Riyadh stands committed to meeting all of New Delhi’s energy needs, including oil, according to Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Khalid A. al-Falih.
This meant an increase in investment in India as well. Saudi Aramco’s investment of $44 billion in the Ratnagiri refinery was “just the start” and the company was keen on investing in an integrated downstream business, including the retail side, as well as storage capacity, he said at the India Energy Forum on Monday.
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“Earlier today, I held a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and assured them of our full and continuing commitment to meet India’s energy demands, especially in oil, and to invest in India. To strengthen relations with India is a strategic priority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he said.
The ongoing belief that the rise of electric vehicles would mean the decline of oil missed the reality of the situation. Conventional vehicles still represented 99.8% of all vehicles in the world, and electric vehicles were in the passenger vehicle segment, which accounted for only a quarter of the oil demand, he noted.
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Mr. al-Falih said the majority of oil demand came from sectors such as heavy vehicles and commercial vehicles, and this demand would remain for a long time to come.
“The oil price pain being currently felt would have been much worse if we had believed people who 4-5 years ago said that oil demand had peaked and would decline. But Saudi Arabia pro-actively and responsibly invested to strengthen our spare capacity and so averted a major price shock,” he asserted.