Govt to double oil and gas output from North East in 15 years

The Centre today announced plans to double the output of oil and natural gas in North East at an investment of Rs 1,30,000 crore over the next 15 years.

Releasing the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for Northeast India, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the region has enormous potential in the oil and gas sector.

“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we decided to prepare a separate vision document for the North East to take the region forward.

The entire region has huge potential and requires specific attention and investment for its development,” Pradhan said.

The Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for Northeast India sets a goal to “increase production of oil and natural gas by two times”.

“To achieve this target, we will invest Rs 1.3 lakh crore in the next 15 years in North East. This means, every year Rs 8,000-10,000 crore investment will be made and most will come to Assam,” the minister said.

To increase the output, new technologies will be brought in association with private players and the refineries will be upgraded to produce BS VI fuel, he added.

“We are talking to Schlumberger for exploration. We will get advanced technologies from the tie-up and this will help in increasing the output,” Pradhan said.

He also said the distribution network, including setting up of an additional 7,000 km pipelines, will be strengthened in the region during the period.

The crude oil production in Northeast stood at 4.54 MMT in 2014-15, while the natural gas production was 11.3 MMSCMD.

Of the Rs 1,30,000 crore investment, Rs 80,000 crore are earmarked for upstream activities, while Rs 20,000 crore for midstream. Rest Rs 30,000 crore would be for downstream activities, the document said.

The document also envisages providing access to clean fuel (LPG, PNG) to all households at affordable prices, to promote production of bio fuel and to develop service provider hubs.

It also aims expansion of refining capacity in Northeast, develop crude import infrastructure and promote trade between the region and neighbouring SAARC countries.

Besides, the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 decided to generate employment through promotion of manufacturing industry and focus on skill development in the region.