India seeks US collaboration for oil and gas exploration
India sought collaboration with US firms in prospecting for oil and gas in unexplored and difficult regions in the
country to boost indigenous production. After more than an hour-long interaction with US-India business council,
Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said US technology could come handy for enhanced oil recovery programme,
deep-sea oil and gas hunts and prospecting in frontier basins.
"There is a range of areas where we can collaborate with the US companies," he told. US technology could also help in
gas hydrates programme, hydrogen fuel, CNG and ethanol programmes, he said.
US-India business council president Ron Somers said, "Exploration successes in Krishna Godavari Basin and Rajasthan
need to be broadcast in the US to get companies to come to India."
Possible areas of collaboration, he said, include upstream oil and gas exploration and production, midstream pipeline
business and downstream cooperation in refining. The meeting was in preparation for the visit of US Energy Secretary
in November, he said.
