Energy guzzler India seeks foreign investment in strategic petroleum reserves

By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has invited global firms to invest in its strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs) as the nation's energy consumption growth would be fastest among large economies in coming decades, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan told a conference on Monday.

India's share in global energy consumption is set to rise from 7% to 12% in 2050, Pradhan told the ADIPEC conference.

The nation, the world's third-biggest oil consumer and importer, earlier this year filled its three SPRs in southern India with 5.33 million tonnes of oil when prices were low.

To attract private investment in its SPRs, India recently allowed Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) to re-export some of its oil stored in Mangalore SPR, mirroring a model adopted by South Korea and Japan.

The country is building two more commercial-cum-strategic petroleum storage with capacity of 6.5 million tonnes.

"I invite global energy players to come and invest in this project," he said, adding India's fuel demand has almost recovered to the pre-Covid levels.

Last month, local sales of key fuels - gasoline, gasoil and cooking gas - in India rose compared to last year.

"We anticipate that this recovery path in energy demand growth in India will sustain in the coming months," he said.

India wants to cut its carbon emissions and raise the share of gas in its energy mix to 15% by 2030 from the current 6.2%.

Companies are investing $60 billion in creating oil and gas infrastructure over five years through 2024, which includes building gas import terminals and expanding gas pipeline networks to provide last mile connectivity to households and industries.

The South Asian nation is spending $20 billion to produce 15 million tonnes of compressed biogas by 2023, and has recently started supplying hydrogen compressed natural gas for 50 buses as a trial.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Bernadette Baum)