Dharmendra Pradhan woos foreign investors in energy biz

Abu Dhabi/New Delhi: India on Monday wooed foreign companies to invest in its oil and gas sector as the world's third-largest energy consumer is likely to see over $100 billion spending in energy infrastructure creation to meet rising demand.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is on a two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates, showcased investment opportunities, promising political and fiscal stability, predictable policies and a huge diverse market.

"Our focus is to attract global investments into the oil and gas sector, as India would invest $100 billion by 2024 in refining, pipelines and gas terminals," he said at a conference in Abu Dhabi. "There is no better place to invest (than India) if you are in the business of energy."

India is expanding oil refining capacity to produce more fuel and petrochemicals as also investing in pipelines and terminals to increase the share of natural gas in the energy mix.

With no one fuel expected to meet all the energy needs of the vast nation, a closer look at India's energy mix reflects a clear trend towards gas and renewables, he said adding that the share of natural gas in the country's energy basket is being targeted to be raised to 15 per cent by 2030 from the current 6 per cent.

"India has a huge appetite for energy and will be the key driver of global energy demand in the coming decades," he said. "India's oil demand is projected to rise at the fastest pace in the world to reach 5.05 million barrel per day in 2020 and expected to reach 10 million barrel per day by 2030."

Natural gas consumption is projected to increase three times to reach 500 million standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) by 2030 from current 150 mmscmd. India's share in total global primary energy demand is expected to double to 11 per cent by 2040, he said.

"In the last five years, a series of transformational policy reforms have been introduced laying the path for unlocking the value of Indian hydrocarbon industry," he said highlighting a new licensing policy for oil and gas exploration as well as downstream pricing and marketing reforms.