Second meeting of the India-Nepal Joint Working Group on Oil and Gas Cooperation

The 2nd meeting of the India-Nepal Joint Working Group on Oil and Gas cooperation met through video conferencing on 13th August 2020. The meeting was co-chaired by Sh B N Reddy, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India and Mr Prem Kumar Shrestha, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Supplies, Government of Nepal. Representatives from the Embassy of India in Kathmandu, Indian Public Sector Oil and Gas companies such as IOCL, GAIL and HPCL, Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs of Nepal and Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) participated in the JWG meeting.

2. The meeting expressed satisfaction on the functioning of the Motihari-Amlekhgunj Petroleum Products Pipeline, which was jointly inaugurated and operationalized by Prime Ministers of both countries in September 2019. The pipeline, first of its kind in the South Asia region, has been supplying majority of the fuel requirement of Nepal to Amlekhgunj Depot of NOC. Both sides also discussed future areas of cooperation in the petroleum energy sector, including possibilities of new pipelines for supply of petroleum products to Nepal.

3. The JWG mechanism was set up in 2017 to further strengthen the long standing cooperation between IOCL and NOC and diversify areas of cooperation between the two countries in the Oil and Gas sector. The first meeting of the JWG was held in January this year in New Delhi.

4. Both sides encouraged their respective companies to work closely for expanding engagement in the petroleum sector.

Kathmandu
22nd August 2020