[3] He played a lead role in coordinating the passage of the India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement[4] and is widely regarded as a prominent figure in U.S.-India relations.

Somers has over 30 years of experience in major infrastructure development in the United States and Asia—starting in the oil and gas industry on the drilling rigs of West Texas, transitioning to hydroelectric and IPP development, and then onwards to senior management for international companies of upstream, midstream, and downstream energy and power assets.

After graduating from Middlebury College, Somers worked as a roughneck on the oil rigs of Midland, Texas, where he came to know future President of the United States George W. Bush.

Somers maintains a 33% stake in Montgomery Creek Associates, a private limited partnership that has independently owned and operated clean, renewable energy assets in the western United States since 1985.

During his tenure, Unocal in India partnered with business houses and public sector enterprises to develop the proposed 3 million ton Ennore LNG Import Terminal in Tamil Nadu, the 350 MW gas-fired Gautami Power Project in Andhra Pradesh and the 700 MW combined-cycle Bidadi Project in Karnataka.