The Hindu : Strategic oil storages under study, says PM

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 11, 2003

National

National

Strategic oil storages under study, says PM

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI Jan. 10. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, today said the feasibility of strategic oil storages is being examined in view of the critical role of ``oil security''.

Pointing to the prospects of crude oil shortages in case tensions rise in West Asia, he said studies are being carried out to find ways to minimise supply risks.

Delivering the keynote address at the ongoing Petrotech 2003 conference, he said security of supplies has become one of the important challenges to be carefully addressed. ``It is especially important for countries that are increasingly dependent on oil imports for their sustained economic growth'', he said.

Mr. Vajpayee's remarks assume significance in view of the current debate over whether disinvestment of oil sector companies should be reviewed owing to the strategic nature of this sector.

Referring to the prospects of war in Iraq, he said crude oil prices may shoot up if tensions in West Asia rise, leading to a prolonged shortage of supplies in the world oil market. This might adversely affect the national economy, especially since recent developments had already affected oil markets and sent prices upward, he said. ``Therefore, oil security has come to occupy a key position in the present policy matrix of our government'', he said.

He also highlighted the need for the country to find viable strategies to explore, produce and refine more from its own hydrocarbon resources. Without substantial domestic production, he noted, the nation would be subject to the volatility in crude oil supplies and prices and ``oil security'' would be difficult to achieve. It was for this reason that this sector has been opened up for private and foreign investment. ``This is indeed one of the big successes of India's economic reforms'', he said.

Referring to the fast-growing demand for petroleum products, he said this was making the country's oil companies look to new areas both within and outside.

In the petroleum industry, he said globalisation has provided an opportunity for India to be a significant centre for equipment and services both in upstream and downstream sectors.

He said the division of the world between developed and developing countries finds its reflection in the division between those who have a high per capita usage of energy and those who either do not have sufficient energy or cannot harness it.

Therefore, he felt that to create a global environment with equal opportunities to grow, the energy resource gap between developing and developed countries had to be bridged.

Mr. Vajpayee also presented lifetime achievement awards on behalf of the Indian oil industry to the first chairman of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC), N.B. Prasad, the first chairman of Oil India Limited (OIL), A.B. Dasgupta and the former chairman of Reliance Industries Limited, the late Dhirubhai Ambani.

According to the citations, Mr. Prasad was at the helm of the newly-created ONGC when the prolific Mumbai High oilfield was discovered while Mr. Dasgupta was involved at the very outset in the country's maiden oil exploration efforts in Assam which later led to the creation of OIL. The late Ambani was honoured for his pioneering efforts in the downstream petroleum sector, including setting up the largest and most sophisticated refinery in Asia.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National