Govt mulling policy to push oil and gas investments in North East

New Delhi: Government is considering a special policy dispensation to promote oil and gas investments in the North East region, said UP Singh, additional secretary Ministry of Petroleum & National Gas.[caption id=“attachment_2118999” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The ONGC logo. Image courtesy ONGC website[/caption] The oil and gas sector in North East region is confronted with several challenges ranging from demand-side issues to infrastructure to availability of advance technology to arrest the natural decline in oil production, the official said at CII North East Energy Summit in New Delhi. The government, he said, is conscious of these challenges and the ministry is scheduled to hold a consultative meeting with chief secretaries of all North East States to finalise a Hydrocarbon Vision for North East India. “Special policy dispensations to promote investment in oil and gas in North East Region are under consideration of the ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas,” he was quoted as saying by a CII press statement. At present, North East region supply 10 percent of the gas and 12 percent of the oil requirements of the country. Oil production has come down from 4.84 million tonnes to 4.54 million tonnes between 2011 to 2015 and refineries in the region are now being fed from imported crude oil. This does not augur well with the overall vision of India to reduce oil import dependence from 77 percent to 66 percent by 2022 and half by 2030, the statement said. “There is a need to increase investment in exploration as well as production,” Singh said. Ved Prakash Mahawar, Director (Onshore), ONGC said North East region offers a huge potential in oil and gas sector. He said ONGC power plant of 726 MW in Tripura is one of the most efficient plants in Asia. It also produces most cost effective electricity in the country. Tripura is a power surplus state and has huge scope to export it to neighbouring countries, he said. PTI