Several of the Gulf’s major NOCs are mulling over a proposal to build a series of facilities along India’s vast coastline that will store large volumes of crude oil.
The India government has indicated that it would be prepared to develop joint ventures with any interested parties and hope that the move would make the country a regional hub for crude storage.
The NOCs who are thought to be interested include Saudi Aramco, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) and National Iranian Oil Companies (NIOC). It is believed that they would be offered contracts that run for between three to five years.
“This is one of our efforts towards the country’s energy security. It will also help producers in marketing crude oil, which will be stored close to the consumer,” government official RS Pandey is quoted by the India Times as saying.
India believes that due to it’s relative proximity to both the Middle East and South East Asia large amounts of crude could be shipped to large oil consumers countries such as China and Japan at short notice.
India would also benefit from having large crude reserves located on its shorelines as it is itself a major importer of oil.
