nEWS
Rising Demand of Oil As per World Energy Outlook 2019 published by International Energy Agency, India’s oil demand in total primary energy is projected to increase from 233 Million tonne of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 2018 to 305 Mtoe in 2025, whereas China’s oil demand is projected to increase from 593 Mtoe in 2018 to 672 Mtoe in 2025.
number of initiatives to encourage the use of alternative fuels like ethanol and bio-diesel through Ethanol Blending in Petrol (EBP) Programme and Bio-diesel blending in diesel. Government has formulated a National Bio Fuel Policy 2018 to boost availability of biofuels in country.
New Technology & Business Models to Drive the Future of India’s Energy Sector
Government has taken several steps to enhance exploration & production of oil and gas, give thrust on demand substitution, promote energy efficiency and conservation, capitalize untapped potential on biofuels and alternative fuels/renewables in order to reduce imports of crude oil. These include a series of initiatives such as Policy for Relaxations, Extensions and Clarifications under Production Sharing Contract (PSC) regime for early monetization of hydrocarbon discoveries, Discovered Small Field Policy, Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy, Policy for early monetization of Coal Bed Methane, Setting up of National Data Repository, Appraisal of Unappraised areas in Sedimentary Basins, Reassessment of Hydrocarbon Resources, Policy framework to streamline the working of Production Sharing Contracts in Pre-NELP and NELP Blocks, Policy to Promote and Incentivize Enhanced Recovery Methods for Oil and Gas, Policy framework for exploration and exploitation of Unconventional Hydrocarbons under existing Production Sharing Contracts, Coal Bed Methane contracts and Nomination fields.
Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan has said that future of India’s energy sector will be noticeably different from its current avatar, to be driven by new technology and business models. He stressed on the need to achieve the twin objectives of more energy Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister MoPNG & Steel, Govt. of India availability at an affordable price and less carbon through a healthy mix of all commercially-viable energy sources. He said that our target to transform India to a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024, requires a gradual and measured energy transition by deploying all sources of energy.
The Government in February, 2019 approved major reforms in exploration and licensing policy to enhance exploration activities, attract domestic and foreign investment and accelerate domestic production of oil and gas from existing fields. The policy reforms inter alia aims to boost exploration activities with greater weightage to work programme, simplified fiscal and contractual terms, bidding of exploration blocks under Category II and III sedimentary basins without any production or revenue sharing to Government, early monetization of discoveries by extending fiscal incentives, incentivizing gas production including marketing and pricing freedom, induction of latest technology and capital, more functional freedom to National Oil Companies for collaboration and private sector participation for production enhancement methods in nomination fields, streamlining approval processes and promoting ease of doing business including electronic single window mechanism.
Mr. Pradhan said that the contours of India’s energy transition are also changing fast in sync with global challenges and opportunities. “Winds of change are evident in the global energy arena. Energy sources, energy supply and energy consumption patterns are changing rapidly. In our pursuit to navigate energy transition, it is natural that we will take advantage of unique synergies that exist within the country. Equally, our efforts will be guided by our global commitments be it under UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of 2030 or those under Paris Climate Summit. ”, he said. The government’s approach to energy policy is based on energy access, energy sustainability, energy affordability, energy efficiency and energy security. All these five enablers will deliver energy justice to our people.
Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited (ISPRL) has already created SPR facilities at 3 locations, namely (i) Vishakhapatnam (1.33 MMT), (ii) Mangaluru (1.5 MMT) and (iii) Padur (2.5 MMT). Government has given ‘in principle’ approval for creation of two additional underground rock cavern SPR facilities with total storage capacity of 6.5 Million Metric Tonne (MMT). Government is promoting the usage of environment friendly transportation fuel, i.e. CNG by expanding the coverage of City Gas Distribution (CGD) network in the country. Government has also taken a www.oswindia.com
The Minister advocated the need to move away from the crude price as the basis for determining the LNG price. He said “Global gas production and markets have witnessed significant restructuring during the last few years. Global supply of LNG is increasing at a rapid pace, and globally LNG prices are coming down significantly. It is time for our companies to take a relook at the term-contracts with major LNG suppliers. I also believe that the time has come for changing the pricing formulae for purchase of LNG by India.” Mr. Pradhan stressed on building sustainable energy infrastructure that can cater to the energy needs of all our citizens. He said that India is expected to become the largest energy consumer surpassing US and China, in the next decade or so.
Offshore World | 36 | December 2019-January 2020
