Third India- Australia Energy Security Dialogue Begins on Monday
India and Australia would look to discuss, among other issues, business cooperation in coal bed methane and LNG production and trade, during the 3rd India – Australia Energy Security Dialogue to be held from 8th to 11th February 2016 at Australia.
Piyush Goyal, Indian;s Minister of State for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy will co-chair the Dialogue.
The coal sector of India envisages doubling its production in next five years. In this context, areas such as CBM and coal mine methane development and underground coal gasification (UCG) have been proposed for deliberations, the government said in a statement.
“Government of India has recently put in place a policy for development of underground coal gasification and ministry of coal is likely to come up with some coal blocks for offer for development of the resource. The Australian companies can look forward for participation in this area. There is ample scope for the Australian mining companies in participating in the tenders for development of different coal blocks offered to various public sector companies in the recent past. Coal India Limited is embarking on development of CBM/CMM from their leasehold areas where Australian companies can look forward for participation for developing CBM resource,” the government said.
During the energy dialogue, India will share its perspective on upcoming opportunities for trade of LNG between India-Australia. Policy collaboration on issues pertaining to LNG trade will also be discussed. A Roundtable discussion on LNG trade, chaired by Goyal, will take place in Brisbane on 8th February. During the Roundtable Indian participants will share their perspective on “growth of natural gas and outlook of energy consumption in India” and the Australian side will share their perspective on “Upstream development initiatives for facilitating business opportunities for LNG production and trade”.
India’s Petronet LNG Ltd. has a 20-year contract with Gorgon gas to source 1.44 MMT of gas annually. This will be supplied to IOCL, BPCL and HPCL for further distribution. The supplies are expected to begin by November this year.
The India – Australia Energy Security Dialogue was established following the visit of then Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard to India in October, 2012. The Dialogue was institutionalized to discuss areas of mutual interest in energy security and key issues in India and Australia's energy markets, as well as regional and globe trends, and developments in both countries. Two meetings of the Energy Security Dialogue were held in New Delhi and Brisbane in 2013 and 2014 respectively.