India and the Changing Geopolitics of Oil

107 Pages·2021·2.404 MB·English

by  Amit Bhandari

India and the Changing
Geopolitics of Oil
The global energy scenario has transformed in the past 20 years. Oil
demand, earlier driven by the West, is now shifting to the East, more
specifically to Asia. New oil supplies from North America have chal-
lenged the hegemony of the traditional oil exporters from West Asia
and Africa. India, once a marginal player in the world oil market, is
now a valued customer providing demand security to oil exporters.
This book systematically examines India’s oil and gas trade, which
makes it the world’s third largest importer of oil after China and the
US. It explores the changing patterns of oil demand and supply, and
the growing market for natural gas, renewable energy, biofuel, and al-
ternative sources of energy. Further, the volume discusses a range of is-
sues that affects India’s position in the global energy economy, such as
• The geographic shifts in energy production and trade; interna-
tional relations and economic sanctions that affect the oil trade;
• India’s quest for energy security; and contest with China for oil
assets;
• Building new partnerships, and investing in stable, oil-rich coun-
tries like the US and Canada, while keeping up existing energy
relations with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait;
• Using market mechanisms to ensure energy security.
Topical and comprehensive, this book in The Gateway House Guide to
India in the 2020s series will be useful for scholars and researchers of
international relations, geopolitics, foreign policy, security and strate-
gic studies, energy studies, West Asia studies, South Asian studies, and
international trade. It will also be of interest to policymakers, diplo-
mats, career bureaucrats, and professionals working with think tanks,
academia and multilateral agencies, media agencies, and businesses.
Amit Bhandari is the Fellow for Energy and Environment Studies at
Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations, India. His re-
search encompasses India’s energy security priorities and the role of
financial markets, geopolitics, technology, and policy in achieving
those goals. Amit has also studied China’s Belt and Road Initiative
and has authored papers studying Chinese Investments in South Asia
and Chinese Investments in India.
Amit has nearly two decades of experience in covering financial and
energy markets. He started his career with the Economic Times, where
he tracked the energy sector. He was a part of the startup team of
ET Now, the business news channel. Amit was responsible for setting
up India Reality Research, a new research outfit within CLSA India,
a stockbroking firm. He has also worked with the Deccan Chronicle
Group as the business editor of their general dailies. He holds a Mas-
ters in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Manage-
ment, Ahmedabad, India and a Bachelors degree in Technology from
the Institute of Technology, Benaras Hindu University, India.

The Gateway House Guide to India in the 2020s
Series Editor: Manjeet Kripalani, co-founder, Gateway House: Indian
Council on Global Relations
The Gateway House Guide to India in the 2020s explores the connec-
tions between India’s globalist past to the strengths it has developed
as it steps into the future, starting with the decade of the 2020s. The
volumes in this series discuss a wide range of topics, which include
solutions for energy independence and environmental preservation,
exposition of the new frontiers in space and technology, India’s trade
networks, security, foreign policies, and international relations. Fur-
thermore, the series examines the embedded trading and entrepre-
neurial communities which are coming together to influence global
agenda-setting and institution-building through platforms like the
G20 and UN Security Council, where India will take leadership roles
in this decade, in the Post-COVID-19 pandemic world.
This series appeals to an international audience, and is directed to
policymakers, think tanks, bureaucrats, professionals working in the
area of politics; scholars and researchers of political science, interna-
tional relations, foreign policy, world economy, politics and technol-
ogy, Asian politics, South Asia studies, and contemporary history;
students and the general reader, seeking an understanding of what will
drive India’s positioning in world affairs.
Mercantile Bombay
A Journey of Trade, Finance and Enterprise
Sifra Lentin
India and the Changing Geopolitics of Oil
Amit Bhandari
For more information about this series, please visit:
https://www.routledge.com/The-Gateway-House-Guide-to-India-in-
the-2020s/book-series/GHGI20
India and the Changing
Geopolitics of Oil
Amit Bhandari
First published 2022
by Routledge
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© 2022 Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-64003-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-71613-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-15292-7 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003152927
Typeset in Times New Roman
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Contents
List of figures ix
List of tables xi
1 Flux in the energy world 1
2 India’s quest for energy security 19
3 Flashpoints and chokepoints 40
4 Using market mechanisms for energy security 62
5 Meeting India’s energy challenge 85
Index 93

Figures
1.1 Peak Oil – No Longer Peaking 2
1.2 Median Age of Ten Largest Economies 6
2.1 Global Energy Mix (2018) 31
3.1 Map of Persian Gulf Oil Fields 45
3.2 Gwadar Port: Trade Hub or Military Asset 49
3.3 Oil Tankers sailing from Persian Gulf to
India & the World 50
3.4 Oil Storage Tanks at Dalian 53
3.5 Chinese Investments in Myanmar 54
3.6 Kra Canal 55
3.7 Malacca Straits 56
3.8 Power of Siberia Pipeline 57
3.9 Chinese ports in Indian Ocean 58
4.1 US Silver Dollar 63
4.2 Silver Rupee Coins of British India, Portuguese
Goa, German East Africa and Burma 73
5.1 India’s Energy Mix (2018) 86