{"id":729053,"date":"2026-06-11T04:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T04:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/729053\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T04:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T04:49:09","slug":"india-seeks-more-canadian-fuel-supplies-but-regulatory-hurdles-may-complicate-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/729053\/","title":{"rendered":"India seeks more Canadian fuel supplies, but regulatory hurdles may complicate plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A staff worker fills petrol in a scooter at a fuel station in Ahmedabad, India on May 15.SHAMMI MEHRA\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

India wants more Canadian oil and gas<\/a>, but regulatory hurdles and a lack of infrastructure to transport fuels to market here are hampering the country\u2019s ability to get the energy it needs to feed its growing economy, says Dinesh Patnaik, India\u2019s High Commissioner to Canada. <\/p>\n

The South Asian country offers a massive opportunity<\/a> for Canada\u2019s oil and gas sector, with energy consumption there set to skyrocket over the next 25 years. Half of the world\u2019s increased demand for oil is expected to come from India, Mr. Patnaik told the Global Energy Show in Calgary on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

India imports roughly 90 per cent of its oil and gas. But with the lion\u2019s share coming from the Middle East, the country has been left scrambling since the beginning of the war in Iran. <\/p>\n

Now, it is looking for \u201cunhindered supplies from jurisdictions which are safe, reliable, and which do not change with geopolitical risks,\u201d Mr. Patnaik said. <\/p>\n

Therein lies the opportunity for Canada.<\/p>\n

Carney secures $2.6-billion uranium supply deal with India, launches talks on trade deal<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAnything that is on offer, we are willing to take as long as we can have it delivered to our doorstep,\u201d Mr. Patnaik said. <\/p>\n

The problem is that Canada largely lacks the ability to get fossil fuels directly to jurisdictions that need it, such as India, he said. It is a complaint made often by Alberta\u2019s oil sector, and the driving force behind the province\u2019s push for a new pipeline to the West Coast. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re buying Canadian resources through the U.S. \u2013 through the Gulf Coast, through other channels \u2013 but we still haven\u2019t set up the system for us to be able to buy in bulk from Canada,\u201d India\u2019s High Commissioner said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have the resources the world needs, but you\u2019re letting it lie in the ground.\u201d <\/p>\n

Not only should Canada\u2019s economy be more open to large, private sector energy investments, he said, the federal government \u201chas to also step into some of the places where it\u2019s difficult to put up projects\u201d such as pipelines. <\/p>\n

After meeting with Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson this week, Mr. Patnaik said he expects regular discussions with the government to figure out where India can invest on the energy front and how it can better tap Canadian fuels.<\/p>\n

India an ideal target for increased Canadian energy exports, analysts say<\/a><\/p>\n

The two countries are emerging from a period of icy diplomatic relations after Ottawa accused Indian officials of being part of a campaign of violence against Canadians and expelled New Delhi\u2019s top envoy as well as other diplomats in October, 2024.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has set a goal of doubling non-U.S. trade over the next decade, travelled to India in March where the two governments signed an energy partnership<\/a>, which included a $2.6-billion deal to supply Canadian uranium to India. But \u201cwe\u2019re looking for more,\u201d Mr. Patnaik said. Renewables, critical minerals, liquefied natural gas \u2013 \u201cyou name anything in the energy sector,\u201d India wants it, he said. <\/p>\n

Much like Ottawa wants to see more trade with India, Alberta is targeting the country as a potential market for its oil and gas as it pushes for the West Coast pipeline. <\/p>\n

Brian Jean, Alberta\u2019s Energy Minister, told media on the sidelines of the conference Wednesday that several proponents have approached the province about its potential pipeline, with interest in investing cash for its construction or buying oil off the conduit if and when it is built. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Locals wait with LPG gas cylinders outside a depot in New Delhi in March.Manish Swarup\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Mr. Jean was tight-lipped on details, but said the province has had preliminary talks with one Fortune 500 company \u201cabout financing the entire project and building the entire project.\u201d <\/p>\n

Alberta has set a July 1 deadline to submit its plan for the pipeline to Ottawa\u2019s Major Projects Office. Mr. Jean said \u201cyou\u2019ll have to wait and see\u201d whether it meets that target. <\/p>\n

The planned pipeline would be able to carry roughly one million barrels of oil. But \u201ceven if we had three pipelines now, with one million barrels each, we would not meet the demand of Asia,\u201d Mr. Jean said. <\/p>\n

Mr. Patnaik seemed optimistic that Canada can help meet his country\u2019s future energy demands, noting that the oil sector here roughly doubled its output over the past 15 years \u201cdespite headwinds, despite a bad regulatory framework.\u201d <\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s image as \u201ca highly over-regulated jurisdiction where things take a long time\u201d is slowly changing, he added, but the country\u2019s past tendency toward sluggish project approvals means investors remain somewhat skeptical. <\/p>\n

India wants to forge long-term agreements with Canada for many reasons, he said, including the scale of this country\u2019s natural resources, its reliability as a supplier and its democratic government. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the same values. We would like to do more with Canada.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A staff worker fills petrol in a scooter at a fuel station in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,45,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-729053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}