Modi Govt Plans To Double Oil And Gas Production From North-Eastern India By 2025

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India, on Friday (24 September), organized an event in Guwahati to showcase Upstream Oil and Gas opportunities in the Northeast Region (NER).

Speaking on occasion, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said that Oil and Gas Projects worth one lakh Crore are approved in NER and are expected to be completed by 2025.

He said the Union Government is doubling the exploration acreage in NER from existing 30,000 Square Kms to 60,000 Square Kms by 2025 and plans to double the Oil and Gas production from the region from nine MMTOE (million metric tonnes of oil equivalent) to eighteen MMTOE by 2025.

Setting up a dedicated service provider hub in NER to support the Oil and Gas Industry requirement and implementing the North East Gas Grid (NEGG) to provide natural gas access to end-users are other initiatives.

The minister announced that the Digboi refinery in Assam would be expanded. He added a vast hydrocarbon potential is waiting to be tapped; of the estimated 7,600 MMTOE in the North-East, only 2,000 MMTOE has been discovered so far.

“With concerted efforts by industry and governments, oil production is expected to increase by 67 per cent from 4.11 MMT in 2020-21 to 6.85 MMT in the next four years. Gas production is forecasted to more than double from 5.05 BCM in 2020-21 to 10.87 BCM in next four years,” Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.