Lok Sabha Question No. 2027 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-30
Subject: Shortage of Petroleum Products
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: RAJIV PRATAP RUDY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2027 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30 th  JULY, 2018

## Shortage of Petroleum Products

## 2027.   SHRI RAJIV PRATAP RUDY:

पेट्रोलियम और प्राक ृ लिक गैस मंत्री

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

- (a)      whether  the  Government  has  formulated  a  long  term  strategy  to  meet  the shortage of  petroleum  products  including  natural  gas  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof along with the steps taken by the Government in this regard;
- (b)   whether the Government proposes to formulate new policy for development of shale gas in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether public sector companies have invested in shale gas producing foreign companies and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)      whether  the  Government  has  signed  any  bilateral  agreements  for  joint development  and  sharing  of  technology  for  shale  gas  development  and  if  so,  the details thereof?

## ANSWER

पेट्रोलियम और प्राक ृ लिक गैस मंत्रािय में मंत्री ( प्रााप्र ामेर्मध ीी )

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

- (a) The policy initiatives taken by the Government to enhance domestic production of oil and gas include:-
- (i)        Policy  for Relaxations, Extensions and clarifications under Production Sharing Contract  (PSC)  regime  for  early  monetization  of  hydrocarbon  Discoveries, 2014.
- (ii)     Policy on Testing Requirements, 2015.
- (iii)    Discovered Small Field Policy, 2015.
- (iv)     Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy, 2016.
- (v)      Policy for Extension of Production Sharing Contracts, 2016 and 2017.
- (vi)     Policy for early monetization of Coal Bed Methane.
- (vii)    Setting up of National Data Repository, 2017.
- (viii)    Appraisal of Unappraised areas in Sedimentary Basins.
- (ix)     Re-assessment of Hydrocarbon Resources.
- (x)        Streamlining  the  working  of  Production  Sharing  Contracts  in  Pre-NELP  and NELP Blocks, 2018.

The steps taken by the Government to achieve the goal of reducing the dependency on import in energy from oil and gas include:

- (i)    Increasing domestic production of oil and gas;
- (ii)   Promoting energy efficiency and conservation measures;
- (iii)  Giving thrust on demand substitution;
- (iv)  Capitalizing untapped potential in bio-fuels and other alternate fuels/renewable and;
- (v)   Implementing measures for refinery process improvements.

(b)  In  order  to  exploit  shale  gas  &  Oil  in  the  country,  Government  of  India  on  14 th October, 2013 announced the Policy Guidelines for Exploration and Exploitation of Shale Gas and Oil by National Oil Companies, i.e. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Limited and Oil India Limited (OIL)) in their onland Petroleum Exploration License (PEL) / Petroleum Mining Lease (PML) areas awarded under the nomination regimes. Government of India has approved Discovered Small Field Policy in 2015 and  Hydrocarbon  Exploration  Licensing  Policy  (HELP)  in  2016  which  enable  the contractor to explore and exploit all types of hydrocarbon resources including shale oil/gas. Review and formulation of policies for enhancement of oil/gas production in the country is a continuous process.

(c)  Indian  Public  Sector Oil  and  Gas  companies,  till  February  2018 , have acquired stakes  in 27  countries,  including  Australia,  Brazil,  Canada,  Iran,  Iraq, Nigeria, Myanmar, Namibia, Russia, South Sudan, USA, UAE, Venezuela and Vietnam with cumulative  investment  of  about  US$33.8  billion  for  exploitation  of  hydrocarbon including shale oil/gas.

(d) A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 6 th November, 2010 with USA in  the  area  of  knowledge  exchange  and expertise  concerning Shale Gas resource characterization and assessment in India.

*****