Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman held talks over the telephone on Thursday with India’s new Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri.

During the talks, they sought to strengthen bilateral energy partnerships and discussed developments in the global energy markets, according to the Indian minister.

In a series of tweets on Thursday, Puri said: “Saudi Arabia is a central player in the international energy market. I conveyed my desire to work with His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz to bring greater predictability and calm in the global oil markets, and also to see hydrocarbons become more affordable.”

“Highlighted the crucial role of Saudi Arabia in rapidly growing energy needs of India in the coming years, and my strong desire to work with His Royal Highness to further diversify our bilateral strategic energy partnership beyond buyer-seller to see greater two-way investments,” he added.

Concerned over the rising oil prices, India has been reaching out to key oil producers in the Middle East.

Puri called Emirati Minister of Industry Ahmed Al Jaber, who is the chief executive of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC), seeking the UAE’s support in lowering prices.

In March, Puri's predecessor Dharmendra Pradhan blamed production cuts by OPEC+ members for driving up oil prices, prompting a strong response from the Saudi energy minister.

In his reaction, Prince Abdulaziz said India should take some of the crude out of the storage that it had purchased "very cheaply last year".