The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘Oil reserves will last 40 years’

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Thursday, Jan 17, 2008
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Karnataka - Bangalore

‘Oil reserves will last 40 years’

Special Correspondent

Public sector oil companies launch a drive on petroleum conservation

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

A PLEDGE FOR A BETTER FUTURE: Students taking oath on oil conservation at the inauguration of ‘Oil and Gas Conservation Fortnight-2008’ in Bangalore on Wednesday.

BANGALORE: “If we do not take care to conserve petroleum products now, the world oil reserves will stand to be exhausted in 40 years,” according to experts who attended the inaugural sessions of the “Oil and Gas Conservation Week 2008” held here on Wednesday.

As part of the oil conservation week, the public sector oil companies have launched a drive on petroleum conservation in Bangalore.

About 300 children from different schools in Bangalore district took a pledge on this occasion to help their families conserve fossil-based fuel.

State Co-ordinator for Oil Industry V.K. Jayachandran said that in 2006-07 India spent $ 40 billion in importing 120 million tonnes of crude oil.

About 41 per cent of the industries were dependent on petroleum for fuel and this dependence was increasing annually.

He said India had only 730 million tonnes of petroleum reserves which should hold good for another seven years with the annual rate of consumption being around 120 million tonnes. The global reserves were estimated at 1,57,000 tonnes and the world consumption was surging ahead at 3,700 million tonnes a year. It had been estimated that if the consumption continued at the same rate, world’s oil reserves would be exhausted in 42 years.

He said with the advent of small cars and super mini cars at a price band of Rs. 1 lakh hitting the market, the consumption of petrol might get out of control. And this situation called for stricter control of oil consumption, he said.

Another major concern was the movement of goods. In the global and liberated market, goods were moving from one part of the world to another duplicating the existing chain of goods.

The Principal Secretary of the Department of Industries and Commerce, K.M. Shivakumar, called upon the people to popularise the use of non-conventional fuels.

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