Energy Starving India Welcomes UK

Indian Minister of Energy Mani Shankar Aiyar yesterday attempted to persuade UK oil and gas firms to invest in South Asia, rather than in North Sea.

In a London conference to promote the auction of 20 new Indian oil and gas licenses, Aiyar called for the transferal of western technology into "new development opportunities" in India, which needs energy development, The Scotsman reported.

He alleged that an output in the North Sea has declined 60 per cent in a decade, yet an enormous amount of technology and enterprise is employed there. Companies have drilled 33 billion barrels of oil from the region since the 1970s, with remaining estimates ranging from 15-30 billion barrels.