Lok Sabha Question No. 80 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-03
Subject: Rising Demand of Oil
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Shrirang Appa Barne, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik, Bidyut Baran Mahato, Sudheer Gupta, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 80 TO BE ANSWERED ON 3 rd  FEBRUARY, 2019

## Rising Demand of Oil

## 80. SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE:

SHRI SANJAY SADASHIV RAO MANDLIK:

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

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

(a)  whether  as  per  the  International  Energy  Agency  (IEA),  India's  oil  demand  growth  will overtake China by mid 2020;

(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;

(c) whether the Government has prepared/likely to prepare a policy to counter the increasing demand of petroleum and petroleum products in the country if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the Government has created adequate reserves of petroleum products to meet the rising demand of crude oil in the country and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) whether the Government is focusing on some other alternate means of energy to reduce dependency on oil and petroleum products and if so, the details thereof and the steps taken in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  &  (b)  As  per  World  Energy  Outlook  2019  published  by  International  Energy  Agency, India's oil demand in total primary energy is projected to increase from 233 Million tonne of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 2018 to 305 Mtoe in 2025, whereas China's oil demand is projected to increase from 593 Mtoe in 2018 to 672 Mtoe in 2025.

(c)  Government has taken several steps to enhance exploration & production of oil and gas, give thrust  on  demand substitution, promote energy  efficiency  and conservation, capitalize untapped potential on biofuels and alternative fuels/renewables in order to reduce imports of crude oil. These include a series of initiatives such as Policy for Relaxations, Extensions and Clarifications  under  Production  Sharing  Contract  (PSC)  regime  for  early  monetization  of hydrocarbon  discoveries,  Discovered  Small  Field  Policy,  Hydrocarbon  Exploration  and Licensing  Policy,      Policy  for  early  monetization  of  Coal  Bed  Methane,  Setting  up  of National  Data  Repository,  Appraisal  of  Unappraised  areas  in  Sedimentary  Basins,  Re- assessment  of  Hydrocarbon  Resources,  Policy  framework  to  streamline  the  working  of Production  Sharing  Contracts  in  Pre-NELP  and  NELP  Blocks,  Policy  to  Promote  and Incentivize Enhanced Recovery Methods for Oil and Gas, Policy framework for exploration and exploitation of Unconventional  Hydrocarbons  under  existing Production Sharing Contracts, Coal Bed Methane contracts and Nomination fields.

The  Government  in  February,  2019  approved  major  reforms  in  exploration  and  licensing policy  to  enhance  exploration  activities,  attract  domestic  and  foreign  investment  and accelerate domestic production of oil and gas from existing fields. The policy reforms inter alia  aims  to    boost  exploration  activities  with  greater  weightage  to  work  programme, simplified fiscal and contractual terms, bidding of exploration blocks under Category II and III  sedimentary  basins  without  any  production  or  revenue  sharing  to  Government,  early monetization  of  discoveries  by  extending  fiscal  incentives,  incentivizing    gas  production including  marketing  and  pricing  freedom,  induction  of  latest  technology  and  capital,  more functional freedom to National Oil Companies  for collaboration and private sector participation for production enhancement  methods  in nomination fields, streamlining approval processes and promoting ease of doing business including electronic single window mechanism.

(d)  Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited (ISPRL) has already created SPR facilities at 3  locations,  namely  (i)  Vishakhapatnam  (1.33  MMT),  (ii)  Mangaluru  (1.5  MMT)  and  (iii) Padur  (2.5  MMT).  Government  has  given  'in  principle'  approval  for  creation  of  two additional underground rock cavern SPR facilities with total storage capacity of 6.5 Million Metric Tonne (MMT).

(e) Government is promoting the usage of environment friendly transportation fuel, i.e. CNG by  expanding  the  coverage  of  City  Gas  Distribution  (CGD)  network  in  the  country. Government has also taken a number of initiatives to encourage the use of alternative fuels like ethanol and bio-diesel through Ethanol Blending in Petrol (EBP) Programme and Biodiesel  blending  in  diesel.  Government  has  formulated  a  National  Bio  Fuel  Policy  2018  to boost availability of biofuels in country.

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