G20: Pradhan says affordable oil prices will facilitate demand recovery

• The G20 Energy Ministers' focused on ways and means to ensure stable energy markets

• India was, and will continue to be, the global energy demand centre, said Pradhan

New Delhi: At the first-ever G20 virtual meet, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said that affordable oil prices would be key to facilitating recovery in demand. The meeting was called by Saudi Arabia, in its capacity as the G20 Presidency, on Friday and chaired by Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz. The meeting was attended by Energy Ministers of G20 countries, guest countries and heads of international organisations including OPEC, IEA and IEF.

The Saudi Energy Minister also voiced the same when he said that ensuring affordable energy supply is key to facilitating a global economic recovery.

Pradhan advocates a stable oil market at G20 meet

"Appreciated the efforts of OPEC and OPEC+ to balance supply-side factors. Also, advocated for a stable oil market, and the need for targeting oil prices at affordable levels to allow for a consumption-led demand recovery," said Pradhan in a tweet after the meeting.

"India was, and will continue to be, the global energy demand centre. We are sourcing crude for our strategic petroleum reserves," Pradhan told the conference and added how India was fueling the demand despite a national lockdown that has sharply cut the overall fuel demand, except for LPG. "Providing free LPG to more than 80 million poor families under #PMUY as a part of PM Modi's relief package to support the vulnerable, has boosted LPG demand," he said. In terms of the ongoing energy market fluctuations, the Minister stated that India has always advocated for a stable oil market, which is reasonable for producers and affordable for consumers. He appreciated the collective efforts of OPEC and OPEC-plus countries to balance the supply-side factors which are imperative for long-term sustainability. He has, however, urged that oil prices should be targeted to affordable levels to allow for a consumption-led demand recovery.

G20 calls for stability in the face of COVID-19 pandemic

The G20 Energy Ministers' focused on ways and means to ensure stable energy markets, which are affected due to demand reduction as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing surplus production-related matters.

During the meeting, Pradhan reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for G20 taking a human-centric approach for overcoming challenging hardships, especially for the vulnerable.

The G20 Energy Ministers' meeting will be adopting a Joint Statement, which inter alia, proposes to establish a Task Force to advise the G20 Energy Ministers on the next steps, and agreed to remain engaged in the coming days.