Speaking to an industry summit, the Indian Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, Dharmendra Pradhan, said African countries could be key to India’s bid to diversify its primary source of oil and gas.

The world’s third-biggest importer wants to reduce its reliance on the Middle East after the extension of the OPEC+ cut agreements earlier this month, with Saudi Arabia leading the cut. India has always shown its frustration over the OPEC+ cut agreement. The country has a huge import bill as it imports over 80% of its oil.

Africa accounted for about 15% (or 34 million tonnes of oil) of India’s overall oil imports in 2020, the minister said. India buys oil from Nigeria, Angola, Algeria, Egypt, and Equatorial Guinea; and of recent, it has bought from Cameroon, Chad, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

He noted that Africa is the second-largest destination for Indian refined fuels. According to him, as the demand for technology, fuels, skills and investment in some African nations rise, it offers India opportunities for equity investment and two-way tie-ups.

He said: “As India seeks to further diversify sourcing of crude oil and LNG, Africa has a central role – largely due to its proximity and absence of any choke points in trans-shipments.”

“Therefore, we would naturally be seeking commercial partners in Africa to meet India’s growing energy needs through imports of crude oil, LNG and other petroleum and energy products.”

State-run Indian companies have invested $8 billion in oil and gas assets in various African nations.