The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Natural gas production likely to double by 2012: Union Minister

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Tuesday, Jan 15, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Natural gas production likely to double by 2012: Union Minister

New licensing policy boosts exploration and production sector: Deora

Photo: Mohd. Yousuf

Planning ahead: Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora going around the ONGC stall in Hyderabad on Monday.

HYDERABAD: Natural gas production is likely to double by the end of the current Plan (2007-12) from the present level of 87 million standard cubic metres (mmscmd) per day in view of the exploration and development efforts made under the new exploration licensing policy.

This was announced here on Monday by Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora while inaugurating the seventh international conference and exposition on petroleum geophysics’, a three-day meet, organised by the Society of Petroleum Geophysicists.

Private investment

He said the exploration and production sector received a significant boost through the policy which brought about a major liberalisation in the sector and opened it up for private and foreign investment.

The country was the world’s fifth largest consumer of energy, accounting for 3.9 per cent of the annual consumption after the US, China, Russia and Japan. Its dependence on crude oil and petroleum imports was more than 70 per cent. In 2006-07, the consumption of petroleum products was about 120 million metric tonnes (mmt), about 5.9 per cent higher than previous year’s 113 mmt.

Rapid development of the energy market was necessary for achieving 8-10 per cent growth rate. The government and oil companies had taken several steps to enhance energy security, he said.

Strategic storage

The government had taken an ‘in-principle’ decision to construct 15 mmt strategic storage in phases. In the first phase, five mmt storage was being built at Visakhapatnam, Mangalore and Padur. M.S. Srinivasan, Petroleum Secretary, stressed the need for enhancing productivity considerably. An ambitious target of meeting 80 per cent of the country’s requirement had been set for 2015.

ONGC Chairman R. S. Sharma also spoke.

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