DOHA - India will import a trial consignment of Qatari marine crude oil before it signs a term contract, a Qatari minister said on Saturday. They (the Indian government) are sending an oil team shortly to discuss the price and other matters with our marketing department, said Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah on his return from New Delhi. They are also interested in our LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) and we are ready to supply that, he told reporters.

India imports around 37 million tons a year of crude to meet half of its oil needs. The main suppliers are Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya, Yemen, Abu Dhabi and now Iraq. In March, it imported 10,000 tons of Qatari land crude to test whether Indian refineries could process that crude. The results have not been revealed. Attiyah said India was one of the most important emerging markets for Qatari oil and gas.

We have held extensive talks on expanding our cooperation in all fields, especially energy, he said. We may be sending the trial consignment of marine crude in October, he added. It will be from offshore Al-Shaheen field, operated by Danish Maersk Oil on a production-sharing basis. (Reuter)