Centre approves Rs 1 lakh crore oil & gas projects for North Eastern Region: Hardeep Singh Puri

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Centre has approved oil & gas projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore for the North Eastern Region (NER).

Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri while speaking at an event to showcase upstream oil & gas opportunities in NER in the city here on Friday, said the Northeast with its abundant natural resources, rich cultural heritage and huge opportunities for growth is central to India's development agenda. The NE States are perceived to be highly prospective based on available geo-scientific information and hence ample opportunities for potential oil and gas finds through accelerated exploration exists in the region, he said.

Puri said while execution of the oil and gas projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore is expected to be completed by 2025, many other projects are on pipelines to bring about economic revolution in NER. The Union minister announced that the Digboi refinery in Assam will be expanded. He also assured that the issue of blending ethanol with petrol at the refinery level will also be explored.

Some of the other projects announced by Puri during the Friday's event here are doubling the exploration acreage in NER from the existing 30,000 Sq. Kms to 60,000 Sq. Kms by 2025. Plans to Double the Oil and Gas production from current 9 MMTOE to 18 MMTOE by 2025

Plans to set up a dedicated service provider hub in NER to support the requirement of oil and gas industry in collaboration with State Governments Implementation of North East Gas Grid (NEGG) to provide access to natural gas to end-user in the north-eastern region

Addressing the event Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma extended full support of the State Government in the exploration activities. He assured that the State Government is taking steps for providing early environmental clearances for the Oil and Gas projects. He said that the contribution of Assam in the oil and gas sector is well-known and he wants the exploration activities to increase fast.

Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas RameswarTeli said that India is going to become a top energy consumer in the coming times. For ensuring energy security it is important that oil and gas sector should develop fast and import dependence should come down. He said that NER has large potential and the same should be explored in active participation with the State Governments.

The objective of the conference organized by the Union Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, was to highlight the portfolio of high-volume oil and gas assets of Indian Sedimentary basins and to promote the Bidding Rounds of Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy and Discovered Small fields Policy. The event saw enthusiastic participation from the Central and State Government, leaders of national oil companies, private E&P companies, service providers and academic institutions.

"Theme of the event was aligned to Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for north-east India, which is a paradigm shift in production and utilization of hydrocarbons to catalyze growth in the North East region and to improving the standard of living for the people, generating opportunities for the youth and creating a sustainable energy secure future," an official associated with the event said.

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