India to seek concessional pricing for crude oil

NEW DELHI: Concerned over the spurt in global crude prices, India will seek concessional pricing of crude oil and a mechanism to insulate developing countries from high volatilities.
Petroleum Minister Ram Naik will make a case for discounted pricing and removal of disparities in crude pricing at the 12th Summit of G-15 countries in Venezuela.
Naik, who would be standing in for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajapyee at the conference with the theme ''Energy and Development'', said "some sort of stable price regime has to be worked out to insulate (developing countries) from high volatilities."
India had also raised the issue at the meeting of OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) and the 8th Internationl Energy Forum in Japan last month, as a follow up of which OPEC General Secretary will be visiting New Delhi next month to work out details.
Crude oil prices have jumped 40 per cent this year to close to $29 a barrel while India is seeking crude at $22-$23 a barrel, Naik told PTI.
Major oil producing nations in the middle-east, which have differential pricing formulae for Americans, Europeans and countries east of middle-east, supply crude to India at higher cost than those supplied to US and European countries even though New Delhi was geographically closer to them, he said.
Major oil producing countries Iran, Nigeria and Venezuela will participate in the Group of 15 developing countries meeting, he said.
The 12th G-15 Summit on October 29 and 30 would be preceded by meetings of Energy Ministers on October 26 and Foreign Ministers on October 27, Naik said.
"I was to attend the meeting of Energy Ministers but would also be leading the Indian side at the meeting of Foreign Ministers and the Summit itself because of preoccupation of the Prime Minister," he said.
G-15, set up in 1989, is the summit level group of developing countries which aims to promote North South dialogue in order to bring balanced benefits to developing countries in trade, investment and financial flows and provide access to environmentally sound high technologies.
Today there are 19 countries comprising G-15, which are Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.