Lok Sabha Question No. 74 (STARRED), answered on 2025-12-04
Subject: Demand of Crude Oil and Natural Gas
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Shri Tatkare Sunil Dattatrey

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *74

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04 TH  DECEMBER 2025

## DEMAND OF CRUDE OIL AND NATURAL GAS

## *74. SHRI TATKARE SUNIL DATTATREY:

## पेट Ō ोिलयम और Ůाक ृ ितक गैस मंũी

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  steps  to  ensure  that  the  expected  rise  in country's crude oil and natural gas demand by 2035 as projected by the International Energy Agency at thirty-seven percent for crude oil and eighty five percent for natural gas is met through its various operations, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the steps  taken to boost sources such as Coal Bed Methane, Synthetic Natural Gas, Shale Oil and Gas etc. to meet this demand;
- (c) whether the Government and various companies in this sector are prepared in terms of transport and storage infrastructure to deal with this major rise in demand, and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the  methods  through  which  petrochemical  and  green  energy  components  can  be integrated to meet future energy demand?

## ANSWER पेट Ō ोिलयम और Ůाक ृ ितक गैस मंũी ( ŵी हरदीप िसंह पुरी )

MINISTER OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI HARDEEP SINGH PURI)

(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (D) IN RESPECT OF LOK  SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  74  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  04.12.2025 REGARDING  'DEMAND  OF  CRUDE  OIL  AND  NATURAL  GAS'  ASKED  BY SHRI TATKARE SUNIL DATTATREY

(a) & (b): India is expected to remain a major driver of global energy demand growth through 2035,  propelled  by  its  robust  economic  trajectory.  According  to  the  International  Energy Agency (IEA), India will contribute over 40% of the global increase in oil demand and about 8% of  the  growth  in  natural  gas  demand  between  2024  and  2035,  while  OPEC  estimates India's  share  at  approximately  23%  for  oil  and  10%  for  gas  over  the  same  period. Government has also implemented a range of policy measures and sectoral reforms aimed at enhancing  domestic  exploration  and  production,  expanding  natural  gas  infrastructure,  and promoting  green  and  alternative  energy  sources  to  support  a  balanced  energy  transition. Measures for increasing the domestic exploration and production of both conventional (Oil & Natural  gas)  as  well  as  unconventional  (Coal  Bed  Methane,  Shale  Oil  &  Gas  and  Gas Hydrate) hydrocarbon resources is placed at Annexure.

(c): At present, more than 10,400 Km of pipeline for transportation of Crude Oil, 24,000 Km  for  transportation  of  Petroleum  Products  and  25,429  KM  of  Natural  Gas  Pipeline (including sub-transmission pipeline & tie in connectivity pipeline) is operational. Further, to cater  to  the  rising  demand  of  Oil  and  Gas,  Central  Public  Sector  Undertakings  undertake projects for expansion and augmentation of the transportation network, on an ongoing basis.

Petroleum  and  Natural  Gas  Regulatory  Board  (PNGRB)  authorises  Natural  Gas  Pipeline Network  across  the  country  with  the  aim  to  create  National  Gas  Grid  and  increase  the availability of natural gas across the country.

PNGRB  has  also  authorized  entities  for  development  of  City  Gas  Distribution  (CGD) network in 307 Geographical Areas (GAs), covering the entire mainland area for development of CGD network across the Country.

In  order  to  build  the  capacities  of  strategic  crude  storage,  Government,  through  a  Special Purpose Vehicle, called Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL), has established Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) facilities with total capacity of 5.33 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) of crude oil at 3 locations namely (i) Vishakhapatnam-1.33 MMT, (ii) Mangaluru-1.5  MMT  and (iii) Padur-2.5  MMT.  Government  have  also  approved  two additional commercial-cum-strategic petroleum reserve facilities with total storage capacity of 6.5 MMT at Chandikhol-4 MMT in Odisha and Padur-2.5 MMT in Karnataka.

In  addition,  there  is  a  total  of  8  MMT  Crude  tankage  capacity  at  various  refinery  location across the country.

(d): Government  has  implemented  various  initiatives  to  promote  biofuels  and  green hydrogen,  which  inter-alia  include  achieving  20%  ethanol  blending  under  the  Ethanol Blending  Programme  (EBP),  and  broadening  the  scope  of  feedstock  to  enhance  the availability of ethanol. During the last eleven years, from Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 201415 to ESY 2024-25 (up to October 2025), ethanol blending in petrol undertaken by Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) has resulted in conservation of foreign exchange amounting to more than ₹1,55,000 Crore, along with crude oil substitution of about 260 lakh metric tonnes, thereby strengthening the country's energy security. The Pradhan Mantri Jaiv

Indhan-Vatavaran  Anukool  Fasal  Awashesh  Nivaran  (PM  JI-VAN)  Yojana  has  been launched  to  provide  financial  assistance  for  setting  up  projects  for  advanced  biofuels, including Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). For the promotion of Compressed Biogas (CBG), the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) scheme has been launched,  and  schemes  like  BAM  (Biomass  Aggregation  Machinery)  and  DPI  (Direct Pipeline Infrastructure) have been introduced to support biomass aggregation and to connect CBG plants to the existing pipeline network. National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) has been launched with the objective of production of 5 MMTPA green hydrogen by 2030.

