India invites Saudi Arabia to strategic oil reserve programme

New Delhi Feb 23 (IANS) Indian Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday invited Saudi Arabia to participate in the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Programme an official statement said.

Under the programme the government has set up around five million tonnes of strategic crude oil storages at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Mangaluru and Padur (near Udupi) in Karnataka. and plans to construct additional strategic reserves in the second phase.

In a meeting here with visiting Saudi Energy Minister Khalid A. Al-Falih "Pradhan shared details of various investment opportunities in India in downstream and upstream sectors" the statement said.

The Saudi Arabian minister also provided details of investment opportunities for Indian companies in his country it said further adding that "both sides agreed to conclude discussions regarding concrete investment proposals in a time-bound manner"."

Al Falih is on an official visit to India from February 22-26.

--IANS
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