Natural Gas Development and Utilization Pattern in India
Authors: Mulchandani H.K. , Balakrishnan M. , Khilnani S. 
Published: December 2007

Natural gas plays an important role in India's economy. The luxury of flaring into the atmosphere is over. Rather, stocks are assessed and capital investments are planned for the optimal development and utilization of gas. In this paper, we present data on different aspects of the gas business-supply, source, production, utilization pattern, and share in energy and economy. An optimal utilization plan is discussed that could be of value to economic planners.

Introduction

Awareness that natural gas is a vital marginal infrastructural resource is dawning slowly in India. Because of absence of such awareness in the past, India has flared several billion cubic meters of associated natural gas. In addition, lack of policy directions, necessary infrastructures, and aggressive techniques to create a demand (as well as market or pricing fallacies and absence of entrepreneurial spirit) have contributed to the waste of this valuable resource. Since the first OPEC shock of 1973, energy conservation, substitution, alternatives, and additional resources have begun to play an increasingly important role in the total concept of energy audit based on optimal economic principles. Now that natural gas has been recognized as a vital resource, its development, reserves, availability, demand, and above all, optimal use must be planned carefully. Accordingly, the Indian Oil Industry Development Board has established a task force to reassess stocks and utilization plans. Capital investments are planned for enhanced exploration, development, and drilling efforts. Recent discoveries of free and associated gas fields in India have added to the necessity for accelerated investments to use this vast and varied potential for the nation's benefit and development.

Overview of the Present Energy Spectrum

The present per capita commercial energy consumption in India is about one-tenth of the global average. However, India consumes energy in a variety of forms ranging from noncommercial fuel wood to coal, electricity, hydroelectric power, and nuclear energy. Commercial energy today accounts for about 66% of total energy supply in India. Coal and oil are the most significant sources of energy. However, 40 to 45% of India's oil requirements are still imported. India, accordingly, is classified as an oil-importing developing country (OIDC). The total energy supply spectrum for 1983 is shown in Fig. 1. India's energy coefficient was stable at around 1.8 in the 1970's; for 1980–84, it is around 1.5. In general, this not only confirms the correlation between economic progress and energy consumption but also highlights India's attempts to use energy efficiently. However, much more must be done to increase efficiency to the level reached by the developed countries. The growth rates of energy consumption and its constituents have been quite impressive. A breakdown of the energy consumption during the last 3 years is shown in Table 1 and historical energy consumption is shown in Fig. 2. Energy growth rates are indicated in Table 2, energy consumption pattern is shown in Fig. 3, and the energy resource plan is shown in Fig. 4. New finds of natural gas in the eastern and southern sectors will further boost the contribution of natural gas in the overall resource program. The supply and demand of energy for the sixth and seventh plans are shown in Table 3. For the sixth 5-year plan (1980–85), outlay on energy is about 27% of total public sector outlay.

Role of Natural Gas: Present and Future

Gas Fields and Reserves

Natural gas so far discovered is concentrated mainly in the east and west (Fig. 5). On the west side there are two prominent areas, Bombay High and Gujarat, with a small gas field in prominent areas, Bombay High and Gujarat, with a small gas field in Rajasthan. However, the most promising gas field in India is the South Basin (another west-side location). An offshore gas field platform complex is being planned for that field (Fig. 5). The locations of established reserves are indicated in Table 4 . India's gas reserve has increased during the 10 years ending 1981 from 62.51 to 410.61 × 10 9 m3 [2,208 to 14,500 × 10 9 cu ft] and they will increase further after the reserves in the South Basin have been estimated fully. These reserves include 1.13 × 10 9 m3 [40 × 10 9 cu ft] estimated reserves in the Nagaland and Tripura gas fields.

Production

Gas production has more than doubled between 1980 and 1983. Production. Gas production has more than doubled between 1980 and 1983. The production breakdown by location for 1980–81 and 1982–83 is shown in Table 5. Presently, this production represents only 1% of total energy resources.

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