Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and FICCI to host India-Africa Hydrocarbon Conference & Expo, Nov. 6-7

NEW DELHI, November 5, 2007. Investment and cooperation between Africa and India will receive a shot in the arm as petroleum and energy ministers, senior government officials and experts from 26 African countries engage themselves in depth with senior ministers of the Government of India and top honchos of the Indian oil industry at a two-day India Africa Hydrocarbon Conference and Exhibition beginning here on November 6, 2007 (Tuesday).

The ‘India Africa Hydrocarbon Conference & Exhibition’, is the first initiative of its kind by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) of the Government of India (GoI), jointly with FICCI. The event is supported by UNCTAD. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd. is the knowledge partner to MoPNG and FICCI for the event.

The India-Africa engagement in the hydrocarbon sector assumes significance in view of Africa’s potential as an investment destination for India’s oil and gas companies; and, in particular, Africa’s potential to play an increasing role in enhancing India’s oil supply security through diversification of its crude oil import sources. About a quarter of India’s crude oil imports are currently being sourced from Africa and given that the continent is expected to contribute approximately 25 per cent of the growth in the world’s petroleum and LNG supplies over the next three years, there is enormous potential for India to increase its volumes of crude oil imports from African countries in the future.

The ‘India Africa Hydrocarbon Conference & Exhibition’ will be inaugurated on November 6 by Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister for External Affairs. It will be addressed, amongst others, by Mr. Murli Deora, Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas; Mr. Anand Sharma, Minister of state for External Affairs; petroleum and energy ministers and senior officials from Algeria, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cote d’ Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Tunisia Mr. MS Srinivasan, Secretary, MoPNG; Mr. Nalin Surie, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs; Mr. YK Modi, Past President, FICCI and Chairman, GEECL; Mrs. Lakshi Puri, Acting Deputy Secretary General, UNCTAD; and Mr. Sanjay Kaul. Advisor, Energy & Resources, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd.

Apart from African Ministerial Session on Country-Specific Overview and Opportunities, the two-day conference will deliberate on Trade, Treaty and Regulatory Measures Governing Indo-African Trade and Investment Environment, Project Financing, Capacity Building and Manpower Development, India-Africa Opportunities in Upstream & Downstream Sectors, Gas Sector, EPC, Services and Material. Focused B2B meeting are lined up for both days of the conference.

With 10 per cent of the world’s total oil and gas reserves, Africa’s hydrocarbon exploration potential remains relatively untapped. There are significant opportunities for Indian companies to increase their exploration efforts in the continent, in line with the Government of India’s objective of acquisition of overseas oil equity.

Although a start has already been made in this direction, with both public and private sector Indian companies making investments across the hydrocarbon value chain in at least eleven African countries, India and Africa need to now revisit each others’ economies to get a better understanding of the full potential for investment and cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector. The objective of the conference is to provide a platform to enable this investment and cooperation.

Whilst favourable and stable regulatory frameworks are expected to play a vital role in facilitating investment flows between India and Africa, it is anticipated that these frameworks will evolve simultaneously over the next few years and that investment flows will accelerate this process of evolution.

Media Division