*****

Measures for increasing the domestic exploration and production of both conventional (Oil & Natural  gas)  as  well  as  unconventional  (Coal  Bed  Methane,  Shale  Oil  &  Gas  and  Gas Hydrate) hydrocarbon resources.

- i. Policy for Relaxations, Extensions and Clarifications under Production Sharing Contract (PSC) regime for early monetization of hydrocarbon discoveries, 2014;
- ii. Discovered Small Field Policy, 2015;
- iii. Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), 2016;
- iv. Policy for Extension of PSCs, 2016 and 2017;
- v. Policy for early monetization of Coal Bed Methane (CBM), 2017;
- vi. Setting up of National Data Repository, 2017
- vii. National Seismic Programme, 2017;
- viii. Policy to Promote/Incentivize Enhanced Recovery Methods of Oil/Gas, 2018;
- ix. Policy  Framework  for  exploration  and  exploitation  of  Unconventional  Hydrocarbons including  CBM,  Shale  Oil  and  Gas  etc  under  Existing  Contracts  and  Nomination Fields, 2018;
- x. Lower  Royalty  Rates,  Zero  Revenue  Share  (till  Windfall  Gain)  and  no  drilling commitment  in  Phase-I  in  Open  Acreage  Licensing  Program  (OALP)  Blocks  under Category II and III basins to attract bidders 2019;
- xi. Natural Gas Marketing Reforms, 2020;
- xii. Release  of  about  1  Million  Sq.  Km.  (SKM)  'No-Go'  area  in  offshore  which  were earlier blocked for exploration for decades 2022;
- xiii. Amendments to Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act in 2025 to promote ease of doing business, contractual stability and operational efficiency.
- xiv. The Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Act, 2025 has expanded the definition  of  "mineral  oils"  to  include  a  broader  range  of  hydrocarbons  including conventional as well as unconventional form of hydrocarbons allowing the production of these hydrocarbons under a single lease.
- xv. Earlier,  definition  of  Mineral  Oils  included  natural  gas  and  petroleum.  However, Mineral Oil has now been defined as any naturally occurring hydrocarbon, whether in the form of natural gas or in a liquid, viscous or solid form, or a mixture thereof, and includes  crude  oil,  natural  gas,  petroleum,  condensate,  coal  bed  methane,  oil  shale, shale gas, shale oil, tight gas, tight oil, gas hydrate in their usual industrial connotation and other gases occurring in association with mineral oils, but does not include coal, lignite and helium occurring in association with petroleum or coal or shale.
- xvi. In 2017, a policy framework for Early Monetization of CBM was formulated to provide marketing and pricing freedom for CBM and streamline the operational issues in the existing blocks.
- xvii. In  2018,  Government  notified  terms  &  conditions  for  grant  of  exploration  and exploitation rights to Coal India Limited (& subsidiaries) from coal bearing areas.
- xviii. A new sub-sector, "Production of Syngas leading to coal gasification," has been created under the Non-Regulated Sector (NRS) linkage auctions policy.
- xix. Two  Public  Sector  Undertakings  namely  Bharat  Petroleum  Corporation  Limited (BPCL)  and  Gas  Authority  of  India  Limited  (GAIL)  have  tied  up  with  Coal  India Limited for Coal gasification plants at Chandrapur, Maharashtra; and SonepurBazari, West Bengal respectively, to boost Synthetic Natural Gas production.
- xx. Government  has  approved  an  outlay  of  ₹8,500  crore  as  financial  incentive,  for promotion of coal/lignite gasification projects. A 50% rebate in revenue share for coal used in gasification has been introduced in commercial coal block auctions, provided that at least 10% of the total coal production is used for gasification purposes.
- xxi. Policy guidelines for promotion of exploration and production of shale gas/ oil interalia include:
- a. Allowing E&P operators in India to explore and develop all unconventional hydrocarbons (CBM, shale oil/gas and gas hydrate) under existing production sharing  contracts,  CBM  blocks,  and  nominated  licenses.  This  allows  the exploration and development of shale gas/ oil in existing PML areas.
- b. Policy framework to promote and incentivize Enhanced Recovery Methods for Oil and Gas under which various fiscal incentives are being provided to the operators for future discoveries of unconventional hydrocarbons (Shale Gas/Oil and Gas Hydrate).
- c. A total of 30 wells were drilled by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Limited  and  Conventional  shale  cores  in  OALP  blocks  were  collected  to generate  more  data  pertaining  to  shale  Gas  potential.  Similarly,  Oil  India Limited (OIL) drilled a total of 04 wells.
- xxii. Government  is  diversifying  energy  sources  beyond  traditional  hydrocarbons  to emerging fuels like Ethanol, Compressed Biogas, Hydrogen etc through schemes such  as  Ethanol  Blending  Program  (EBP),  Sustainable  Alternative  Towards Affordable  Transportation  (SATAT)  etc.  During  the  last  eleven  years,  from Ethanol  Supply  Year  (ESY)  2014-15  to  ESY  2024-25  (up  to  October  2025), ethanol blending in petrol undertaken by Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs)  has  increased  from  1.5%  to  nearly  19.97%  resulting  in  crude  oil substitution of about 260 lakh metric tonnes, thereby strengthening the country's energy security.