Overview
- India’s High Commissioner Dinesh Patnaik said Wednesday that newer Indian refineries can process Canadian heavy crude and that officials from both countries are holding regular talks on energy cooperation.
- Canadian export limits are the main barrier because the country lacks direct pipelines and terminals to ship large volumes to Asia, which would force reliance on U.S. routes or new West Coast infrastructure.
- Investors remain wary of Canada’s slow regulatory and project-approval processes, a concern Patnaik said could slow the pace of any large-scale crude or gas deals.
- Private and state-backed firms are showing commercial interest in Canadian projects: Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC unit XRG is evaluating upstream and LNG opportunities, and Alberta is pursuing a West Coast pipeline with a July 1 submission planned to Ottawa’s Major Projects Office.
- Deeper Canada-India energy ties build on a March energy partnership and recent trade delegations and could reshape supply chains for a country that imports roughly 90 percent of its oil and is expected to drive much of future global oil demand.