Hardeep Puri moves to temper Opec ties in search of oil market calm
NEW DELHI: Barely a week into his new job as India’s oil minister, Hardeep Singh Puri has jumped into the rough and tumble of international oil diplomacy in search of market calm as fuel prices soar at home.
On Wednesday, Puri called up Sultan Ahmad Jaber, the head of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and industry minister of United Arab Emirates, the rising star of Opec that has caused a split in the grouping by challenging Saudi Arabia’s supremacy and sent oil prices racing.
But unlike in the past, the former diplomat was measured in conveying New Delhi’s concerns over the recessionary impact of high oil prices on global economic recovery and demand, which will ultimately hurt producers.
