India and Russia are further boosting their energy ties by pledging to cooperate in oil field development and liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in Russia, including in the Arctic shelf, the office of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after Modi held a two-day summit with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi.
India and Russia acknowledged the interest of Russian and Indian companies in cooperation in the field of LNG, and expressed their support for expanding the dialogue between Russia's gas and LNG developer Novatek and Indian energy companies, the prime minister's office says.
In June this year, India received its first LNG cargo from Russia under a long-term supply contract with Gazprom, in a move that India's Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan described as a "historic milestone in India-Russia energy ties" that would diversify India's energy sources.
Today, the leaders of India and Russia also said that they support energy companies from both countries to explore opportunities for joint development of oil fields in Russia, including the Arctic shelf, and joint development of projects on the shelf of the Pechora and Okhotsk Seas.
Putin and Modi also discussed a 2017 joint study on possible gas supply routes from Russia to India, the PM's office said.
Last month, Oil Minister Pradhan said that India's state-held oil and gas companies continue to explore participation in more oil and gas projects in Russia.
"India has embarked on the path of becoming a gas-based economy. Russian supplies will help us in meeting the objectives of price stability & energy security. Our oil & gas PSUs are continuing to explore their participation in more oil & gas projects in Russia," the minister said.
Some of the recent deals between Indian and Russian companies include Russia's oil giant Rosneft selling 15 percent in Vankorneft to India's ONGC Videsh for US$1.27 billion in 2016. Rosneft subsidiary Vankorneft was set up to develop the giant Vankor oil and gas condensate field in the North of Eastern Siberia.
Last year, Rosneft, for its part, bought 49 percent of India's Essar Oil Limited.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More