Date:27/06/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/06/27/stories/2006062702131900.htm

Back `Need for courses in geophysics, petroleum engineering'

Our Bureau

Chennai , June 26

The Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr M.S. Srinivasan, on Monday pointed to an emerging shortage of oil industry professionals and called upon educational institutions to design courses in geophysics and petroleum engineering.

Speaking on the occasion of the dedication of the Chennai-Tiruchi-Madurai petro-product pipeline to the nation, Mr Srinivasan said that the world would see investments of $2 trillion — "Rs 1 crore crore"— in oil exploration and production over the next 20 years.

Observing that this level of activity would call for a huge pool of trained manpower, he noted that the average age of oil drillers in the world was 54 years.

Only Russia, he said, was steadily supplying trained students to the industry. About 12,000 Russia-trained students entered the oil industry worldwide each year.

Mr Srinivasan said that some six `petrochemical hubs' come up in the country and noted that there was no proposal from Tamil Nadu asking for one.

He said that three exploration blocks in (the seas near) Tamil Nadu had been given licences for and two more would be given, under the current licensing round. Preliminary data indicated that the region had as much potential as Krishna-Godavari or Mahanadi basins.