17 Sep :Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Murli Deora has called upon the public and the scientific community to come forward with innovative ideas and suggestions so that hydrocarbon fuels are used more efficiently and effectively. Inaugurating the Geo India 2008 Conference & Exhibition of Geologists and Geophysicists at Greater Noida, near Delhi today,
Shri Deora pointed out that the challenge before the country is to meet the energy requirements of all segments of our population in an efficient and affordable manner. He added that the Government of India has ensured supply of kerosene to the vulnerable section at a much cheaper rate of Rs. 9.00 per litre which is even lower than the cost of a mineral water bottle. Similarly, LPG and HSD used as domestic and transportation fuels are also sold at substantially lower prices.
The Minister emphasized the need for adding more hydrocarbon reserves and for stepping up the efficiency in production specially in the light of country’s heavy import dependence for crude oil which stands at more than 70% of domestic requirement. He pointed out that hydrocarbons account for about 45% of India’s total energy requirement. Referring to the scope for increasing domestic production, Shri Deora said that about 75% of the total estimated hydrocarbon resources of about 32 billion tones of oil and oil equivalent gas still remains to be explored in Indian business. He also stressed upon the need for utilizing alternative sources of energy and called for improving oil recovery factor from existing fields.
Shri Dinsha Patel, Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas also emphasized the need for increasing crude oil production particularly in the light of India’s import dependence and the rising global oil prices. He urged upon the oil technologists to make concerted efforts in this direction. Petroleum Secretary Shri R.S. Pandey also called for concentrating on more exploration and production efforts for hydrocarbons in view of the precariously balanced supply-demand situation. He emphasized the need for giving a push to the research and development in order to harness fuels of future such as gas hydrates, coal bed methane, hydrogen, etc.
GEO India 2008 being held on 17-19 September 2008, has been jointly organized by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and Association of Petroleum Geologists (APG-India). It is being supported by the Society of Petroleum Geophysicists (SPG-India) and Society of Petrophysicists and Well Logging Analysts (SPWLA-India).