US energy secy to meet Pradhan, Goyal
NEW DELHI: With India likely to receive its first shipment of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from the US next month, US energy secretary Rick Perry is scheduled to hold talks with petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and coal and railways minister Piyush Goyal on March 1 with a focus on crude oil, LNG and cleaner coal technologies.
India will annually purchase $2 billion worth of crude and LNG from the United States and is looking to acquire energy storing technology for its long term solar plans.
Senior ministry of external affairs (MEA) officials said that after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump met last June, it was decided that India would purchase 7.85 million barrels of crude and 5.8 million tons of LNG in order to diversify its energy basket beyond West Asian countries. The crude shipment of 1.6 million barrels arrived last October in Paradip.
Although secretary Perry is expected to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit, its time and dates are still not confirmed.
In his meeting with petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Perry is likely to discuss the global crude oil situation, including its future prices. Senior officials confirmed that the meeting will also focus on LNG with shale gas not expected to be discussed on priority.
However, during Perry’s meeting with Goyal, India is expected to seek access to cleaner coal technologies for extraction as well energy from non-conventional resources. In this context, the Prime Minister has addressed the need for efficient and cheaper energy storage technologies without any adverse impact on the environment. India is looking to collaborate with US companies for energy storage technologies and the possibility of these being manufactured in the country.