Minister confident of Indian investments in international O&G
The strategic importance of the relationship with the United States for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) supplies was highlighted by the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri at the close of the Indian Energy Week on 14 Feb http://mopng.gov.in.
He noted that substantial progress has been made in the India-US energy cooperation, particularly in the natural gas sector.
He linked the importance of India-US trade to India’s stated goal of increasing natural gas consumption to 15% in its energy mix from about 6% currently https://www.investindia.gov.in/.
Discussing the global energy scenario, the Minister observed that the new US administration’s push for increased oil supply has created favorable conditions in global markets https://www.commerce.gov.in/.
He noted the emergence of new oil sources from the Western Hemisphere, including Brazil, Argentina, Suriname, Canada, US and Guyana, as beneficial for major consuming nations like India.
Puri expressed complete confidence in India’s international investments in the Oil & Gas assets across Brazil, Venezuela, Russia, and Mozambique https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/.
Addressing reforms in the Exploration and Production (E&P) sector, Puri detailed the scale of Open Acreage Licensing Program (OALP) Round X covering about 200,000 sq km.
The Minister explained that enhanced interest in this round has been driven by systematic reforms in the regulatory regime, transitioning from production to revenue sharing mechanisms, along with the proposed amendments to Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act 1948.
Additionally, Puri announced that the new legislative framework, developed through extensive consultations, is set to be presented in the Lok Sabha.
He particularly noted the collaboration of ONGC with BP, and Reliance in bidding for blocks in earlier rounds as a strong message of industry partnership.
Outlining the Ministry’s priorities, the Minister emphasized focus on E&P, stressing the importance of expert collaboration and the proposed changes to regulatory framework that allows appropriate compensation for resource discovery to the stakeholders in the sector https://sbi.com.in/.
The Minister highlighted the significance of the amendments, passed by the Rajya Sabha, in ensuring policy predictability, particularly regarding windfall tax implementation.
He emphasized the removal of discretionary elements in policy implementation as a move toward more transparent governance in the energy sector.
Puri described the biofuel program as a remarkable story, citing current capacity of 1,700 crore liters for ethanol blending, while discussing potential beyond the 20% blending target https://www.iea.org/.
Moreover, Puri expressed particular excitement about green hydrogen, confirming confident progression toward the 5MMT annual production target for 2030, while also highlighting sustainable aviation fuel development https://www.conexpoconagg.com/. Fiinews.com
