Where are the most oil reserves in the world? Who owns them? Find out!
US strikes on Iran's three main nuclear facilities have once again raised concerns that Tehran might shut down the Strait of Hormuz - one of the world's most critical chokepoints, through which a fifth of global oil and gas supply flows.
With India making it clear that the US doesn't have enough spare capacity for crude oil, Washington, DC, now wants India to sign fixed-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts with American producers, multiple sources in the know said.
US shale oil would act as an alternative to India's heavy dependency on Russian crude, which is currently facing sanctions.
'The US is strongly placed to expand its crude supplies to India.'
However, copious oil supplies amid growing global output and slowing Chinese oil consumption will put India in a better bargaining position with Gulf suppliers.
Even as Russia and West Asia have been slugging it out for market share in India to sell their crude oil, the US is quietly making its moves on the sidelines. The US has doubled its share of the Indian crude market in the past few months, according to industry sources and ship-tracking data. Some of the increase in America's market share may have come at the expense of Russia, India's biggest crude oil supplier, said industry sources.
Changes in global oil and gas rates matter more to India's economy than other major economies because the country imports around 87 per cent of its oil, half of its gas in the form of LNG, and over 60 per cent of its LPG.
With its rising energy needs, India has emerged as the fourth largest energy consumer of the world after the US, China and Russia.
Chinese officials have said that their country's pledge to reduce its carbon emissions relative to the growth of its economy will not be binding or subject to international verification, thereby casting doubts on the effectiveness of any agreements expected to be reached this week in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The rupee had gained two paise to close at one-month high of 62.14 against the dollar in Tuesday's trade.
Oil prices were poised for a third day of gains following a rise of more than 4 percent last week after Islamic militants seized much of northern Iraq as Baghdad's forces there collapsed.
Seeing the potential of shale gas, Reliance Industries moved early to secure a foothold in the Marcellus shale reserves in the US.
The rupee largely shrugged off the high volatility in stocks and rebounded sharply towards the fag-end trade following bout of dollar selling by exporters
Economics and politics both have major roles in determining oil prices.
India's network has expanded at a compound annual rate of around 4% which has added more than 4.8 km of additional roads since 1951, but even so the network remains badly underdeveloped
Soaring output has left the world awash with cheap crude as supply exceeds demand by 1 million to 2 million barrels per day
Traders have all but given up attempting to predict where the new-year rout will end
'Antony and I have been friends for over half a century, and I know the man does not tell lies. The problem is that what he believes to be the truth might not actually be true. He may believe that India needs the Congress, and that the Congress in turn needs the Nehru-Gandhi family, but that does not mean that India shares those articles of faith,' says T V R Shenoy.
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