New Delhi
Aspart of the strengthening bilateral energy ties, India’s imports from the UAE have risen sharply over the years from less than one million barrels a day in the 1990s to about 4.4 million barrels a day in 2018, after which the Gulf nation has become the fourth largest crude supplier for India in 2026, according to a report.
India’s energy ties with the UAE took a quantum jump in 2018 with public sector ONGC Videsh, Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat PetroResources bought a 10 per cent interest in Abu Dhabi’s Lower Zakum offshore oilfield with an investment of $600 million.
India’s petroleum ministry told Parliament that it was the country’s first investment in Gulf oil production. It estimated that the stake would give the consortium an average of 1.75 million tonnes of crude a year over the 40-year concession, states the report by journalist Justin Varghese.
By 2026, Ministry of External Affairs listed the UAE as the country’s fourth-largest source of crude and its second-largest source of both liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas.
In May 2026, New Delhi and the UAE signed an agreement enabling India to hold part of its strategic oil reserve in Fujairah, where tankers can load outside the Strait of Hormuz. The same agreement opened the door for Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to store up to 30 million barrels in India.
India has chosen Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh as a site where ADNOC could participate in an existing oil storage facility. It also identified Chandikol, in Odisha, as a location where the two sides could work on developing reserve facilities. The proposed 30 million barrels is the potential total for ADNOC crude storage in India under the agreement.
The memorandum also covers possible cooperation on storage facilities in India for liquefied natural gas (LNG), and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
The port already gives Abu Dhabi a way to ship oil without passing through Hormuz. ADNOC’s existing 406-km pipeline carries crude from its onshore operations to Fujairah, where tankers can load for India.
New Delhi
ExternalAffairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar met with the UAE’s Ambassador to India, Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi, in New Delhi on Tuesday with discussions focused on deepening bilateral cooperation and strengthening the strategic partnership between the two nations.
Additional Secretary (Gulf) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Aseem Mahajan and other officials were also present during the meeting.
Following the meeting, EAM Jaishankar on X wrote, "Glad to receive Ambassador H.E. Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi of UAE today. We discussed deepening our bilateral cooperation and strategic partnership." Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was on an official visit to the UAE from November 1-2 that took place in the context of the regular, high-level engagement that characterises India-UAE relations and provided an occasion to take stock of the progress of the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.