Union Min Dharmendra Pradhan in post COVID-19 meet urges OPEC countries to invest in India

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday encouraged OPEC countries to pay attention to changes that COVID-19 has brought in the global oil and gas sector. He urged the countries to look over the ongoing exchanges so that the oil sector and other energy challenges can be jointly addressed. Dharmendra Pradhan also invited all the OPEC member countries to invest in India so that the country can be transformed into a manufacturing hub which will be at the heart of the global value chain. 

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Dharmendra Pradhan invites OPEC countries to invest in India

The Union Minister further reiterated PM Modi's appeal of not letting a purely economic agenda define globalization and also said that there is a dire need for a consumption-led oil price affordability, demand recovery for ensuring the long-term sustainability of crude oil markets. Pradhan on November 5 co-chaired the 4th high-level meeting of the India-OPEC Energy Dialogue.

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Stating that OPEC has been a 'valuable partner' in India's energy security, the Minister highlighted the importance of India-OPEC Institutional Dialogue. Pradhan said that India offers a partnership that comes with a long-term advantage of demand as India's energy market is growing faster than any other energy market. Barkindo during the meeting appreciated the 'visionary leadership' of the PM Modi on addressing issues of climate change. 

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Pradhan said, " I urged Barkindo about the urgency and need to address the historical aberration in crude oil pricing for Asia by ending Asian Premium recognizing the shifting of demand for crude oil to Asia, which is further accelerated by COVID-19 pandemic."

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The Union Minister also informed that Barkindo has appreciated the resilience of India's gas and oil sector as India's energy agenda is driven by 7 key energy drivers that were enunciated by PM Modi during the India Energy Forum. Pradhan informed that the first meeting of this institutional dialogue since the onset of Coronavirus. This meet was also joined by CMD and MDs of India's oil and gas industry from both public and private sector.

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