India Seeks Additional Crude Supplies from Angola.

NEW DELHI : India on Sunday sought additional crude oil supplies from Angola to feed its rising refining capacity, Oil Secretary S. Sudareshan said.

Sundareshan said India now imports up to 180,000 barrels per day of crude from the southwest African nation.

India, which imports about four-fifth of its crude oil needs, is scouting for energy assets abroad to meet growing demand.

The country aims to expand its refining capacity to about 4.8 million barrels per day in the next two years from about 3.7 million bpds now.

Sundareshan, who along with Oil Minister Murli Deora met visiting Angolan Oil Minister Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos, said Indian companies were keen to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Angola.

He said Indian firms were also interested in participating in the African nation's next exploration licensing round, likely to be launched next year.

"We seek special consideration (for getting stakes in exploration blocks on a preferential basis), which they (Angola) said they will look into," Sundareshan said.

Angola's oil minister is in New Delhi to participate in oil industry conference Petrotech.

Source : af.reuters.com