No oil, Centre banks on gas for development of East

Bereft of oil so far, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is banking on supplies of gas for development of the eastern region of the country.
"In eastern India, so far, no oil has been found despite explorations. But four types of gas are available in this part of the country," Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said here today.
This, he said, would help spur the economic development of the entire eastern region, where energy consumption per capita was lower than the rest of the country.
Pradhan said the four types of gasses available in the eastern states, which were heavily endowed with coal reserves, are coal bed methane, natural gas, imported natural gas and coal-based gas.

"But the issues involved are the cost of production, commercial exploitation and technology," Pradhan said at a CII seminar here.
The minister also said the government has also initiated talks with the Bangladesh government seeking its cooperation in hydrocarbons by way of allowing transport of gas from landlocked Tripura using the neighbouring country as transit.

"We are planning to make the East as a gateway for oil and gas. Four LNG terminals are in the concept stage," he said.
The minister said the government was also trying to frame a policy for developing 69 marginal oil and gas fields, which was not a viable option for big companies like ONGC.

In such a situation, he said the government would allow small players to explore and commercially exploit the reserves and the award of the contracts would not be given on nomination basis.
"Companies which will give highest revenue to the government will be given the contracts and they will also be allowed marketing freedom," he said.
According to him, nearly Rs 70,000 crore worth resources were blocked in these fields.
Pradhan also advised the eastern regional states to sit and discuss the issue including oil and gas within the GST framework.
"These states are now willing to put oil and gas within the GST as it was the main source of revenue for them. But a specific band of rates may be arrived upon," he said.