India to pitch for global investments in oil and gas value chain at Dubai Expo
India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, will address global investors at a round table on Wednesday at the India Pavilion of Dubai 2020 Expo to spell out the government’s strategies for accelerating investments in the oil and gas sector. The minister will use the global platform to understand the best global practices and discuss reforms with the captains of the industry, according to a press release. The round table will also provide the National Oil Companies (NOCs), international oil & gas majors, sovereign funds and institutional investors an opportunity to have in-depth discussion with the regulators and decision-makers from the Indian oil and gas sector, the release said, adding that they will be exploring collaboration opportunities in India and understand the ongoing market and regulatory reforms in the country. India is the 3rd largest oil consumer and 4th largest LNG importer and is a key player in the global oil and gas sector. The deliberations are aimed at utilising this opportunity to invite global investors to contribute and gain from the country’s objective of becoming self-reliant in this sector and its vision towards attaining energy security, it said. Other topics which will also be discussed during the round table include, India’s increasing role in the global oil & gas value chain, energy security, access, as well as transition to sustainable energy along with Indo-UAE energy cooperation. The round-table will be attended by Dr Aman Puri, Consul General of India in Dubai; Subhash Kumar, Chairman & Managing Director, ONGC; Prachur Sah, CEO, Cairn Oil and Gas and Prashant Modi, Managing Director & CEO, Great Eastern Energy Corporation Limited & Chairman, FICCI Hydrocarbons Committee, the release added. Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had visited the India Pavilion, where he met his counterparts from Slovakia, Cyprus and Luxembourg and discussed strengthening cooperation in key areas including healthcare. During his visit to the India Pavilion, Jaishankar praised it for having crossed the mark of 300,000 footfalls. The India Pavilion, which was inaugurated on October 1, crossed two lakh footfalls on November 3, becoming one of the most visited pavilions. Expo 2020 is being hosted in Dubai from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.
India’s oil firms pledge to install 22,000 EV charging stations by 2026
EV charging stations supply in India will surge as the IndianOil Corporation (IOC) and two other public sector oil firms pledge to install 22,000 charging stations over the next five years. Taking the lead, IOC said it would equip 10,000 fuel outlets with EV chargers over the next three years. IndianOil Chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya set the above target. In a separate press statement, Bharat Petroleum Corporation said it would set up 7,000 stations over the next five years. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) has plans for 5,000 EV charging stations in place. However, plans at IndianOil, a state-owned company under the Indian Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, appear most advanced. The Chairman elaborated the company would focus on nine cities in the first phase, including Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Surat and Pune. “I am confident that this small step by IndianOil will be a giant leap for the EV ecosystem in India,” he added. The company at present has 448 EV Charging Stations and 30 Battery Swapping Stations across the country and said it collaborated with Tata Power, Fortum, Hyundai, Tech Mahindra, and Ola, among others. For the expansion, the IOC specified chargers suited for 2W/3W and added they could further upgrade as per requirement and market conditions. Indian Oil also mentioned initiatives such as a hybrid microgrid connected to EV chargers in Bangalore run together with Hygge Energy. The Corporation also has set up IOC Phinergy, a 50:50 joint venture with Phinergy of Israel, to commercialize Aluminium-Air Battery Technology in India. Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) claims to be India’s second-largest “oil marketing company” (OMC), also owned by the state of India. Arun Kumar Singh, the company’s Chairman & Managing Director, said: “Over the next few years, we are aiming at reaching the count of 7,000 stations to support the growing EV industry and these stations would be known as ‘Energy Stations’.” BPCL runs 19,000 service stations across India. However, the company has yet to disclose where they will install the EV charging facilities. The last company in the mix – again state-owned – Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) had made the announcement to install 5,000 charging stations earlier in September. The company currently operates just 84 EV charging stations but agreed with Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL), Tata Power and Magenta EV Systems for setting up charging infrastructure at their retail outlets. Unlike its competitors, HPCL also launched a proprietary charger collaborating with Magenta EV Systems and looked to incorporate it in streetlamps for curbside charging. Plans at the state-owned energy company also include infrastructure to address the two and three-wheeler market. Charging stations will be installed at select retail outlets in Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, and Pune over the next ten years, said the company. In summer, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) announced plans to target having EV charging stations every 40 – 60 miles along the country’s highways. Details on funding or partners remain scarce, however. India has been running subsidy programs for years to increase EV uptake. For example, the government extended the FAME II subsidies program in June this year until 31 May 2024. The FAME II subsidy programme provides for subsidies with a total value of the equivalent of $1.4 billion. In summer 2019 and early 2020, grants were also approved for almost 5,600 electric buses and 2,636 charging stations. This year, India plans to incentivise EV manufacturing while famously high import duties for electric vehicles may be dropped. At the Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow, the world “biggest democracy” pledged to become climate-neutral no sooner than 2070.
