India may see US$ 206 billion investment in oil and gas in next 8-10 years

Indian oil and natural gas sector is likely to witness an investment of US$ 206 billion during the next eight to ten years.

With Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi addressing the top global executives at the India Energy Forum by CERA Week on Monday, it is expected he would further entice companies to promote an cor a self-reliant India. This when the domestic fuel market is recovering from the pandemic-driven decline.

The three-day India Energy Forum will be participated by Mr. Dan Brouillette (US Secretary of Energy), Prince Abdulaziz (Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia) and Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber (CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company). This event will also see participation from industry players such Igor Mr. Sechin (Chairman, Rosneft, Russia); Mr. Bernard Looney (CEO BP Plc, UK); Mr. Patrick Pouyanne (Chairman & CEO, Total S.A., France); Mr. Olivier Le Peuch (CEO, Schlumberger, USA); Mr. Mukesh Ambani (Chairman & MD, Reliance Industries) and Mr. Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo (Secretary General, Opec).

A government official said that such global meets are important when the country is expected to have large investment in this decade. The investments include US$ 67 billion in gas infrastructure -- LNG capacity increase, pipelines and CGD networks. Multiple global players such as Total, Exxon Mobil and Shell have shown their interests in this field. The companies such as Reliance-BP, ONGC and Oil India, exploration and production scenario would see investment of around US$ 59 billion. On the other hand, downstream segment, including marketing, refinery expansions and new refinery plans like Vizag, Barmer, Paradip and Ratnagiri may see another US$ 80 billion investments too in the sector.

During the first fortnight of October 2020, the Petrol demand was up by 1.5%; Diesel by 8.79% and LPG by 6.93% compared to October 1-15 period of 2019. The ATF demand is 57% short of last year which means there is a recovery of 43%.

With increased focus on clean energy in recent years in India, the share of renewable in electricity capacity has significantly gone up now to 22% from around 10% in 2014-15. The ethanol blending percentage has increased from 0.67% in 2012-13 to now close to 6%.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.