Union minister M Veerappa Moily held discussion with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki on partnership between both the countries on oil and gas sector. Moily visited Baghdad to attend a two-day meeting of the India-Iraq Joint Commission.
According to a government statement, India will be interested in natural gas-based projects and importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Iraq.
It may be noted that the import of LNG is becoming attractive after the union government decided to raise prices of locally produced gas from April 2014.
Following the decline in the import of crude oil from Iran owing to sanction from Western countries, Iraq has emerged as the second-biggest oil supplier to India.
Reliance Industries has been short-listed to develop its Nasiriya oilfield and refinery. India last month took the unpopular step of approving a gas price rise for the first time in three years, a move which could inject much needed investment in local production but boost imports of more costly LNG.
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