India to step up oil exploration, production in very big way: Hardeep Puri
India will have “massive additional” areas for oil exploration and production by 2025, said Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Housing and Urban Affairs, at an event here. “As far as the government of India is concerned, we are going to step on the accelerator in terms of exploration and production in a very big way,” Puri said after opening the India pavilion at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) on Monday. India will double its oil and gas exploration acreage in the northeast part of the country. “In the northeast, we will increase the area under E and P (exploration and production) from 30,000 square km to 60,000 square km,” he said. The minister said that India aims to expand its gas pipeline network to 34,000 km. “This means $60 billion investment in gas pipeline infrastructure alone, increasing the refining capacity from 250 million metric tonnes to 400 million metric tonnes per annum by 2030 and gas mix from 6 per cent to 15 per cent,” he said. The ADIPEC returns as a face-to-face and in-person event presenting the global energy industry with its first opportunity to discuss the impact of the key decisions of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), and define the energy agenda for the next three decades. The minister said that at the COP26, Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to hit net-zero carbon emissions by 2070. “At the Glasgow COP26 Summit, the Prime Minister made some very bold announcements and committed us to net zero by 2070,” he said. At the ADIPEC, Puri will be engaging in bilateral meetings with his counterparts. “The last year hasn’t been easy as the Covid-19 pandemic subjected us to confront challenges, which were not experienced for a long time. This is one of the major global events. I am delighted to be here,” he said. Hosted by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), ADIPEC welcomes more than 30 government ministers from around the world, which is a record number for the largest and most influential global energy forum.
ONGC’s KG-D5 oil, gas block project delayed; nation bleeds precious forex
At a time when crude oil and natural gas prices are sky-high, public sector behemoth ONGC’s haphazard planning and mismanagement in developing showpiece deep-sea KG-D5 block is costing the nation over Rs 180 billion due to the delayed output of oil and gas, government officials said. ONGC was originally to start gas production from the Cluster-II fields in block KG-DWN-98/2 (KG-D5) in June 2019 and the first oil was to flow in March 2020. But these targets were quietly shifted to end-2021 because of deferments in awarding the fragmented work packages of the project, two officials with direct knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity. The project now is further pushed back because of differences in interface issues — simply put compatibility –between major work packages related to pipelines, process platforms and storage and offloading vessels. They said that crude oil is now expected to reach Indian shores in the third quarter of 2022 — against the revised target of November 2021 – and natural gas in May 2023 — against the revised target of May 2021. With oil flow from Cluster II alone estimated at 47,000 barrels per day or 2 million tonnes per annum and gas at 6 million cubic meters per day or 2.2 billion cubic meters per annum, the output delay would collectively cost the nation Rs 180 billion in foreign exchange. “This is a conservative figure considering crude price remains at USD 82 a barrel, gas at USD 6.13 per million British thermal units and the US dollar at Rs 75,” an official said. While ONGC did not offer any immediate comments on the story, ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Subhash Kumar at an earnings call with investors on Saturday said the project continues to be impacted by “disruption in supply chains”. Stating that he can’t give a timeline for the start of the production, he said that pandemic-related restrictions continue in Malaysia and Singapore, impacting the supply of equipment needed for the project. On November 11, Petroleum Secretary Tarun Kapoor had stated that the government wants ONGC to involve private sector firms and domain knowledge experts wherever possible to help raise oil and gas production and help cut import bills. Before that, the second-highest-ranked official in the petroleum ministry on October 28 wrote formally to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), asking it to give away a 60 per cent stake plus operating control in some of the firm’s prime fields to foreign companies. Officials said the KG-D5 project has faced problems in execution right from the beginning. “We have been seeking reports and reviewing the project with ONGC, and it is clear that the execution could have been better,” an official said, adding the two consultants hired by the company haven’t worked in sync. Project management consultant Nauvata Engineering and its partner Consub Ltd, which looked after detailed engineering, design and project management, is not taking ownership of the conceptual design by first consultant Intecsea, which did the pre-FEED, bid packages preparation and award of work. Besides divergence between the first and the second consultant, the latter has refused to take any responsibility for work done in the earlier phases of the project by the first consultant. Cost overruns are also being reported. For example, USD 100 million is estimated in cost overrun in connectivity issues between subsea umbilical, risers and flowline (SURF) — subsea production system (SPS); central process platform (CPP) — living quarter and utility platform (LQUP) and floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO). “Despite the huge financial strain on the nation, ONGC is in no hurry to resolve the issues as it couches the delays on COVID pandemic instead of accepting that the delay was on account of mismatches arising because of hiring two separate consultants for different works and fragmenting the project into multiple packages in awarding contracts,” the official said. He added that the two inherent faults continue to riddle the project. To develop complex deepwater fields, inputs