Lok Sabha Question No. 4956 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-26
Subject: Import of Petroleum Products
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: BHARATENDRA SINGH, K. GOPAL, SAUGATA ROY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4956 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26 th  MARCH, 2018

## IMPORT OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS

4956: SHRI KUNWAR BHARATENDRA:

DR. K. GOPAL:

PROF. SAUGATA ROY:

Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS be pleased to state:

(a)  whether the  Government has fixed any  target to reduce fuel  imports  by  10 percent  by 2022 and if so, the details  thereof  along  with  measures  being  taken by  the  Government  to ensure savings of foreing exchange;

(b) whether the imports of petroleum products have increased during the current year and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether India has cut its annual fuel demand growth estimate to 4.5 percent for 2017-18 and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  reasons  for  new  forecast  along  with  actual  fuel  demand during the last three years;

- (d)  whether  the  country  is  expected  to  consume  203.4  million  tonnes  of  refined  products during the current year and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e)  whether any long standing agreement/understanding has been made between GAIL and United States of America to import LNG and if so, the details thereof along with the kind of advantages to India through the said deal?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

(a) Ministry is working in collaboration with various Central Government Ministries to achieve the goal to reduce the dependency on import in energy from oil and gas by 10% by 2021-22. The Ministry has prepared a roadmap with a five-pronged strategy, which broadly comprises of increasing domestic production of oil and gas, promoting energy efficiency and conservation measures, giving thrust on demand substitution, capitalizing untapped potential in  biofuels  and  other  alternate  fuels/  renewables  and  implementing  measures  for  refinery process improvements.

Government has taken several steps to enhance exploration & production of oil and gas in the country,  which  include,  inter-alia,  Hydrocarbon  Exploration  Licensing  Policy  (HELP)  and

Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP), Discovered Small Fields (DSF) Policy, gas pricing reforms with premium for difficult areas, grant of marketing freedom for gas produced from difficult areas, National Seismic Programme for unappraised areas, National Data Repository, easing out rigidities in the existing Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and transparent and clear  policy  for  grant  of  extension  under  the  PSC  regime.  Government  has  also  taken  a number  of  initiatives  to  encourage  the  use  of  alternative  fuels,  such  as,  Ethanol  and  Bio Diesel  and  promote  the  conservation  of  petroleum  products.  Some  of  the  important achievements/initiatives  in  these  areas  include  inter-alia,  award  of  30  hydrocarbon  bearing contract  areas  under  DSF  Policy,  launch  of  bids  under  OALP  for  55  oil  &  gas  blocks, approval  of  40%  capital  grant  under  Pradhan  Mantri  Urja  Ganga  to  promote  gas  based economy, improvement in the supply of ethanol, direct sale of bio-diesel to all consumers for blending with High Speed Diesel and setting up of 2 G ethanol plants.

(b) Imports of petroleum products at 32.89 Million Metric Tonne (MMT) during April'17February'18  registered  a  decline  of  0.5%  as  compared  to  the  corresponding  period  of  the previous year.

- (c) & (d) The revised fuel demand as estimated by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, for 2017-18 is 203.4 MMT with 4.5% growth, against an original demand estimate of 205.4 MMT with a growth rate of 5.6%.  This revision is in the wake of the recent Supreme Court ban on use of petcoke and furnace oil and increased coverage of LPG and rural electrification leading  to  rationalization  of  PDS  kerosene.  The  growth  in  consumption  of  petroleum products during the last 3 years and current year up to February, 2018 is given below:
- (e)    GAIL  had  executed  contracts  for  import  of  5.8  Million  Metric  Tonnes  Per  Annum (MMTPA) of LNG from USA including 2.30 MMTPA of LNG from Dominion Cove Point LNG project,  USA  and  3.50  MMTPA  of  LNG  from  Sabine  Pass  LNG  project,  USA.  As reported,  GAIL  has  executed  the  LNG  contracts  based  on  Henry  Hub  index  for  supply  of LNG from USA to manage/diversify geographical and index risk.

| Year                 |   Consumption (MMT) |   Growth (%) |
|----------------------|---------------------|--------------|
| 2014-15              |               165.5 |          4.5 |
| 2015-16              |               184.7 |         11.6 |
| 2016-17              |               194.6 |          5.4 |
| 2017-18 (Apr-Feb 18) |               186.2 |          5.1 |

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