Shrikant Vaidya, chairman of Indian Oil Corporation, India's largest refiner, said it was committed to securing long-term oil and gas contracts with the Middle East. At the Middle East oil and gas event in Dubai, we've maintained everything we've promised from the Middle East, the country's total energy volume has increased.

While I may get oil from other regions, my ongoing relationship with the Middle East on oil supply remains intact. However, Mr Vaidya said spot purchases in the region had fallen to accommodate more Russian crude. India, the world's third-largest crude importer, has increased its imports of discounted Russian oil since the war in Ukraine broke out last February.

Indian Oil Corporation Chairman Shrikant Vaidya speaks at Middle East Oil and Gas Conference in Dubai

Russian oil cargoes to India rose to 44 million tonnes in 2022 from 6.5 million tonnes a year earlier, according to valuation firm Vessels Value. Russia's oil exports hit 8.3 million barrels per day in April, the highest level since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the International Energy Agency said in a report last week.

The IOC president also said an aging fleet of crude oil tankers could cause bottlenecks. Nearly 28% of crude carriers will be decommissioned within a few years and orders for new ships are close to zero, Mr Vaidya said.

The IOC aims to sign more long-term crude oil contracts, backed by strong demand from India over the next two decades. We see opportunities and partnerships in refining and petrochemicals. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a speech in February that the country was now working to increase its refining capacity to 450 million tonnes per year from the current 250 tonnes.

Mr Modi said at the time that the country's LNG import capacity had almost doubled from 21 million tonnes a year in 2014. India's plan to increase the share of natural gas in its energy mix to 15 percent from the current 6.5 percent creates huge potential for investment and future energy agreements, Mr Vaidya said. The country's green transition program offers another area of opportunity.

India, which aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070, aims to produce 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030 to meet half of its energy needs through renewables. As part of its national green hydrogen mission, the South Asian nation aims to produce 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2030, with the potential to reach 10 million tonnes as export markets grow.Editor/XingWentao