Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Presidential Airport in Abu Dhabi on August 16. (AFP)
The United Arab Emirates is open to meeting any demand for oil from India, the Gulf OPEC member's economy minister Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri said today.
The minister was speaking after meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in the UAE on a two-day visit.
"India is importing oil now and the UAE is open to meet demand for any oil from India," Mr Mansouri said, adding that the issue would be discussed further by representatives of the two sides.
Abu Dhabi currently provides 9 per cent of India's energy needs and India is the world's fourth biggest oil consumer.
Minister Mansouri said PM Modi presented proposals for investments in India worth $1 trillion.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, is already an investor in India and further investment will depend on what India provides, Mr Mansouri added.
India is in talks to lease part of its planned strategic oil storage facilities to Abu Dhabi's state oil company ADNOC, government sources said last year. India imports about 80 per cent of its oil needs and is building emergency storage capacity to hedge against energy security risks.
A UAE industry source said this week that negotiations between ADNOC and India were continuing but no final agreement had been reached yet.
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