The conference which opens today, Thursday, January 21, in New Delhi will be the fourth edition of the event.
The government hopes to consolidate the talks that the Indian external affairs minister, Sushma Swar, and petroleum minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, had with delegates at the India-Africa Summit three months ago.
India’s domestic production of crude oil has hovered at 37 million tonnes (mt) and is likely to remain at this level with little likelihood of future discoveries and technological breakthroughs.
Africa is likely to be a significant source of meeting India’s hydrocarbon needs in the years to come which will also help India diversify its source of crude from volatile West Asia.
In 2014, India imported 32 mt of crude, 15 per cent of its consumption that year, from Africa. This was primarily from Nigeria and Angola and currently, India’s oil imports from Africa stand at 7.5 per cent. Nigeria is among India’s top four sources of gas which include Qatar, Australia, and Equatorial Guinea.
India imports 76 per cent of its crude oil needs, which by 2030 is estimated to reach 90 per cent, and the country also imports 37 per cent of its gas requirement.
In 2015, India’s gas imports from Africa doubled compared to 2013; India accounted for 8 per cent of Africa’s gas exports in 2015, compared to 4 per cent in 2013, official sources said.
Seventeen per cent of India’s refined products are headed for Africa and New Delhi expects this figure to rise to 20 per cent.