The Hindu : Business : Aiyar favours network of gas pipelines

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Friday, Oct 07, 2005

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Business

Aiyar favours network of gas pipelines

Special Correspondent

More efforts needed to establish synergy on the production front

India opens up exploration sector for overseas business Subir Raha upbeat over new oil blocks Push to bio fuel

— Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

FOR SECURE ENERGY: The Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mani Shankar Aiyar (left), being welcomed by the Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC, Subir Raha, at a seminar on `Energy Security' in New Delhi on Thursday. — Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

NEW DELHI: The Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mani Shankar Aiyar, on Thursday pitched for intensification of efforts for laying networks of pipelines to bring in gas from overseas land, including Iran, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Inaugurating the Assocham seminar on `Energy Security', Mr. Aiyar said no other sources of energy were sufficient to meet the growing energy demand domestically and "if we did not bring in gas through network of pipelines from a cross section of countries, how do we meet the energy requirements of our country." The Minister was unhappy over the performance of his Ministry and oil companies, both upstream, and downstream under the jurisdiction of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry and said greater efforts were needed to establish synergy on various petroleum entities for higher production. He said India had already opened up its exploration sector for overseas business and it recently conducted the fifth round of offering oil blocks to investors in which the response was so massive.

He also informed that ONGC would commence production of coal bed methane from one year hence, which would considerably help India to produce additional energy. On the issue of bio-fuel, the Minister said Indian Oil Corporation and Panchayati Raj System would shortly sign a memorandum of understanding to promote the sowing of cash crop like Jatropha to produce bio-fuels in barren lands.

Subir Raha, Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC, said ONGC had about 170 blocks at its disposal, which the government had awarded it on nominal basis for exploration of oil and gas.

Work on these blocks were being carried out in a phased manner, said Mr. Raha.

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