India will use the services of its former diplomats in its pursuit of energy security through acquisition of oil and gas properties abroad particularly in West Asia, Africa and Central Asia.
Petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, a former Indian Foreign Service officer, has enlisted services of a host of ex-diplomats with experience in dealing with governments in the Arab world and the African nations, where the Chinese firms are increasingly outshining their Indian counterparts in grabbing limited oil and gas properties.
"We had called together some of the distinguished diplomats, each having regional skills and experience in economic diplomacy to set them up as Standing Committee on Oil Diplomacy for Energy Security," he told reporters after the first meeting of the committee which was also attended by foreign minister Natwar Singh in New Delhi.
"Our self-reliance in oil (production) has declined from 50 per cent in the 1980s to 30 per cent currently and is likely to further go down to 15 per cent in next 15-20 years," Aiyar said.
"It is very necessary to mobilise all diplomatic experience to synchronise with our investments abroad," Aiyar said.
Natwar Singh said it is very important for ministries of external affairs and petroleum to work together in realising energy security for the nation.
The committee, chaired by economist Arjun Sengupta and covened by seasoned diplomat M Hamid Ansari, would advise the government on the best possible course to win favours with the oil rich countries.
Singh said Talmeez Ahmed, a senior IFS officer, is being appointed at Petroleum Minister's pointsman for oil diplomacy abroad.
Ahmed, currently additional secretary in the ministry of external affairs, would be designated as additional secretary (overseas) in ministry of petroleum and natural gas once his appointment is approved at the highest level.
Aiyar had been seeking a foreign service official to give an impetus to India's efforts in negotiating with oil rich countries, especially the Arab world for reducing imports.
China's oil diplomacy has outperformed New Delhi in the pursuit of limited oil and gas reserves in Africa and West Asia, Angola being the latest country where India's flagship ONGC Videsh lost out on a 10 million tonne per annum oil field to a Chinese company.
India imports 70 per cent of its crude oil requirement and has also begun importing natural gas as domestic production meets hardly half the demand.
It sees acquiring oil and gas properties abroad as the natural answer to limited hydrocarbon in the country and increasing imports. Singh said diplomacy has changed and today it was about economics, trade and petroleum.
Aiyar said the Standing Committee would suggest steps needed in furthering the UPA-government's Common Minimum Programme (CMP) objective of energy security for the country.
At the two-hour-long meeting on Tuesday, opportunities and problems in Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Australia, Myanmar, Syria, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Qatar, Azerbaijan, Libya, Khazakstan, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal, Nigeria, Angola, West Africa, Sudan, Venezuela and Ecuador were discussed.
Besides officials of the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, former diplomats V K Nambiar, C Dasgupta, S K Lamba, C V Ranganathan, B Sengupta, Arundati Ghosh and Ranjit Sethi attended the meeting on Tuesday.
Aiyar said the standing committee would be advisory in nature and would not have executive powers to negotiate deals or pursue business interests on behalf of the country or any of the public sector oil companies.
"They will advise us and it is up to us to take necessary action," he said.