from one sub-project are crucial for the implementation of subsequent work packages. Awarding Cluster II as separate packages resulted in non-synchronisation of their inter-dependency in terms of inputs on technical specifications as well as work schedules. Since it was broken into multiple packages and the awards of work to multiple vendors were delayed, the Cluster II development project is battling with numerous interface issues. Sources said that there have been delays in deploying the drilling rig resource for oil well completion due to a mismatch in the supplies of Xmas trees by SURF-SPS contractor and mobilization of rigs by ONGC. They said that as against the revised plan of deploying the third rig by June 2021 for oil processing completion, the rig is now being mobilised from January 2022, a delay of six months. That could mean an additional Rs 55 billion payout by the nation. “Much damage has been done by hiring separate consultants that bicker among themselves over technical aspects and by awarding the project in bits and pieces to different contractors who are working at their own pace without any accountability on the overall progress or compatibility,” the official said. Amar Nath, Additional Secretary (Exploration) in the Petroleum Ministry, wrote to ONGC chairman Subhash Kumar last month that “ONGC’s contribution in crude oil consumption of India has declined drastically to a paltry 9 per cent in 2020-21” and should consider divesting majority share in its prolific Producing assets.
Why India’s private sector is key to Modi’s green energy pledge
In the recently concluded UN climate change summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 even as his nation was reeling from a power crisis induced by coal shortages. India recorded a power supply shortage of 1.2 billion units in October – the highest in more than five years – amid a crunch in coal stocks for thermal plants. The western state of Gujarat alone recorded a power shortage of 215 million units, the highest for any month in more than a decade. Given that coal provides around half of India’s energy, the coal shortage will have a wide-ranging impact on the economy, leading to inflation and slower economic recovery. The easing of pandemic restrictions and opening of the economy led to a sudden spurt in demand for power. That demand could not be met with ready supplies, leading to a mismatch between demand and supply for coal. India has one of the world’s largest reserves of coal and is the second-largest importer of the fossil fuel, yet it is in crisis. While the shortage could in part be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic, India’s measures to limit production of domestic coal to meet its climate targets are one of the major reasons for the demand-supply mismatch. Emissions by 2070 pledge surprised many at COP26 India’s coal dependence is why Modi’s net zero emissions by 2070 pledge surprised many at COP26 The power crisis is not isolated to coal-powered plants. Crude oil provides around a quarter of India’s power, and more than 80 per cent of its oil demand is met through imports. This import dependency is felt sharply when the global prices of coal and oil reach new highs. In India’s case, the overreliance on fossil fuels affects power generation and its climate change goals, but also creates other challenges. Import dependency affects its current account deficits and holds it hostage to the geopolitical shifts in the Middle East. Subsequently, the challenge of an economy powered by non-renewable energy is not solely a climate change issue but a combination of geopolitical risks, increasing current account deficits and pollution. To prevent power crises and avoid these perennial challenges, India’s measures towards weaning itself off coal and oil should be enforced in tandem with its increase in renewable energy production. India’s renewable energy ambitions turn desert into solar energy powerhouse India has set ambitious targets. They include increasing non-fossil-fuel energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030, a 50 per cent share of renewable energy use by 2030 and reducing emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030. To that end, India should support and embrace the participation of its private sector. While the government’s privatisation drive and its commitment to transforming the economy from fossil fuel dependence to one powered by clean energy have been welcomed by the private sector, New Delhi should support its energy champions to hasten the transformation. In particular, Reliance Industries, Adani Enterprises and the Tata Group have diversified to include a larger share of renewable energy production in their portfolio of power generation companies. Earlier this year, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani pledged US$10 billion to renewable energy projects over the next three years. Reliance has engaged in several acquisitions to extend its dominance to the renewable energy sphere. Given the size and scale of its operations, its transformation from fossil fuels to clean energy could determine the course of India’s renewable energy goals. Similarly, Adani Group – the world’s leading solar power developer – holds the key to translating India’s pledges at global forums into action. Finally, India will need its heaviest-polluting industries – including iron and steel producers, transport firms and power generation companies – to be drivers of the country’s transition to a clean, green economy. Tata Group, one of India’s largest car manufacturers, is making a foray into the electric vehicle business that will help chart the course of the country’s commitments to reducing its emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030. While Modi can go around the world and commit to lofty goals with ambitious pledges, the world’s fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases cannot successfully transform into a green economy without its private-sector energy companies providing the impetus over the next decade. The Indian government’s goals of reducing its import bills, preventing power crises, limiting pollution and following through on its commitments at major international forums are inextricably tied to the success of the nation’s largest energy companies.
