India-UAE sign pacts on LNG supply, crude production and nuclear energy

5 MoUs were signed after the meeting of the UAE crown prince with PM Modi in Delhi

India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday signed five agreements to enhance cooperation in the energy sector and other areas, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held wide-ranging talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during the latter’s ongoing three-day visit to India.

Crown Prince Al Nahyan also called on President Droupadi Murmu, and visited Rajghat to pay his respects to Mahatma Gandhi. He will be visiting Mumbai on Tuesday.

An agreement was signed between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for long-term supply of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Constituting the third long-term LNG supply deal signed by ADNOC with Indian-entities in less than a year, the pact will see ADNOC deliver 1 million tonnes of LNG every year from its Ruwais natural gas project for 15 years. Last year, ADNOC had signed a deal with IOC to deliver 1.2 million tonnes per annum.

Up to 49 per cent of India’s local gas demand was met through imports in the April-July period of the current financial year. On the other hand, while gas meets only 6.2 per cent of India’s energy needs, the Centre has been planning to raise this figure substantially in order to reduce the dependence on petroleum.

ADNOC also signed an MoU with the India Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited (ISPRL), exploring additional opportunities for crude storage in India and the renewal of their storage and management agreement. ISPRL officials had earlier said it is preparing to lease out one of the 0.75 million tonnes-capacity storage caverns it operates in Mangalore. ADNOC has been storing crude in one of the caverns since 2018 and signed an agreement to use ISPRL's Padur facility as well.

A special purpose vehicle (SPV), ISPRL is under the petroleum ministry and manages 5.33 million metric tonnes (MMT) of strategic crude oil storage in three locations — Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, and Mangalore and Padur (Near Udupi) in Karnataka.

In a key move, a production concession agreement for the Abu Dhabi Onshore Block 1 has been signed between Urja Bharat - a joint venture of IOC and Bharat Petro resources Ltd, and ADNOC. The consortium holds a 100 per cent stake to explore and appraise oil and gas reserves in the 6,162-square-kilometer block around Ruwais, ADNOC's integrated refining and petrochemicals hub in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi.

In the field of nuclear energy, the two sides have signed an MoU for the operation and maintenance of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant between Emirates Nuclear Energy Company (ENEC) and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL). Beginning electricity generation in March, the plant is the first in the Arabian Peninsula, the second in the Persian Gulf region and the first commercial nuclear power station in the Arab World.

An MoU was signed between the Government of Gujarat and Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company PJSC (ADQ) on development of food parks in India.