UAE assures energy supplies to India

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday vowed to meet India's growing energy demand, saying it will remain the nation's trusted partner of choice.

Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said the UAE is investing across its energy supply chain to remain a reliable energy provider to India and the world.

Stating that the energy demand is outpacing supply, he said the present global scenario calls for continued investment across the entire energy sector to avoid a deeper supply crunch.

Speaking virtually at the 5th India Energy Forum by CERAWeek, he said India's economy is returning to "robust, almost double-digit growth" as the world recovers from the pandemic.

He acknowledged the challenges facing the energy sector during this phase and explained how the UAE is responding to remain a long-term and reliable energy provider to India and the world.

"This recovery comes with challenges, particularly for the energy sector, as we are seeing energy demand outpacing supply. It is clear that while the world rightly embraces the energy transition, we will need oil and gas for many decades to come. The current demand dynamic is, therefore, a wake-up call to continue to invest across the entire energy sector to avoid a deeper supply crunch," he said.

This, he said, is the approach being taken in the UAE. "We are investing across our energy supply chain and increasing our oil and gas capacity to ensure we remain a reliable, responsible energy partner to the world and India in particular."

The minister said India is one of the UAE's closest friends and one of its most important trading partners and the strategic ties between both countries have strengthened in recent years.

Al Jaber said the UAE is keen to build on the strong ties to expand energy cooperation.

"We are very proud that you have entrusted us to serve as a key supplier to India's Strategic Petroleum Reserves. We are proud to include Indian companies as concession partners in our upstream assets, and as major investors in our downstream value chain. And we are proud that India is now our number one LNG customer.

"Our partnership in energy has a great foundation that I want to build on. There are so many opportunities, from the full range of our refined and petrochemical products to new energies, like zero carbon hydrogen. And, as India expands its renewable energy portfolio, the UAE is keen to build on the investments we have already made to help you reach your 450 GW goal by 2030," he said.

Indian companies have steadily increased their participation in the UAE's energy sector.

In March 2019, a consortium of two Indian oil companies were awarded the exploration rights for an onshore block in Abu Dhabi.

This followed the award in February 2018 of a 10 per cent participating interest in Abu Dhabi's offshore Lower Zakum Concession to an Indian consortium of three companies.

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