Abuja — Nigeria and other African nations could play a central role in efforts by India to diversify its sources of oil and gas, India's Oil Minister, Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, said yesterday, as the nation strives to reduce its energy reliance on the Middle East. India, the world's third-biggest oil importer, has asked state refiners to speed up the diversification of oil imports to gradually cut their dependence on the Middle East after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided earlier this month to continue production cuts in April. "As India seeks to further diversify sourcing of crude oil and LNG, Africa has a central role - largely due to its proximity and absence of any choke points in trans-shipments," Pradhan told an industry summit. Reuters reported that India imports over 80 per cent of its oil and has a huge oil import bill.