India and Russia are looking at new means to further participation in the energy sector, according to Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Steel, Dharmendra Pradhan. In an official statement, Pradhan said, “We are keen to explore the new northern sea route to source crude oil and LNG through Russia’s Arctic. The route has the potential to cut the cost and time for transporting LNG from Russia to India. A sea line between Far-East Russia and the East coast of India will also facilitate sourcing of coking coal from the region.”
“We are working on the strategy to diversify our crude oil supply sources and we are now exploring ways to import crude from Russia as well,” he added. Speaking about co-operation between India and Russia in the oil and gas sector, Pradhan said, “We have strengthened our engagement in hydrocarbon sector. There is an ‘Energy Bridge’ between our two countries. With Russia being one of the largest producers of oil and natural gas and India being the world’s third largest energy consumer, Russia has the potential to become an important source to fulfil India’s oil and gas requirements.” Our Bureau