Indian minister warns there’ll be ‘organized chaos’ if oil tops $100 per barrel

India’s petroleum and natural gas minister has warned of “systematic chaos” if oil prices rise above $100 a barrel, but said the South Asian country is well-positioned to weather rising costs. .

“If the price goes above $100, it’s not in anyone’s interest, not even the producing countries. There will be massive and systematic disruption,” Hardeep Singh Puri said on CNBC during an ADIPEC oil and gas panel discussion. told Dan Murphy. The conference was held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday.

But “there is no need to worry about the impact on India. India is a large economy with a lot of domestic production. We will either cut back or take some action,” Puri said.

Last week, oil prices rose to their highest level in nearly a year, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures reaching $95.03 per barrel. Prices have since fallen to $89.44 a barrel in Asian trading on Wednesday morning.

Puri is confident India will be able to weather the rise in prices, but warned that other countries may not be able to do so.

“I worry about what’s going to happen to other parts of the developing world…that’s really worrying,” Puri said, adding that rising prices over the past 18 months have pushed “100 million people into extreme poverty.” He emphasized that there is.

“We needed to use affordable gas and cooking fuel. [to] Wet wood, coal, or whatever else you can get your hands on. That is the question. ”

minister said in Xthe social media platform formerly known as Twitter, argued that oil producers need to be mindful of the difficulties facing consuming countries.

“When oil prices collapsed during the pandemic, the world came together to stabilize prices to make it sustainable for producers. Now the world is in the midst of a recession and economic slowdown. Therefore, oil producers need to take the following stance. [the] We have similar sensitivities towards consuming countries,” he said in the post.

Puri also said that the major energy challenge facing the world is addressing the “trilemma” of availability, affordability and sustainability. He claimed that India was “doing well” in terms of energy availability and affordability.

India, the world’s third-largest oil importer and consumer, has set a net-zero target for 2070, but other large economies have much earlier targets. China aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, and Japan and the United States have goals by 2050.

Still, Puri reiterated that India’s transition to sustainable energy is happening on a “more comprehensive scale” and faster than originally expected.

He said that a major energy company Indian Oil Corporation, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and bharat oil Countries set net zero targets well before 2070.