New Delhi: Addressing state-run ONGC's workforce at its iconic drilling rig Sagar Samrat on Saturday, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri stressed on the need for the PSU to bring in new Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in the organisation which are geared towards time-bound deliverables and efficiency. "These KPIs need to focus on three important goals. ONGC possess a large sedimentary basin acreage, which will go up even further in the coming days. It is imperative that the organisation make extra efforts to convert its 'yet-to-find' acreage into discovery fields, discovery fields into production assets and production assets into maximum production assets. Teams across ONGC which are engaged in different processes of the three phases must re-orient themselves for accelerated achievements of these targets," he said.
Puri was speaking after rededicating Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) iconic drilling rig Sagar Samrat, as a Mobile Offshore Production Unit (MOPU) at a ceremony held on the rig which is located 140-145 kilometres west of Mumbai.
The Union Minister further said that all efforts should be made to make the organisation agile, expedient and efficient. He added that it is also crucial for ONGC, which has made a strong profit this financial year, to pump some fraction of those earnings back into R&D and exploration activities.
He said that ONGC is not only India's premier National Oil Company but also one of India Inc's marquee corporate entities. Stating this, he expressed confidence about ONGC re-inventing itself for India's new hopes and expectations. He further said that, as India's top NOC, the nation looks towards ONGC for making the most of the facilitative policy environment that the government is providing and for leading India's E&P activities.
"Government of India intends to increase India's exploration acreage to 0.5 million sq km by 2025 and 1.0 million sq km by 2030," stated the Union Minister. He also said that the government has been successful in reducing the 'No-Go' area by 99 percent, thereby making available an additional approximately 1 million Sq km of India's EEZ for exploration. Several MNCs like Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Total Energies are showing keen interest to invest in the Indian E&P segment, and some are already in talks with ONGC for firming up mutually beneficial partnerships.
Puri said that India is the world's fastest-growing large economy and the world's third-largest consumer of energy, third-largest consumer of crude oil, fourth-largest refiner, sixth-largest importer of petroleum products, and seventh-largest exporter of petroleum products as on date. India's energy demand is expected to grow at about 3 percent per annum by 2040, compared to the global rate of 1 percent. Further, 25 percent of the global energy growth between 2020 and 2040 is going to come from India due to the fast-growing economy and demographic dividend. However, India imports 85 percent of its petroleum requirements and spent approximately $120 billion in FY 2021-22 on the import of petroleum products. Stating this, the Union Minister said, India's Amrit Kaal cannot be realised without achieving energy independence by 2047.
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