Petroleum Minister meets Azerbaijan President

New Delhi,; Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on Thursday afternoon called on the President of Azerbaijan, IIham Aliyev.

Aiyar, who is in Azerbaijan to attend the 12th International Caspian Oil and Gas Conference, conveyed to the President India's deep interest in expanding bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas sector, an official release said here.

He specifically referred to the possibility of purchase by India of AZeri oil transported to Ceyhan by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Pipeline, and then brought to the Red Sea through the Ashkelon-Eilat pipeline in Israel.

Aiyer also mentioned to the Azeri President India's interest in the upgradation of refineries in Azerbaijan and to participate in oil and gas exploration and production proposals in the country.

Aiyar informed Aliyev about his discussions in Islamabad in regard to the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) pipeline.

In regard to the latter, the Indian Minister suggested that Azerbaijan, along with other Central Asian countries such an Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and possibly, Russia, could also join the pipeline to bring gas to India and Pakistan, whose joint shortfall of gas in 2025 would be about 500 million standard cubic metres per day.