By IANS,
New Delhi: India’s exploration and production companies will have to gear up to meet the country’s future needs, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada said here Friday.
Speaking at the valedictory session of the SPE Oil and Gas India conference, Prasada noted that the thrust of the government’s policy was to boost the availability of energy sources within the country, adding that in the current Five-Year Plan period (2007-12), the target was to increase the exploration coverage in the sedimentary basin to 80 percent.
The government’s auction of hydrocarbon assets have given “rich dividends”, with 73 oil and gas discoveries made in 21 onshore and offshore blocks, a press release quoted him as saying.
Prasada also noted that oil companies have been mandated to double their gas production in the next five years, which would require extensive investment in processes and technologies.
The minister also said the success of deepwater exploration in Krishna-Godavari basin has given much required confidence and a boost to further explore and develop such areas.
“In addition to oil and gas exploration, India has initiated steps towards exploration of alternative sources of hydrocarbons like coal-bed methane and underground coal gasification,” Prasada added.