Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met chief executive officers (CEOs) of top global and Indian companies, including BP of the UK, Russia's Rosneft, Saudi Aramco and Reliance Industries, on the ways to revive investment in oil & gas exploration and production.
The CEOs suggested that private and foreign firms be given a stake in ONGC's producing fields like Mumbai High.
Over a 3-hour long meeting, the CEOs also suggested including natural gas and electricity in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime to make these competitive.
The honchos included BP Plc chief executive Bob Dudley, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, Royal Dutch Shell's project and technology director Harry Brekelmens, Saudi Aramco CEO Amin H Naseer, Exxon Mobil president for Gas and Power Rob Franklin, RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani and Vedanta Resources head Anil Agarwal for over two hours to discuss the global oil and gas scenario.
The government is seeking investment in exploration and production, processing, transportation and distribution network in oil and gas.
According to a statement from PMO, the prime minister welcomed the suggestion made for a comprehensive energy policy after the meeting with CEOs of oil and gas companies and experts from across the world. The status of the energy sector in India was highly uneven and there was scope for reforms in many areas.
The PM also welcomed all possibilities for innovation and research in the oil and gas sector.
Subjects such as the need for a unified energy policy, contract frameworks and arrangements, requirement of seismic data sets, encouragement for biofuels, improving gas supply, setting up of a gas hub, and regulatory issues came up for discussion, the statement said.
The Prime Minister said that the status of the energy sector in India was highly uneven.
He also said that scope for reform in many areas still exists.
He stressed on the need to develop energy infrastructure and access to energy in eastern India.
Modi also thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin and Rosneft for their commitments and support to the energy sector in India. He also appreciated the 2030 vision document of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Warmly recalling his visit to Saudi Arabia, Modi said many progressive decisions were being taken there in the energy sector.
In their brief opening remarks, Union petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan and vice chairman of Niti Aayog Rajiv Kumar gave an overview of the work done in the energy sector. They also emphasised on the expected growth in energy demand in India, and the significant progress made in electrification and LPG expansion.
In a short presentation, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant outlined the recent developments and challenges in the oil and gas sector in India.
This is the second meeting Prime Minister had with CEOs of oil majors. His first meeting was in January 2016 where suggestions for reforming natural gas prices were made.
The government is looking at private investment to raise domestic oil and gas production, which has stagnated for the last few years while fuel demand has been rising by 5-6% annually. India is dependent on imports to meet its 80% of the demand and more than half of its natural gas requirements.
In 2015, the Prime Minister had set a target of reducing India's oil dependence by 10% to 67% (based on import dependence of 77% in 2014-15) by 2022.
Import dependence has only increased since then and the government is now looking for ways to raise domestic output.
Pradhan during the meeting said India offers around $300 billion investment opportunity in the next 10 years in the oil and gas sector. "We want investors, both domestic and global, who can bring in the best technology and capital." According to Pradhan, in the last 40 months, the government has taken several policy initiatives in the energy sector in line with the prime minister's vision of energy access, efficiency, sustainability and security.
EYE ON INDIA
- Honchos from BP Plc, Rosneft, Saudi Aramco, Exxon Mobil were among the attendees
- The CEOs also suggested including natural gas and electricity in GST
-With agencies
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