New DGH calls for creating more investor friendly environment

Says necessary to encourage the E&P companies to invest in exploration and production activities covering all the sedimentary basins of the country

With India slated to become the third largest energy consumer in the world by 2020, the newly appointed DGH B N Talukdar has called for creating a more investment friendly environment to produce more oil and gas in the country.

"We have to create more investment friendly environment, enable suitable regulations in place so that a much more vibrant domestic energy sector evolves," Talukdar said in his first message since taking over as Director General of Hydrocarbons.

"We have to think of incentivising the E&P companies for developing and applying advanced technologies necessary to explore, develop and produce energy to meet the growing demand of the progressing nation," he said in a message posted on DGH website.

He said only 7 sedimentary basins out of a total 26 basins in the country are on production today. "There is a big challenge lying before us to explore for oil and gas in all the basins within a stipulated time frame so that maximum number of basins are put on production to reduce the huge gap between the demand and the indigenous production in the country."

India today is the fourth largest energy consumer in the world after USA, China and Russia and it is slated to become the third largest by the year 2020.

"Projections indicate India's energy consumption to be more than double over the next twenty years. This high degree of dependence on imported crude oil definitely adversely affects the nation's energy security as well as economy.

"It is, therefore, highly imperative that we encourage the E&P companies to invest in exploration and production activities covering all the sedimentary basins of the country so that we discover and produce more and more crude oil and gas indigenously," he said.

In order to meet the growing energy demand, India will need to concentrate on all forms of energy - coal, conventional oil and gas, unconventional oil and gas viz shale oil and gas, CBM and even gas hydrate and renewables.

He said the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) was established with the objective of promoting sound management of Indian petroleum and natural gas resources with due regard for environment, technological and economic aspects.

Later, it was also assigned the responsibilities relating to implementation of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) and Coal Bed Methane (CBM) policies.

"In order to achieve the desired objectives of DGH, specially, towards promoting sound management of oil and gas resources, we may have to have a relook at our functioning so as to strike a balance between the various kinds of roles we are required to perform," he said.

Talukdar said besides exploring new areas, aggressive approach for increasing recovery from existing reservoirs should be targeted. "Simultaneously we need to formulate suitable guidelines for proper evaluation of discoveries, reserves and development strategies to avoid undesired controversies," he added.