The U.S. Department of Energy’s Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Oil and Natural Gas Shawn Bennett visited New Delhi this week, where he gave opening remarks at the U.S-India Energy Roundtable hosted by the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) on the margins of CERAWeek India. The roundtable discussion included Government of India Officials, industry representatives, and officials from the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
DAS Bennett also met with B. N. Reddy, the India Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas’ (MoPNG) Joint Secretary for International Cooperation, with the objective to expand and elevate bilateral cooperation across the entire energy sector. They shared their insights on the U.S.-India Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP), the U.S.-India Gas Task Force (GTF), and useful areas for GTF engagement, as well as their views on India importing U.S. liquefied natural gas and crude oil. India and the United States have strong ties in energy and a mutual interest in increasing India’s domestic oil and gas production by building the critical infrastructure that will facilitate the development and production of those resources.
At a U.S.-India GTF meeting, MoPNG Joint Secretary for Gas Production Ashish Chatterjee joined DAS Bennett to discuss three strategic areas where U.S. industry has particular expertise—markets and regulation, gas grid strengthening, and gas demand growth. The United States and India are exploring pathways to promote natural gas development in India, and the GTF is a bilateral forum used to facilitate that collaboration.
Collaboration and partnership between the United States and India comes in response to President Trump and Prime Minister Modi’s meeting in June 2017 and their commitment to a U.S.-India SEP. This partnership advances both countries’ comprehensive, all-of-the-above energy strategies and shared commitment to environmental responsibility. A wide range of opportunities is now open for expanded trade in coal, oil, and gas, as well as a chance to modernize coal plants and advance carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies for both power generation and industrial applications across the entire energy sector.
India is an important market for U.S. exports, and U.S. energy resources are helping to provide the energy security and diversity required for India’s continuing economic development and growth and ever-increasing energy demand.
