAE minister also received the Lifetime achievement award at the Petrotech Conference from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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