India Energy Week 2024: Leaders Gather for Energy Security

Betul (Goa), Feb 5 (PTI) Leaders from India and key energy-producing nations will gather for the second annual summit here against the backdrop of burgeoning geopolitical crisis in the Red Sea and tighter sanctions against Russia.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the India Energy Week being held at a massive temporary hanger built at ONGC's training institute here in South Goa.

Energy ministers from Libya, Sudan, and Ghana as also OPEC secretary general will feature at the IEW conference, an official statement said.

"India Energy Week, 2024 will bring the energy ministers from across the energy producing world and key decision-makers in the oil and gas market under one roof. The IEW platform would serve as a conducive space for collaboration on policies, based on exchange of experiences, to usher the world into a cleaner future," it said.

This year's event is being held against the backdrop of Houthi militants attacking shipping vessels in the Red Sea, which is used as transit for importing oil from Russia -- now the top oil supplier to India.

The attacks have forced ships to take a detour via a longer route around the southern tip of African continent, increasing freight and insurance as well as causing shortage of vessels due to a longer transit period.

Leaders are expected to deliberate on securing energy supplies amid the challenges as well as talk on transition to cleaner sources of fuel.

Igor Sechin, the powerful Chief Executive of Russia's oil major Rosneft Oil Co. PJSC, was expected to attend the conference but dropped out.

"The prominent foreign-government functionaries speaking at the event include petroleum ministers from Libya, Nigeria, Sudan, and energy ministers from Ghana, Djibouti, and Sri Lanka, among others," the statement said.

The top decision-maker body for oil-exporting countries, OPEC, will be represented by its Secretary General Haithan Al Ghais.

Additionally, to provide a 360-degree perspective on the global energy scenario, IEW 2024 will also feature speakers from regulatory bodies, renewable, and alternate fuel associations and companies, policy researchers, and consultants.

"IEW 2024 will feature a rich spread of strategic conferences with global decision makers deliberating over the future of sustainable energy," it said.

These sessions will include ministerial panels featuring energy ministers and policymakers from around the world, leadership panels involving global business leaders and industry experts, fireside chats and expert interviews led by Indian policymakers and energy leaders and executive sessions with global leaders at the forefront of business operations.

Some of the sessions are 'India's Oil Market 2030' and, 'Energy supply chain of the future and the impact of the choices of the current fuel mix', on February 8; 'Seismic shifts -- harnessing new exploration technology to develop deepwater frontiers' on February 9; and 'Ensuring energy security for nations and industry in a VUCA world' on the opening day.

IEW 2024 is being held from February 6-9 at the IPSHEM-ONGC Training Institute.

"India has enjoyed remarkable success in answering the challenges of simultaneously ensuring energy security and energy transition," the statement said.

"The country has responded to the daunting challenge through a slew of measures encompassing, but not limited to, increasing domestic crude oil and natural gas exploration and production, rapidly raising ethanol blending in petrol to cut imports and keep prices affordable, and deploy large-scale renewable power generation capacity at a lower cost than thermal power."

IEW is expected to highlight India's leadership in the battle against climate change while allowing stakeholders across the energy spectrum to freely exchange ideas and explore opportunities under one roof.

In India, the world has found a viable template to balance the dual challenges of energy security and energy transition. In Goa, the global energy ecosystem can study India's template and evolve new strategies for a prosperous and sustainable world, it added.