The board of British multinational oil and gas major bp is holding a meeting in India, underscoring its commitment to develop its business in the country.
The bp board began a five-day visit to India on September 23, holding board sub-committee meetings as well as meeting government leaders and business partners. In between, it will hold its full board meeting.
This is the second time that the company’s board is holding a meeting in India. The board had visited the country in May 2013, two years after the company spent $7.2 billion in buying a 30% stake in 23 oil and gas blocks of Reliance Industries (RIL).
“The five-day visit of the bp board reflects bp’s significant and growing presence in India and its commitment to further develop its businesses in and with the country,” the company said.
After holding a meeting with Union minister for petroleum and natural gas Hardeep Singh Puri, bp chairman Helge Lund said, “bp is committed to working closely with the government of India to support its changing energy needs. By leveraging our combined experience and expertise with our partners, we aim to facilitate the secure, affordable, and lower carbon growth of India’s energy resources to meet the increasing demand.”
The meeting gains significance as India aims to become self-reliant in the energy sector while focusing on energy transition practices.
“I am sure that the robust partnership between the global energy major (bp) and India which spans across the entire energy value chain including exploration & production, biofuels, fuel retail and other emerging areas will continue to grow further,” Puri said.
bp is one of the largest international energy companies in India, having invested over $12 billion across the energy value chain in the country.
“There is huge potential for bp to work even more closely with India. We see growing business opportunities, including through our world-class partnership with Reliance, producing the country’s gas and growing our joint retail presence. In turn, India’s highly-skilled engineering and scientific talent can help us deliver our targets more effectively, efficiently and rapidly,” said bp chief executive Murray Auchincloss.
The company, in partnership with RIL, has in recent years brought onstream three new deep-water natural gas projects that account for a third of India’s gas production. The two companies have also joined hands to create a major retail, aviation fuels and mobility alliance, Jio-bp, now with close to 1,900 retail sites across the country and over 4,900 charging points.
“India is an important part of bp’s strategy as we transform into an integrated energy company,” said Kartikeya Dube, bp’s head of country. “Building on the century-old legacy with India through our Castrol brand, our presence across the gas value chain, mobility retail businesses and our global business and technology centre, we expect to grow a material business here, and help support India’s aspiration for energy independence by 2047.”
bp’s businesses in India include Castrol lubricants, oil and gas trading, and clean energy projects through Lightsource bp. “India’s highly-skilled talent pool also offers huge potential for bp, with a global business and technology centre in Pune that will support bp’s businesses worldwide,” the company said.
–With PTI inputs