Thursday, February 13, 2014: The visit of Moniz to India, is a highly important attempt as the energy starved India is exploring for gas imports from the US. The discussion between the Indian officials and US government will centre on issues of oil and gas investment and safety, unconventional gas cooperation, energy policy, security of supply and strategic oil reserves and South Asia regional Energy Integration.
The issue of export of LNG from US to India, the future of energy matrix, gas scenario by 2020 both global and regional, and its implication in the TAPI project are likely to come up in the awaited discussion, as reported in the Hindu.
The two-day visit was supposed to take place in January, but was postponed due to diplomatic spat between the two countries and the visit was rescheduled on 10 March. India will talk to US over the issue of enhanced shale gas and LNG exports to India. The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will lead consortium, and is likely to motion for US resources and expertise in shale gas exploration.
The US side is inclined for collaboration between Indian universities and US Petroleum Engineering Departments, including Tax A&M University at College Station, Huston and its Doha (Qatar) campus.
The country desires to offer India assistance in development of salt caverns. With the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, US wants to coordinate efforts with International Energy Agency (IEA) to assist in different business models available for operation in specified reserves.
However, India wants US to revise the restrictive policy for other Indian companies. The US does not allow gas exports to any country which does not share a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the country. While, US made an exception for GAIL India Ltd, as Cheniere Energy will supply GAIL , 3.5 million tonnes per year of LNG from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass LNG terminal.