India and Iran say no to including fossil fuels in a COP26 climate agreement
India and Iran expressed fierce opposition to the inclusion of fossil fuels in any final agreement at the COP26 climate talks on Saturday, potentially thwarting what would have been a major breakthrough in the history of climate action at the 11th hour. In all 25 COPs before Glasgow, never has an agreement made even a mention of fossil fuels as drivers of the climate crisis, despite clear science and data showing that coal, oil and gas are the biggest contributors to human-made climate change. The draft text had called for the phasing out of unabated coal and fossil fuel subsidies, with several caveats added between drafts as major fossil fuels had it watered down, as multiple sources told CNN. In an informal session to give feedback on the draft Saturday, delegates from dozens of countries listed their grievances with the potential agreement, but most — even Bolivia, which had several complaints — said they would ultimately accept the draft as a compromise. Indian Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said that “consensus remains elusive” and that fossil fuels had allowed parts of the world to achieve wealth and high living standards. “How can anyone expect developing countries to make promises about phasing out coal and fossil fuel subsidies?” he asked, adding that developing countries had to deal with poverty eradication . “Subsidies provide much-needed social security and support,” he said, giving the example of how India uses subsidies to provide liquified natural gas to low-income households. Yadav also questioned a key measure on requesting countries come forward with updated plans on slashing emissions by the end of next year, a centerpiece in the draft text. That brings the deadline for new ambitions forward three years than the 2015 Paris Agreement requires. He complained that the same sense of urgency hadn’t been given to climate finance. Iran’s delegation also said it backed India’s stance on fossil fuels. “We are not satisfied on paragraph 36 on the phaseout of fossil fuel subsidies,” an Iranian delegate said. An agreement requires getting all 197 parties in attendance to reach consensus on each and every word of the final text, a painstaking effort that involves compromises and frank discussions about the world’s structures of power and who is most responsible for the climate crisis. The comments followed late-night marathon talks in which slow progress was made, but still, some 24 hours after that deadline, an agreement hasn’t been struck. COP26 President Alok Sharma had earlier made an impassioned plea to delegates to back the draft, saying it was a “moment of truth” for the planet as talks went deep into overtime without clear sign that consensus was near. In an effort to avert failure at the talks, Sharma called on countries to seize the moment, saying negotiations had “reached a critical juncture where we must come together.” “The world is watching us,” he said, urging them to “reach an agreement here for the sake of our planet and for present and future generations.
