Business Standard | Hardeep Puri to lead delegation to global LNG meet in Milan on Monday

Sep 05,2022

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri will lead an official delegation to Milan in Italy, from 5-7 September 2022, to attend Gastech Milan-2022, the government said on Sunday.

Gastech is the largest annual gathering in the world focused on Liquified Natural Gas as an abated bridge fuel. Bridge fuels are those classified by governments or corporations as fuels to be used for achieving short-term greenhouse gas reductions by replacing coal-fired power. The use of these fuels is expected to be then reduced or ended over some period of time to lock in long-term greenhouse gas reductions.

Apart from officials from the Ministry, the delegation to the four-day exhibition and conference will also include Indian companies working in the sector. The meet is touted as the premier destination for natural gas, LNG, hydrocarbon and other low carbon solution professionals.

This year, the 50th anniversary of the meet is ideally timed two months ahead of COP-27 and will provide a forum for exhibitors, sponsors and speakers, to showcase to a global audience, their solutions to the challenges faced on the journey to net-zero.

Turbulent Times

The meet will coincide with gas flows from Russia via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, one of the main supply routes to Europe, remaining shut for nearly a week. While Russian's Gazprom, which runs the pipeline, has blamed the Western sanctions for holding up routine maintenance, the European Union blames Moscow for using the pipeline to starve Europe of energy.

"The event will bring together leading ministers and CEOs to discuss the evolving energy landscape; assess post-pandemic economic recovery and navigate a route to a just energy transition," the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said in a statement.

During the visit, the Minister will have bilateral meetings with his counterpart ministers and with CEOs of global energy companies at a time when the global gas markets have remained volatile, in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.

Puri will participate in the select Ministerial Panel of the Opening Ceremony along with the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Egypt and State Secretary of Energy of Portugal. He will also participate in ministerial panel discussions on energy transitions and the tools developing countries need to navigate it successfully.

Setting the stage

The government will also be looking to put across its energy arguments in front of a global audience when Puri chairs another panel discussion focusing on India's energy industry and the new avenues for a sustainable future. "The visit will be an opportunity to highlight India's economic growth story and the investment opportunities that exist in India across the entire energy value chain," the Ministry said.

Case in point, the Ministry’s flagship event, India Energy Week, scheduled to be held on 5-8 February 2023 in Bengaluru, will be launched by the Minister during the visit.