据8月4日Gulf Times报道,印度将加大美国油气的进口量。作为全球第三大石油消费国,印度正寻求实现供应来源多元化,为其13亿人口提供能源。
印度石油部长达门德拉?普拉丹(Dharmendra Pradhan)在新德里举行的彭博社新经济论坛(Bloomberg NEF)峰会上表示:“2014年,我们没有从美国获取任何能源,上个财年我们从美国进口的能源是60亿美元。我要负全责地说,这只是个开始,在不久的将来还会有更多的进口额。”
2015年末,美国撤销了一项限制未精炼原油出口的长达数十年的法律,此后,印度炼油厂开始购买美国石油。印度商业情报和统计总局(Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics)数据显示,在2018-19财年,这些加工企业从美国进口640万吨原油,价值36亿美元。印度企业还与美国签订了购买液化天然气的长期合同。
印度最大的国有炼油厂之一印度斯坦石油公司(Hindustan Petroleum Corp.)的负责人对布鲁姆伯(Bloomber)表示,今年晚些时候,美国二叠纪盆地的一些基础设施限制可能会被消除,这将增加供应,并可能使印度能够减少对中东的依赖——在印度,为满足原油需求而进口的三桶原油中,有两桶来自中东产油国。
从美国购买更多能源,将有助于调整贸易失衡。印度贸易部(trade ministry)数据显示,在截至3月31日的一年里,印度对美国的贸易顺差大幅下降,从去年的212.6亿美元降至171.2亿美元。
普拉丹表示:“印度有85%的石油需求依赖进口,我们也在寻求利用生物燃料等非传统能源,以减少油价波动带来的风险。成为一个5万亿美元的经济体的目标将刺激国家的能源需求,因此有必要开发每一种能源。政府提出了一项新政策,鼓励从固体和工业废物以及生物质等非粮食原料生产生物燃料。利用过剩的生物质产能,印度可以取代1%的石油进口依赖。”
洪伟立 摘译自 Gulf Times
原文如下:
India set to increase energy imports from US: Minister
India will step up oil and gas imports from the US as the third-biggest oil consumer looks to diversify its supply sources and secure energy for its 1.3bn people.
“When we came to power in 2014, we were not taking any energy from the US and last financial year it was $6bn,” India’s Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said at the Bloomberg NEF Summit in New Delhi. “I’m saying with full responsibility, this is just the beginning and a lot more would be spent in the near future.”
Indian refineries started buying American oil after the US reversed a decades-old law that restricted exports of unrefined crude in late 2015. The processors imported 6.4mn tonnes of crude worth $3.6bn from the US during the financial year 2018-19, according to data from India’s Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics. Indian companies also have long-term contracts for purchasing liquefied natural gas from the US.
Some infrastructure constraints in the US Permian Basin are likely to be removed later this year, which will increase supply and may result in India being able to reduce its reliance on the Middle East, the head of Hindustan Petroleum Corp, one of India’s biggest state-run refiners, told Bloomberg last month. Middle Eastern producers supply every two barrels out of three that India imports to meet its crude requirement.
Higher energy purchases from the US will help correct the trade imbalance that President Donald Trump has spoken about. New Delhi’s trade surplus with Washington fell sharply to $17.12bn in the year ended March 31 from $21.26bn a year ago, according to data from India’s trade ministry.
India, which imports 85% of its oil requirements, is also seeking to harness other non-conventional energy sources such as bio-fuels to reduce exposure to oil price volatility, Pradhan said. The goal of becoming a $5tn economy will boost the nation’s energy demand, making it necessary to tap every source, he said. The government has introduced a new policy that encourages bio fuel production from non-food feedstock such as solid and industrial waste and biomass. “Utilising the surplus biomass capacity, India can replace 1% of oil-import dependency,” the minister said.