I have taken over additional charge as Director General, DGH with effect from 1st November, 2009.  Having occupied the post of Dy.Director General of DGH earlier, I am aware of the onerous responsibility that this job entails and the expectations that all the stakeholders have from DGH. I respect the hopes and aspirations of all the E & P and service companies in India and I can assure everyone that DGH, under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, will strive to fulfill these to the extent possible. I believe in having a level playing field and in a transparent system of governance. Needless to say, I am open to suggestions for improvement from any quarters.

We have just completed the bidding process relating to NELP-VIII round. There has been a general perception that this bidding round has not been successful. Despite the global economic meltdown, the response has not been poor if we compare the NELP-VIII with similar bidding rounds in other countries. Secretary, Petroleum has already mentioned that an investment of USD 1.34 billion is envisaged in NELP-VIII as compared to USD 1.2 in the previous round. The basic objective in offering blocks under NELP-VIII is to ensure that there is continuity in the exploration efforts in the country. Our aim is to achieve the “Vision 2025” objectives.

One of the foremost visions of DGH is to bring all sedimentary basins of India into active exploration, within the earliest possible time. In order to achieve this vision, DGH has been acquiring geoscientific data in the offshore and onland basins of India, taking up various studies and upgrading the knowledge for the benefit of potential bidders. Till date, eight rounds of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) have been completed and currently 203 exploration blocks and 29 producing fields are in operation. There have been major discoveries of oil and gas both in the offshore and onland basins of India and the trend is expected to rise with more discoveries coming into development phase in the coming few years.

Out of the total sedimentary area of 3.14 million sq.kms in our country, an area of 2.15 million sq.kms has already been licensed. This leaves us with an area of 0.99 million sq.kms that is yet to be offered. Further, out of the total prognosticated resources of 205 billion barrels of oil and oil equivalent of gas, only 68 billion barrels have been established as in-place reserves. There is a vast potential of 137 billion barrels yet to be tapped oil present in the sedimentary area of the country. This can be found by accelerating the pace of exploration in the country and by offering new acreages expeditiously. The Government of India is gearing up to move to the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) regime as soon as possible. For the OALP to become operational, the establishment of the National Data Repository (NDR) is a pre-requisite. DGH is in the process of setting up the NDR, which will archive all E & P data, under one roof. This data will be available not only to the industry but also to academic and research institutions, thereby promoting interaction and collaboration between various agencies. Certain regulations regarding ownership of data, sharing of information in the public domain etc., will be required to be formulated while setting up the NDR. These issues are being looked into.

DGH envisages increase in the oil production from the existing level of around 5 MMT per annum to 12 MMT by the year 2010-2011 from existing fields operated by Pvt./JV companies. Gas production is also expected to increase to around 44 BCM per annum by the year 2011-12 and 54 BCM by the year 2014-15 from existing fields under Pvt./JV companies from the existing level of 8 BCM per annum. These estimates are based on production profiles. However, many of the discoveries are currently under evaluation / appraisal.

Our efforts will also be directed towards monetization of all the 108 discoveries by the year 2014-15. Considering the increased pace of exploration and current exploration success rate, we expect that there could be 189 discoveries by the year 2015-16.

I have highlighted some of the major tasks that DGH would like to take up on priority. The other functions and responsibilities of DGH are too numerous to be elaborated upon. All this adds up to one thing. The tasks are many and the path to the realization of the goals and vision that I have for the E & P sector is arduous and long. These can be achieved only through the cooperation, collaboration and hard work of all the stakeholders. It is a privilege for me to invite each one of you to join hands with us in realizing this vision of a sustainable energy growth and independence.


(S.K.Srivastava)
Director General