India never halts buying Iran oil - Mr Reddy

Sunday, 04 Mar 2012

Tehran Times cited Mr S Jaipal Reddy oil minister of India as saying that government is not facing any external pressure on buying crude oil from Iran and will abide by UN sanctions only not those imposed by any bloc of nations.

Mr Reddy said that rejecting US and European sanctions against Iran we respect UN sanctions but will not honor any other sanction. We have cordial relations with Iran and we continue to import oil from them.

US have imposed sanctions that deny access to the US financial system to any foreign bank that conducts business with the central bank of Iran. Besides, European Union has agreed to ban oil imports from Iran starting July 1st 2012 as part of measures to ratchet up the pressure on the Persian Gulf nation's nuclear program.

Mr Reddy rejected US President Mr Barack Obama's statement that demand in China and India was responsible for spiraling international oil prices and said that India's per capita consumption at 442 kilogram of oil equivalent was much lower than world average of 1,715 kilogram. Geo political reasons are to be blamed for spike in global oil prices.

He said that India is currently world's fourth largest consumer of energy accounting for 4.4% of world's annual energy consumption. USA, China and Russian federation are the top 3 energy consumers. Almost 40% of the primary energy consumption is by USA and China.

Mr Reddy said that the energy sector has witnessed major volatility in crude oil prices, scarcity of services and economic meltdown globally in the past few years. Global demand for energy is oscillating in tandem with the economic condition of the world. Economics in the energy sector is also being affected by the dynamics in global political scenario and economic sanctions regime leaving an adverse impact on the demand supply situation.

India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Currently, the domestic energy supplies are limited and the import dependence is as high as 80% for crude oil and 25% in case of natural gas. The situation may not change much in the 12th Plan period as the demand for oil and gas is increasing. The share of oil and gas in Indian energy basket is about 40%.

He said that with the projected demand and supply gap, it is imperative for US to enhance energy security for the country for which intense efforts in exploration activities in India as well as abroad are being made.

(Sourced from Tehrantimes.com