Sep 16, 2025

Head, Energy, Natural Resources and Chemicals at multinational professional services firm KPMG International, who sees no reason for the oil to drop off or spike up suddenly. "...my suspicion is that it is going to stay very stable because we saw a lot of disturbances in 2025, but crude oil has remained in a very narrow band. So I can't see a reason for crude oil to suddenly drop off or spike up," De told ANI, on the sidelines of the Global Energy Conclave - #ENRich2025 organised by KPMG India. The conclave is now in its 16th edition. De noted that issues in the Middle East, including tensions around Iran and Gaza, as well as the ongoing war in Ukraine, have already been absorbed by markets. As a result, they are no longer causing significant volatility in crude pricing. "So in the Middle East, despite all the challenges around Iran and Gaza...crude price has been stable. So I don't see anything exceptional on the horizon which can cause the crude price to go up. Broadly, even on Ukraine, I think these are conflicts which have been on for many years now. So they have been kind of normalized in the prices," he added. Asked about India's plan to roll out a support package for small modular reactors (SMRs) to boost the nuclear energy mix, De said India needs all kinds of nuclear technology, just like it needs all forms of energy. "We need large nuclear and also small modular reactors. The application areas are different for the two. The only concern remains that small modular reactors, the current costing and the pricing, are still much higher than the conventional nuclear fleet," De said. De also highlighted the role of emerging technologies. He said nuclear and hydrogen will remain important for the energy transition, but artificial intelligence stands out for its enterprise-level applications. AI, according to him, has the potential to transform how organizations operate, rather than directly impacting power generation or oil and gas production. "AI is a different genre of technologies, but it is really burst on the screen, and now it's settling down. It can really transform the enterprise. So it is not about the technology for power generation or oil and gas production. It is actually the enterprise level applications of AI that is going to transform the organizations." On US President Donald Trump's statement that India is buying crude oil from Russia and calling on the EU to impose tariffs on India, De, affirmed that negotiations are on between India and the US at this point of time today. "We should remain optimistic that the two largest democracies of the world should be able to find a place, common ground," he added. De also highlighted India's potential as an investment destination. According to him, if policy regime improves, the geopolitical environment which the world face today, stabilise a little bit, then "I can see India being a very attractive destination for investments." "...new acreages have been opened up, many of them can be very prospective and then you have a market like no other place has," he further said. (ANI)