The Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today that according to World Energy Outlook-2015, a recent release of International Energy Agency, India’s oil demand is estimated to grow by 6 million barrels per day (mb/d), which is the largest projected for any country’s oil demand, from 3.8 mb/d in 2014 to 9.8 mb/d by 2040.

According to this report, it has been stated that given the expected availability of international Liquefied Natural Gas at markedly lower prices over the medium term, there is scope for gas demand to rebound and, recover to 68 bcm by 2020, before rising to almost 175 bcm in 2040.

In order to meet the rising demand of oil and gas, the Government has taken various policy initiatives to enhance oil and gas production including inter alia, approving the Marginal Field Policy, linking the transparent new gas pricing formula to the global market, reassessing the hydrocarbon potential in India’s sedimentary basins, appraising about 1.5 million sq. km. of un-appraised basins and setting up of National Data Repository.

Further, the Government is encouraging Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to supplement domestic investment and technological capabilities in the petroleum sector. The present FDI policy for oil and gas sector allows 100% automatic route for exploration and production subject to the existing sectoral policy and regulatory framework in this sector.