On November 5, 2020 OPEC(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) Secretariat hosted the 4th High-Level Meeting of the OPEC-India Dialogue through video conference. The meeting was co-chaired by Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel and Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, Secretary General of OPEC.
- It is to be noted that this is the first meeting of this Institutional Dialogue since the start of COVID-19 pandemic.
Aim of the Meeting–Â To Discuss about the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on both the world economy and energy markets including oil markets.
Note:The next High-Level Meeting of the OPEC-India Dialogue will be held in 2021, in New Delhi
Key People
OPEC Member countries, Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India and Chairman and Managing Director(CMD) & Managing Director(MD)s of India’s oil and gas industry from both the public and the private sector also joined the virtual meeting.
Highlights of the Meeting:
i.Discussions were made on the fast changing global energy landscape, overcoming energy challenges, global oil price mechanisms, measures being taken by OPEC and its partners to balance oil markets, and to ensure oil supply security for India.
ii.Dharmendra Pradhan invited the member countries of OPEC to invest in India, particularly in the country’s efforts to transform India into a manufacturing hub, which will be at the core of the global value chain and to strengthen gas infrastructure and build commercial-cum-strategic petroleum storages under Phase-II.
iii.India urged to assess the impact of COVID-19 induced disruptions on global energy sector supply chains. It also stated that the OPEC needs to address the deviations in the crude price differential for different regions.
iv.Iraq remains top oil supplier to India.
OPEC’s World Oil Outlook 2020: India accounts for 16% of the global economy
i.OPEC in its recent World Oil Outlook 2020, has projected that India will account for 16% of the global economy by 2045, double that of 2020.
ii.It has projected that India will emerge as a leading energy consumer over the long term.
iii.The oil demand of India is forecasted to increase to 10.7 million bpd(barrels per day) by 2045 from 4.7 million barrels per day in 2019.
iv.With this the global share will rise from 5.2% to 10.8% by 2045.
Key Info:
i.India imports about 80% of its oil from OPEC Member Countries.
ii.During FY 2019-20, India imported USD 92.8 billion worth of hydrocarbons from OPEC Member Countries.
iii.It is to be noted that OPEC meets 78% of India’s crude oil demand, 59% of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) demand, and about 38% of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand.
About OPEC- India Institutional Dialogue
- The OPEC-India Institutional Dialogue was started in 2015.
- The last high-level OPEC-India dialogue was held in New Delhi, India in October of 2018.
Recent Related News:
On October 27, 2020, India hosted the third India-United States (US) 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in New Delhi where India side was represented by Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister) Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and the US side was represented by Secretary of State Michael Richard Pompeo also known as Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Thomas Esper.
About Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC):
Founded– September 1960 in Baghdad, Iraq, with the signing of an agreement by 5 countries namely Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
Member Countries– 13
HeadQuarters– Vienna, Austria(Since September 1, 1965; Originally established in 1961 in Geneva, Switzerland)
Secretary General– Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo
Constituency:
Dharmendra Pradhan- Rajya Sabha, Madhya Pradesh
