Russia and India plan to develop cooperation in oil, gas and renewable energy sectors, Russian Energy Ministry said in a statement following the meeting between Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky and Indian ambassador to Moscow Pankaj Saran. “During the meeting , the two sides stressed the active development between Russia and India in the energy sector. In particular, they framed the main directions and prospects of the cooperation and showed interest in strengthening interaction in the oil and gas sector and in the sphere of renewable energy among others,” Russian spokesperson said.
Saran said that India appreciated Russia’s participation in the International Petrotech-2016 Energy Conference and in the BRICS round -table. For its part, Russia confirmed participation in the events set to be held in India in early December and backed the intention to make all the necessary efforts to ensure progress in further cooperation. Russia is an important partner of India in implementing oil and gas cooperation projects. Since 2001, India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) has been involved in the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project through its ONGC Videsh (OVL) subsidiary and owns a 20 per cent stake in the project. The company is the largest Indian investor in Russia. In May 2014, Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft and OVL signed a memorandum of understanding that stipulates cooperation on Russia’s continental Arctic shelf. On October 28, Rosneft successfully hammered out a deal to sell 11 per cent of Vankorneft’s shares to ONGC Videsh worth 930 million dollars. On November 2, Yanovsky confirmed that Indian companies remain interested in the extraction of hydrocarbons on the Russian shelf, as well as in joint projects aimed at selling liquefied natural gas (LNG), though there are no specific projects on the table.