India wants to be in the energy technology

India has sought in-depth knowledge of the global oil producers, given it will remain the World’s fastest growing energy market over the next two decades and changes in prices will hit the Indian consumers.

The call was made by Indian leaders at the opening of the India Energy Forum, organized by CERAWeeK which opened in New Delhi 9 October 2017.

Modi met top CEOs and officials from Rosneft, BP, Reliance, Saudi Aramco, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Vedanta, Wood MacKenzie, IHS Markit, Schlumberger, Halliburton, Xcoal, ONGC, IndianOil, GAIL, Petronet LNG, Oil India, HPCL, Delonex Energy, NIPFP, International Gas Union, World Bank, and International Energy Agency.

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, told chief executives of international energy companies at the forum that the status of the energy sector in India is highly uneven.

Modi stressed on the need to develop energy infrastructure and access to energy in Eastern India.

He flagged the potential of biomass energy and also invited participation and joint ventures in coal gasification.

He welcomed all possibilities for innovation and research in the oil and gas sector.

Modi said he looked forward to various opportunities for cooperation between India and Saudi Arabia in the near future.

Saudi Arabia is the world’s top crude oil producer and price influencer.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told the forum that India will remain one of the fastest growing energy markets in the World in the coming two decades.

“Both on account of increasing access and better life styles, there will be growth in per capita energy consumption. We will be an influential buyer in the global energy market,” he said.

“Given our dependence on imports – 80% oil and 50% gas – we have to constantly track the global trends and learn from experts like yourselves,” he said.

World is at the cross road of a major transition, he pointed out.

“This is with respect to the move towards Electric Vehicle (EV). There is a sense of credence about this – the only debate is probably the timing.

“We want to know your views on how things would shape up. Both in terms of renewable technologies such as solar and also in terms of enabling storage,” said Pradhan.

“I am asking you this because a lot of our planning and investment depends on this. This would decide if gas would act as an interim fuel or not. How much refining capacity to plan and when?

“We have taken several policy measures to completely overhaul the licensing regime in upstream segment with our Hydrocarbon Exploring and Licensing Policy.

“We have also come out with National Data Repository to make sure all the interested investors get full access to available geological information to take informed investment decisions.

“I would be interested to know how this is finding favour with investor community and what else can be done,” stressed the Minister.

“Friends we have seen Indian professionals in Information technology (IT), banking and in the field of medicine throughout the World.

“The same level of participation is also expected in the global oil and gas industry,” he continued.

What can be done for skill development across the hydrocarbon value chain to make sure that the workforce is fully trained to service the Indian and the global oil and gas industries?

“In this regards we are very keen to know the format of co-operation between the industry and the academia in major energy centres such as Huston, Calgary, Aberdeen etc.,” said Pradhan.

“Exponential technologies like Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things (IOT), Block Chain etc can change the way oil and gas industry is run in future and we in India cannot afford to miss out on this front,” he said. fii-news.com