Good yield: Domestic natural gas output rises; 24.3% increase in production in October amid surging LNG cost
Domestic natural gas production increased by 24.3% on year to 3,007 million standard cubic metre (mscm) in October, mainly due to higher production from Reliance Industries (RIL) and from BP’s ultra-deep-water field in the KG-D6 Block of the Krishna Godavari basin on the east coast. The output had fallen 8.1% Y-o-Y to 28,670.6 mscm in FY21, but had subsequently increased 21% Y-o-Y to 16,890.9 mscm in the April-September period of the ongoing fiscal. Production also commenced on August 31 from state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s (ONGC’s) U1B deep-water gas well located in KG-DWN 98/2 block, which has an estimated peak production of 1.2 million standard cubic meter per day (mscmd). The rise in domestic production coincided with a substantial jump in international liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices, resulting in import dependency of natural gas reducing from 54% in April-September, 2020 to 49% in the corresponding period this year. In the first six months of the fiscal, LNG import volumes fell 0.8% on a Y-o-Y basis to 15,678 mscm. However, the value of imports in the same time frame increased 71% YoY to $5.3 billion. As FE recently reported, the Indian Gas Exchange achieved a record trading of 1.03 million million British thermal units (mBtu) of gas volumes in October, with the platform discovering prices lower than spot Asian LNG rates. Most of the trading was done through monthly contracts, which recorded transactions of 9,40,000 mBTu in October. The monthly trade volume in October was more than the 7,70,000 mBtu of gas traded in the first six months of the ongoing fiscal. The average price of monthly contracts in October discovered in the spot market was $27.6/mBtu, while Asian spot LNG rates ranged between $30-35/mBtu throughout the month. Demand for the natural gas in the domestic market is traditionally dependent on fertiliser, city gas distribution entities, power, refineries and petrochemicals industries. The impact of higher LNG prices are being felt disproportionately among users, depending on factors such as access to cheaper domestic gas and government subsidies. Also, since most of the LNG imports are carried out under long-term contracts at predetermined prices, the surge in end-prices in the country are much lower than the rise recorded in global spot prices. The Union government recently raised the price of domestically produced gas under under administered price mechanism by 62% to $2.9/mbtu, effective for six months starting October 1. The ceiling price for gas produced from the difficult fields, such as RIL-BP and ONGC blocks off the east coast, was also raised by 69% to $6.13/mbtu. The 2.5 million tonne of crude oil produced in the country during October was 1.9% lower than the production in the year-ago period. Around 85% of the country’s crude oil requirement has to be imported. During October, the price of the Indian basket of crude varied between $76. and $84.8 per barrel, at an average price of $82.1 per barrel. The average crude oil price in September was $73.1 per barrel.
Hardeep Singh Puri to meet global oil industry captains in UAE next week
India’s petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri will meet United Arab Emirates’ energy and infrastructure minister Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) managing director and group chief executive Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber next week “to discuss issues of energy cooperation within the overall framework of India-UAE Strategic Partnership.” This meeting with the oil industry captains of UAE, one of major crude oil suppliers to India comes in the backdrop of transportation fuel prices being at a record high in India. India is dependent on imports to meet 85% of its oil demand and 55% of its natural gas requirements. Higher crude oil prices, if not checked, will have an impact on global economic recovery, Puri has earlier stated. “Shri Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Housing and Urban Affairs, will lead an official and business delegation to UAE from 15 – 17 November 2021, to attend the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference (ADIPEC) on the invitation of H. E. Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure of UAE,” India’s ministry of petroleum and natural gas said in a statement on Sunday. India has raised the high oil price issue with Opec secretary-general Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo during his recent visit to India. The discussions also focussed on the need for finding a balance between the needs of suppliers and consumers. India has been raising the issue with major oil producing countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, US, and Russia. “Shri Puri is scheduled to meet his counterparts from UAE, H.E. Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, and H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmad Al Jaber, Minister of Industry & Advanced Technology, MD & Group CEO, ADNOC, to discuss issues of energy cooperation within the overall framework of India-UAE Strategic Partnership. The Minister will also have meetings with his counterparts from various countries and Heads of international energy organizations and CEOs of global oil & gas companies, who are attending the ADIPEC- 2021,” the statement added. Adnoc is one of the only two firms to commit to India’s crude oil reserve programme to date. It has also partnered with Saudi Aramco and Indian state-run oil companies for setting up the world’s largest oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Ratnagiri. The project has hit the skids, after protests from farmers and Shiv Sena which is in power in Maharashtra with its alliance partners.
Fuel prices hold for a week despite firm global oil rates
Petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged for the seventh consecutive day on Thursday under the daily price revision mechanism followed by oil marketing companies, thus providing further relief to consumers. The pump price of petrol in Delhi, which fell to Rs 103.97 a litre at 6 a.m. last week on Thursday from the previous day’s level of Rs 110.04 a litre, remained at the same level. The diesel prices also remained unchanged in the capital at Rs 86.67 a litre. In the financial capital Mumbai, petrol continued to be priced at Rs 109.98 a litre and diesel Rs 94.14 a litre. Prices also remained static on Wednesday in Kolkata where the price of petrol reduced by Rs 5.82 to Rs 104.67 per litre and that of diesel by Rs 11.77 to Rs 89.79 per litre last week. Petrol price in Chennai also remained at Rs 101.40 per litre and diesel Rs 91.43 per litre. Across the country as well, the price of fuel largely remained unchanged on Thursday but the retail rates varied depending on the level of local taxes. After softening, the global crude prices have again touched a three-year high level of over $85 a barrel now. The rise in US inventory has pushed down crude prices a bit but OPEC+ decision on only gradual increase in production in December could push up crude prices further. This could put pressure on oil companies to revise fuel prices upwards again. Before price cuts and pause, diesel prices have increased 30 out of the last 48 days taking up its retail price by Rs 9.90 per litre in Delhi. Petrol prices have also risen on 28 of the previous 44 days taking up the pump price by Rs 8.85 per litre. Since January 1, petrol and diesel prices have risen by more than Rs 26 a litre before the duty cuts. The excise duty cut by the Centre last week was the first such exercise since the onset of Covid pandemic. In fact, the government had revised excise duty on petrol and diesel sharply in March and again in May last year to mobilise additional resources for Covid relief measures. The excise duty was raised by Rs 13 and Rs 16 per litre on petrol and diesel between March 2020 and May 2020 and was standing high at Rs 31.8 on diesel and Rs 32.9 per litre on petrol before finally the centre decided on duty cut.
