India raises concerns with Saudi Arabia

NEW DELHI:India’s oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan expressed concerns about rising crude oil prices to his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Khalid al-Falih, on Friday amid worsening U.S.-Iranian tensions, a government statement said.

Global oil prices rose sharply on fears of a US military attack on Iran that would disrupt flows from the Middle East, which provides more than a fifth of the world’s oil output.

Pradhan told Falih by telephone that he wanted Saudi Arabia to play an active role within OPEC and OPEC+ to keep oil prices at a reasonable level.

India is one of the world’s fastest growing energy consumers and its oil use only lags behind the United States and China.

Earlier this week, Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih had said that countries need to cooperate on keeping shipping lanes open for oil and other energy supplies after last week’s tanker attacks in the Middle East to ensure stable supplies.

While he did not outline any concrete steps after the attacks that damaged two tankers on June 13, Falih said the kingdom would do everything necessary to ensure safe passage of energy from Saudi Arabia and its allies in the region.

Falih expects the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers including Russia to meet the week after the G20 summit to be held in Osaka on June 28-29, to discuss an extension of a supply output cut agreement.