ARLINGTON, VA – Building on nearly three decades of collaboration in the oil and gas sector, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) awarded three grants over the last two weeks to enhance its energy sector partnership with India.

“USTDA has a long history of fostering connections between our Indian partners and innovative American companies in the oil and gas space,” said USTDA Acting Director, Thomas R. Hardy. “Our efforts are making a lasting difference and helping India meet its national energy goals.”

USTDA is funding technical assistance to help the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board build out India’s natural gas grid, improving power access and reliability for millions of Indians and bolstering the country’s energy security. U.S. firm ICF Resources will carry out the assistance.

USTDA is also supporting a study to help Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), one of India’s largest state-owned oil and gas companies, evaluate options for petroleum coke gasification at the country’s largest state-owned refinery in Kochi. The gasification of “petcoke” will significantly reduce emissions, produce cleaner fuels, and improve the refinery’s efficiency. The opportunity for U.S. firms to conduct the study will be posted on the U.S. Federal Business Opportunities website at www.fbo.gov.  

“The role of USTDA in building and bolstering U.S.-India commercial partnership in varied areas of technology is commendable. USTDA has already supported our own Mumbai Refinery in identifying suitable solutions for upgradation of heavy distillates. We are thankful to USTDA for allotting a grant for conducting study on utilization of petcoke in an environmentally friendly way and looking forward to fruitful association with USTDA,” said Mr. Prasad K Panicker, Executive Director In–Charge of the BPCL Kochi Refinery.

A USTDA-funded study for Deep Industries Limited (DIL), a private Indian company, will help strengthen India’s energy supply by assessing the viability of and creating an implementation plan for the development of its oil and gas block in Gujarat’s Cambay Basin. U.S. firm Advanced Resources International (ARI) will carry out the study.

“Deep Industries is pleased to partner with USTDA and ARI for their support and potential development of oil and gas industry in India. We believe this study will help India in increasing domestic oil and gas resources and also create new jobs,” said Mr. Prem Sawhney, CEO of DIL.