NEW DELHI, April 6: India should consider signing the Energy Charter Treaty to ease the import of piped natural gas, a top oil ministry official said on Wednesday. He said Iran and Pakistan, both involved in proposed pipelines bringing gas to India, were also considering joining the treaty, which seeks to minimize risks associated with energy-related investments. The treaty was signed in 1994 and includes most of Europe, the former Soviet Union states and Japan.

“We should seriously examine the need to accede to the Energy Charter Treaty, which will obviate the need for separate inter-governmental, bilateral and multilateral agreements, which are inescapable in the proposed pipeline projects,” Petroleum Secretary Sushil Chandra Tripathi told a conference.

India, which imports 70 per cent of its crude oil needs and produces barely half the gas it consumes, is negotiating gas pipelines from Iran, Turkmenistan and Bangladesh to meet the growing energy requirements of it booming economy.

“We understand that for security of supply and reasonable transit tariff, the treaty provides for protection of investment and transit tariff, which would be reasonable, non-discriminatory and cost based,” Tripathi said.

“The treaty is a legally binding, multilateral instrument, the only one of its kind dealing specifically with inter-governmental cooperation in the energy sector,” he said.

Tripathi said India was also considering importing gas from Uzbekistan in a pipeline that would be linked to the proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline.

But another senior oil ministry official said only preliminary talks had been held with Uzbekistan and no firm proposal was on the table.—Reuters