New Delhi: Washington is preparing to become a big supplier to India’s energy demands in an effort to diversify its import basket from the West Asian nation, which faces an uncertain future in West Asian oil markets and is being closely watched by Washington, a senior State Department official said.
On the sidelines of a high-level discussion in New Delhi, the official cited America’s position as one of the world’s biggest producers of oil and gas and argued that the United States is in a better position than most alternatives to be able to cater to India’s rapidly increasing consumption. The comments come in line with similar remarks made by other senior U.S. officials in the recent past, such as Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau who in his remarks at the Raisina Dialogue said India was grappling with the challenge of stable energy supply for its rapidly expanding economy and the U.S. was well capable of doing its part.
The comments are set against a backdrop of India importing about 88 per cent of its energy needs and a huge proportion of its crude imports passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage that connects the Persian Gulf with the global market, carrying almost 40% of the Indian crude oil imports. That route and India’s dependence on it has been watched closely in view of the ongoing tensions with Iran, which have driven Indian refiners to consider different crude sources.
This year, U.S. officials have emphasized energy as a component of the overall U.S.-China bilateral ties. Washington is on New Delhi’s side in its efforts to diversify energy sources and increased cooperation can enhance India’s long-term energy security, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, while observing that India has long been promoting diversification and the US would “love to be a part of that. During the conversation in New Delhi, Rubio added that both nations are “strategically aligned on energy” and desire a world able to not only generate energy, but supply it to run a modern economy.
Politics has not played a major role in the final decision for India, though cost and availability will still largely determine it. Stressing the ideological neutrality of energy choices, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said it is “pricing and availability” that is driving India’s energy acquisition, with the US having been seen as “virtually energy importer only few years ago” but now being an importer at $15-20 billion. New Delhi officials believe this is likely to continue the momentum as both countries seek to strengthen the relationship between the energy sectors.
