New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday sought to strengthen economic partnerships with hydrocarbon producing countries, saying the demand for this source of energy would increase by over 40 percent in the next 10 years.

"Hydrocarbons will continue to be our major source of energy for quite sometime in the future," Singh said after inaugurating Petrotech 2010, the ninth international oil and gas conference and exhibition here.

"We seek to build strong economic partnerships with other (hydrocarbon) producing countries and their oil and gas industries to the mutual benefit of each other," he said addressing over 4,000 delegates from 50 countries.

"We also seek to work together with other countries, especially those which are active in the oil and gas space, to tackle the problem of climate change."

Manmohan Singh said in India, the demand over the next 10 years will increase by over 40 percent while an increase in the supply from maturing oil fields is expected to be around 12 percent.

"Oil and gas today are not seen merely as commodities to be traded freely. They are often used by countries to meet their political objectives. More importantly, we have to take into account the changing pattern of growth in the demand for oil," Singh said.

Citing a substantial rise in the demand for hydrocarbons in Asia, he said: "This shift has been caused by high rates of economic growth and increasing populations in many Asian countries."

Pointing to climate change as a major challenge, the prime minister said that because of it, the demand on energy technologies goes beyond productivity and efficiency issues, and emerging energy technologies have to be adequately equipped to manage carbon emissions.

"We also need a rethink on the traditional energy basket which is loaded in favour of fossil fuels," he said.

Complimenting the organisers of Petrotech 2010 for thinking green, the prime minister said: "I am also told that our national oil corporations have invested heavily in a number of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. This will help our government's efforts to build a greener economy."

Petrotech exhibition showcases the latest technology of both Indian and international oil and gas companies.