With a
population close to 1.37 billion, India strives hard to meet the increase in
demands of every industry. Petroleum industry is in spotlight, as it marks as a
means to measure the development of a country. Petroleum was first found in the
town of Digboi in the state of Assam in the year 1889. And has since then,
contributed as a major energy source for the country. Today, Oil and Gas
contributes about 34.4% to primary energy consumption in India. As per BP Energy Outlook 2016, India's energy consumption is projected
to grow at 4.2% per annum till 2035, faster than all major economies in the
world.
Production,
which seemed dull during the early stages, is now in full swing. With huge
focus on reserves such as, Natural gas, Shale Gas, Coal Bed Methane, Oil
reserves and Gas hydrate resources. At the beginning of 2015, India
had 54 Trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, 96 TCF of technically recoverable shale gas resources and CBM
about 9.8 TCF. Approximately 34% of these total reserves are
located onshore, while 66% are offshore. As for the Oil reserves, India held
nearly 635 MMT of proven oil reserves at the beginning of 2015, mostly in the
western part of the country. About which, 49% of reserves are onshore
resources, while 51% are offshore. Two world
class gas hydrate reservoirs had been discovered in ultra-deep waters of KG
basin under national gas hydrate programme-2, opening new avenues for
alternative resources.
(from top-left: ONGC - Karaikal, Kakinada, Mizoram, Mumbai High)
India’s
energy demand grows at 3.2% per year, forcing Import as the temporary solution.
Oil imports constituted about 81% of total domestic Oil consumption during the
year 2015-2016. The Oil imports next year, 2017 October, increased by 27.89%,
equivalent to 9029 billion US dollars. Thus, India has begun to be known as the
fourth largest LNG importer after Japan, South Korea and China. It is also the
second largest Refiner in Asia. India stands after US and China, in terms of
Oil and Gas consumption, which increased by 8.3% in 2016.
To
amount up to the increasing demand and consumption, the country has offered the
following appraisal. An appraisal of 1.5 million sq. km. of
un-appraised areas by capturing 2D seismic survey data for 48243 Line Kilometre
(LKM) for onshore areas of 22 sedimentary basins, to be acquired by ONGC (40835
LKM) and OIL (7408 LKM). It plans to harness the 60% of the untouched reserves,
amounting to 28,000 MMT. And also devise suitable plans for the 48% of the
country’s sedimentary area, which is yet to be explored. With potential to rank the highest among all
major economies, India must aim high, maintain balance of imports and focus on
more such significant developments in this field, to make the outcome possible.
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