India has raised concerns about the rising price of crude oil during a meeting with Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of Saudi Aramco, Khalid A Al-Falih.

An official statement said, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan raised concerns about increasing trend in global crude oil prices during a meeting with Falih. Pradhan also pointed to the need for uninterrupted supplies of crude oil and LPG (cooking gas) to India in view of the OPEC+ cuts.

Both Ministers also discussed about possible adverse impact of recent geopolitical developments on global oil market, the statement added.

Falih and Pradhan also reviewed various Saudi investment proposals in the Indian oil and gas sector, including the urgent steps to be taken to expedite the implementation of the first Joint Venture West Coast Refinery and Petrochemical Project in Maharashtra. The refinery cum petrochemical project is estimated to cost $ 44 billion, which will be the largest greenfield refinery in the world. Saudi Arabia’s participation in Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Program was also discussed.

The meeting was a follow-up to the first State visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in February this year.

Saudi Arabia is the second largest supplier of crude and LPG to India. In 2017-2018, India’s crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia were 36.8 million tonne, accounting for 16.7 per cent of total imports.

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