The Hindu : Business : India, U.S. tie-up in oil, coal and nuclear energy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 03, 2006

Business

Business

India, U.S. tie-up in oil, coal and nuclear energy

Special Correspondent

MoU on offshore drilling for gas hydrates is ready

NEW DELHI: India and the U.S. have agreed on cooperation in a host of areas in the energy sector including oil, natural gas, coal and civilian nuclear energy. A national gas conference will be held here in May, while a memorandum of understanding is ready on offshore drilling for gas hydrates and a Business Advisory Council in the coal sector will be set up by the end of this month. The ongoing cooperation between the India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will continue "in an autonomous manner", according to a fact sheet on the Indo-U.S. Energy Dialogue issued after the talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the visiting U.S. President George Bush.

Under cooperation on civil nuclear energy, a workshop on best practices for nuclear power plant design, new concepts in construction, commissioning operations, safety, life extension and regulatory oversight will be held later this year in the U.S. as a follow up to an earlier one held here in January. With India joining the ITER project, both sides have agreed to correspond on establishing a mechanism for cooperation between scientists working on fusion science.

In the area of oil and gas, India and the U.S. have decided to hold a national gas conference in early May with the focus on gas infrastructure development and operations, LNG and non-conventional gas, including coalbed methane and gas sector regulation. Memoranda of understanding are ready on offshore drilling for gas hydrates and safety standards. Besides, a dialogue continues on a proposed MoU between the Indian Oil and the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory on hydrogen.

In the coal sector, an Indo-U.S. business advisory council will be established by March 31 this year. Besides India and the U. S. are finalising an agreement for setting up an information centre with joint funding by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Trade Development Agency and the Indian government.

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