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New Delhi: Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri addressed industry leaders, innovators, media personnel, and pioneers in the Oil and Gas Industry at the FIPI's Oil and Gas Awards-2022 ceremony held on June 9, said the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in a statement on Thursday. During his speech, he emphasised the gravitation of the Indian hydrocarbon industry towards a new arena of development and praised India's resilience in achieving a 7.2 percent economic growth in FY 2022-23 despite global uncertainties, it added.
The statement also noted that the event was also attended by Rameswar Teli, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas & Labour and Employment, and Pankaj Jain, Secretary, MoP&NG.
While addressing the event, Puri commended FIPI for acknowledging the clean energy initiatives undertaken by Indian oil and gas companies. He expressed his satisfaction with the inclusion of more than 20 award categories, including recognition of PhD theses from FIPI student chapters in new energy areas. The Petroleum Minister emphasised the significance of the awards, highlighting the esteemed evaluation committee comprising a former Secretary, ex CMDs of Oil PSUs, and eminent scientists.
Puri described the FIPI Oil and Gas Awards as a platform to encourage and motivate participants to strive for excellence in their respective fields. Over the years, these awards have become the most prestigious recognition in the Indian Oil and Gas Industry. The award categories encompass various aspects vital to the symbiotic growth of the industry, ranging from individual appreciation awards to outstanding performance in areas such as exploration and production, refining, marketing, digitalisation, and sustainability.
Addressing the gathering, Puri stated that India is undertaking an ambitious journey of energy transition, aiming to achieve 'Net Zero Carbon' by 2070. He emphasised the importance of maintaining the accessibility and affordability aspects of energy for the transition to be enduring and stable. The government has implemented landmark reforms in the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors of the hydrocarbon industry, showcasing its commitment to energy security, ease of doing business, and energy transition.
Puri highlighted the recent gas pricing reforms approved by the cabinet, which lay the foundation for a sustainable, affordable, and secure energy future for Indian citizens. The reforms will incentivise investment in India's exploration and production sector by ensuring 20 percent higher prices for gas production from new wells of nomination fields. He reassured that these reforms will not impact private operators or new gas production from field development plans submitted after February 2019.
The Petroleum Minister emphasised that the gas pricing reform decision was crucial to make gas prices competitive with alternative fuels and to expand the gas-based economy. Without these reforms, the prices of gas for priority consumers would have increased by about 10 percent in the next half-year and continued to rise further.
Puri outlined the administered pricing mechanism for gas, which will be determined monthly at 10 percent of the average Indian Crude Basket Prices, with a ceiling of USD 6.5/MMBTU and a floor of USD 4/MMBTU. The ceiling will remain the same for the first two years and then increase by USD 0.25/MMBTU annually to adjust for cost inflation.
Discussing the government's plans for clean and green energy, Puri stated the four planks of the government's strategy: diversification of supplies, increasing alternate energy sources like biofuels, ethanol, compressed biogas (CBG), and Surya Nutan, expanding exploration and production footprint, and achieving energy targets through electric vehicles (EVs) and hydrogen.
“India has one of the largest synchronous grids in the world, capable of handling intermittent renewable energy and we have achieved ‘One Nation-One Grid-One Frequency’. We have enacted Green Hydrogen Policy with a production target of five million tonnes by 2030 and related development of renewable energy capacity," added the Petroleum Minister.
Puri also spoke about the ‘Global Alliance on Biofuels’ with USA and Brazil during India's Presidency of G20. ”The energy transition, with its requirement of combining disruption and scale, will only be truly successful when all stakeholders, big and small, collaborate to complement each other’s strengths through the creation of symbiotic relationships and strong ecosystems. It is crucial to acknowledge that our energy transition journey is ongoing, and we face challenges that require collective efforts. However, with the determination and resilience of our nation, I am confident that we will continue to make significant progress towards a sustainable and prosperous energy future," said Puri.
Addressing the gathering, Rameshwar Teli said, "In line with our Clean and Green energy vision under the Green Hydrogen Policy of Government of India, the target of production of same is five Million Tonne by 2030. The OMCs are working relentlessly to achieve it." Arun Kumar Singh, Chairman, FIPI in his welcome address said that FIPI is all set to play a role, more crucial than ever, to handhold our members to negotiate through the challenges of energy transition.
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