Due to India’s geographic position in South Asia, it imports the vast majority of its fuel, primarily oil, from the Middle East. According to the U.S. Energy Information Association, India imports over 70% of its oil demand, 13% of which comes from Iraq. The prevalence of political and religious violence there means the nations energy supply will be exposed to interruptions and volatile prices. The production and import of natural gas has been heralded, as an answer to India’s energy needs which are currently far from sufficient in supplying energy to India’s 1.2 billion people. As many as 400 million people are still not connected to the electrical grid at all. As the grid is expanded overall energy consumption will increase and put an even greater strain on India’s energy supply. One purposed solution to this is the Trans-Afghanistan pipeline where India would import natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Pakistan. While Turkmenistan has huge reserves of natural gas the pipeline would be highly susceptible to instability in Afghanistan and Pakistan. India needs a reliable partner with large reserves that can provide energy with substantial guarantees that the supply will not be disrupted. The United States and India would be a perfect match in this regard if it were not for out dated regulation from the Department of Energy that unnecessarily restricts the export of oil and gas
The United States is riding on the largest natural gas boom in the world, thanks to American entrepreneurial ingenuity that birthed the practice of hydraulic fracking, a process that unlocks hard to reach pockets of oil and gas using a highly pressurized mixture of water and chemicals. This revolution has provided the U.S. with energy security, insulating itself from volatile global fuel prices and providing a surplus that is ready for export. Exports of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) to India would reduce America’s trade deficit, create closer ties with a crucial geopolitical ally, and give India the type of energy security that the United States has only recently begun to enjoy and thrive in. More than just exporting LNG itself, the U.S. is in a unique position where it has a near global monopoly on fracking expertise, a huge opportunity for American oil and gas companies to forge closer ties with their India counterparts and help them to unlock hidden potential in their own oil and gas fields.
The United States and India are two of the largest energy consumers in the world, and thusly two of the largest carbon emission producers. However the recent natural gas boom in the U.S. has greatly reduced the nation’s emissions as more power plants shift from coal to natural gas. This is a trend that can be replicated in India, as their economy is still hugely reliant on coal, which supplies 57% of their energy needs, much like the American economy once was. The U.S. has a vast supply of oil and natural gas while India has a high demand and limited supply. Exporting LNG to India would be economically beneficial for both countries, would help the environment by reducing carbon emissions, and increased trade would boost diplomatic ties between the two nations. The LNG- Initiative can, and should be, the cornerstone of a new and mutually beneficial relationship between the globes two largest democracies, setting an example of free trade and environmental stewardship for the rest of the world to follow.