Govt Wants ONGC To Identify Areas For Involving Pvt Sector: Oil Secretary
The government is pushing the public sector behemoth ONGC to involve private sector companies and service providers wherever possible to help raise oil and gas production, Petroleum Secretary Tarun Kapoor said Thursday. Kapoor’s comments came days after the second-highest ranked official in his ministry asked Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to give away a 60 percent stake plus operating control in India’s largest oil and gas producing fields of Mumbai High and Bassein to foreign companies. “ONGC has to explore more so that it can discover more oil and gas reserves and bring them quickly to production to raise domestic output. The government is very clear that ONGC has to do more,” he told reporters here. India is 85 percent dependent on imports to meet its oil needs, and a way to cut the high import bill is to increase domestic production. “Naturally, when they do more work, there are areas where they can get experts in the fields… such as in deepsea,” Kapoor said. Discoveries that the company hasn’t been able to develop or areas that it hasn’t been able to explore are some of the examples where the ONGC can involve the private sector and foreign companies. ONGC, he said, should identify areas where it can get private sector expertise and efficiencies. These could range from technical collaboration to giving partially explored and undeveloped discoveries to private firms. The private sector can also be involved in enhancing production from existing fields. “We have only made suggestions to ONGC… the government cannot give directive to a Maharatna company. The ultimate decision has to be taken by the company board,” he said. Amar Nath, additional secretary (exploration) in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, on October 28 wrote a 3-page letter to ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Subhash Kumar, saying productivity of the Mumbai High and Bassein & Satellite (B&S) offshore assets under state-owned firm was low, and international partners should be invited and given 60 percent participating interest (PI) and operatorship. This is the second time since April that Nath, who is part of the ONGC management as the longest-serving government nominee director on its board and often considered a potential candidate to replace Kumar next year, has written an official letter, painting a poor picture of the company’s performance. According to the letter, a copy of which was reviewed by PTI, he said the redevelopment projects will raise recovery of the mature and continuously declining Mumbai High field from 28 percent to 32 percent, “which is quite low”. Mumbai High, which was discovered in 1974, and B&S that was put into production in 1988 are Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s (ONGC) mainstay assets, contributing two-thirds of its current oil and gas production. Without these assets, the company will be left with only smaller fields. Nath had on April 1 written to Kumar to sell stake in producing oil fields such as to Ratna R-Series to private firms, get foreign partners in KG basin gas fields, monetise existing infrastructure, and hive off drilling and other services into a separate firm to raise production. The two letters by Nath are the third attempt by the oil ministry to get ONGC to privatise its oil and gas fields under the Modi government. In October 2017, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, the ministry’s technical arm, had identified 15 producing fields with a collective reserve of 791.2 million tonne of crude oil and 333.46 billion cubic meters of gas, for handing over to private firms in the hope that they would improve upon the baseline estimate and its extraction. A year later, as many as 149 small and marginal fields of ONGC were identified for private and foreign companies on the grounds that the state-owned firm should focus only on big ones. The first plan couldn’t go through because of strong opposition from ONGC, sources aware of the matter said. The second plan went to the Cabinet, which on February 19, 2019, decided to bid out 64 marginal fields of ONGC. But, that tender got a tepid response, they said, adding that ONGC was allowed to retain 49 fields on the condition that their performance will be strictly monitored for three years. Nath in both April 1 and October 28 letters stated that two years have elapsed since the Cabinet decision but ONGC is yet to initiate the process for partnerships. ONGC produced 20.2 million tonne of crude oil in the fiscal year ending March 31 (2020-21), down from 20.6 million tonne in the previous year and 21.1 million tonne in 2018-19. It produced 21.87 bcm of gas in 2020-21, down from 23.74 bcm in the previous year and 24.67 bcm in 2018-19.