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Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas15-March, 2012 Crude Oil Reserves

Crude Oil Reserves

  • The Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri R.P.N. Singh informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply today that as on 1.4.2011, recoverable reserves of crude oil in the country is assessed at 757.4 million metric tonne (MMT) by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC), Oil India Ltd. (OIL) and Private/Joint venture companies. These reserves are continuously undergoing change on account of accretion of new reserves as a result of success in exploration and due to production on a continuous basis. Further, in view of the growth in the economy, indigenous production of crude oil is not adequate for the energy needs of the country at present, the Minister added.

  • Shri Singh further stated that the peak of crude oil production have been estimated and reported differently over the time. He also said that International Energy Agency in World Energy Outlook, 2011says that “Proven reserves of oil increased to 1.47 trillion barrels at the end of 2010 according to the Oil and Gas Journal or 48 years production at existing level. Remaining recoverable resources are estimated to be much larger and could reach nearly 5.5 trillion barrels.”

  • The Minister stressed that in order to provide momentum to exploration and  production in the country, Government has adopted multi-prong strategy which inter-alia includes: (i) increasing hydrocarbon exploration and production in the country, (ii) Development of unconventional sources of hydrocarbon and (iii) Acquisition of overseas oil and gas assets by Indian companies.

  • He also informed that the Government is setting up the underground strategic storage in the form of rock cavern with total storage capacity of 5.33 MMT at 3 locations viz., Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and one each in Mangalore & Padur in Karnataka. The projects are expected to be commissioned in a phased manner from April, 2013 onwards. The break-up of strategic oil reserves capacity is as under:

    Sl. No.

    Location

    Capacity (MMT)

    1

    Vishakhapatnam

    1.33

    2

    Mangalore

    1.50

    3

    Padur

    2.50

  • “ In addition, feasibility study for about 12.5 MMT strategic oil reserves is in progress in the states of Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Odisha,” he added.

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