Staff Reporter / NEW DELHI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today spoke about the need to enhance storage facilities for crude oil during his virtual meeting with the chief executives of global oil majors.
The CEOs who attended the meeting included world’s biggest oil producer, Saudi Arabian Oil Co.’ (Saudi Aramco) president and CEO Amin Nasser, Russia’s OAO Rosneft chairman and CEO Igor Sechin and London-based BP Plc’ CEO Bernard Looney among others.
Through video conferencing Mr Modi discussed in detail the reforms undertaken in the oil and gas sector in the last seven years, including the ones in exploration and licensing policy, gas marketing, policies on coal bed methane, coal gasification, and the recent reform in Indian Gas Exchange. He said, such reforms will continue with the goal to make India Aatmanirbhar in the oil and gas sector.
Talking about the oil sector, the Prime Minister said, the focus has shifted from revenue to production maximization. He also spoke about the need to enhance storage facilities for crude oil. Mr Modi further talked about the rapidly growing natural gas demand in the country. He talked about the current and potential gas infrastructure development including pipelines, city gas distribution and LNG regasification terminals.
The Prime Minister recounted that since 2016, the suggestions provided in these meetings have been immensely useful in understanding the challenges faced by the oil and gas sector. He said, India is a land of openness, optimism and opportunities and is brimming with new ideas, perspectives and innovation. He invited the CEOs and experts to partner with India in the exploration and development of the oil and gas sector in India.
The interaction was attended by industry leaders from across the world, including Chairman and CEO of Rosneft Dr. Igor Sechin, President and CEO, Saudi Aramco Amin Nasser, CEO of British Petroleum Bernard Looney, Vice Chairman of IHS Markit Dr. Daniel Yergin, CEO of Schlumberger Limited Olivier Le Peuch, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Vedanta Limited Anil Agarwal among others.
They praised several recent achievements of the government towards improving energy access, energy affordability and energy security. They appreciated the leadership of the Prime Minister towards the transition to cleaner energy in India, through visionary and ambitious goals. They said, India is adapting fast to newer forms of clean energy technology and can play a significant role in shaping global energy supply chains. They talked about ensuring sustainable and equitable energy transition and also gave their inputs and suggestions about further promotion of clean growth and sustainability.