India and the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Tuesday called for deeper cooperation to ensure stable and predictable global energy markets, with Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri stressing the need for sustained dialogue between producers and consumers to secure investment and reliable supplies.
Puri and OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais co-chaired the seventh High-Level Meeting of the OPEC-India Energy Dialogue in New Delhi, where the two sides discussed oil market stability, energy security and the need for adequate and timely investment across the petroleum industry. They also reviewed short-, medium- and long-term energy market outlooks, with a focus on India’s growing contribution to global energy demand.
India’s demand grows
Puri said India and OPEC shared a “naturally complementary and mutually beneficial relationship”, adding that New Delhi valued its longstanding engagement with the grouping and its member countries.
“As one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies, India will remain an important driver of global energy demand in the decades ahead,” Puri said.
He said sustained producer-consumer dialogue was essential to support investment, strengthen energy resilience and ensure reliable supplies for global growth and development. India called for closer cooperation with OPEC towards a balanced, stable and predictable global energy market.
The discussions assume significance amid geopolitical uncertainty and volatility in international energy markets. For India, one of the world’s largest oil consumers and importers, stable supplies and predictable prices remain critical to managing its expanding energy requirements.
Puri also acknowledged OPEC’s efforts to promote stability and transparency in global oil markets and underlined the importance of adequate investment to ensure that future supply keeps pace with demand.
OPEC sees India as priority
Al Ghais said engagement with India remained a priority for OPEC because of the country’s increasing importance to the global energy landscape.
“Dialogue with India is a priority for OPEC because we recognise India’s importance within the current global energy landscape and the fact that this importance will only increase in the decades ahead,” he said.
The OPEC chief said several of India’s energy priorities were also priorities for the oil producers’ grouping and welcomed New Delhi’s emphasis on international cooperation and dialogue in dealing with global challenges.
The OPEC-India Energy Dialogue was launched in New Delhi in 2015 and has now completed 11 years. It has developed into an institutional platform through which India, as a major oil-consuming economy, and OPEC’s producer countries discuss market developments, investment and long-term energy requirements.
Investment in focus
A key theme at Tuesday’s meeting was the need to maintain sufficient investment throughout the oil industry. The two sides discussed the importance of timely capital expenditure as demand evolves and the global energy system undergoes a wider transition.
For India, the dialogue provides a channel to raise consumer concerns around affordability, reliability and market stability, while OPEC has increasingly highlighted the need for sustained upstream investment to meet future oil demand.
The meeting also reviewed progress under the OPEC-India framework, including cooperation at the technical level. Both sides agreed that energy cooperation should be further strengthened as India’s demand assumes a larger role in shaping global markets.
The eighth High-Level Meeting of the OPEC-India Energy Dialogue will be held in Vienna, Austria, on a mutually convenient date.