Address at the Golden Jubilee Celebration of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, Dehradun

VISION FOR ONGC

I am delighted to participate in the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC). On this occasion, I extend my greetings to all the members of ONGC and the pioneers who have nurtured this institution from its inception. I understand that over the years, ONGC has discovered and recovered significant reserves. In addition, it produces a number of value added products such as LPG, High Speed Diesel, Naphtha and Kerosene. Today, I would like to discuss on the topic "Vision for ONGC".

Contribution of ONGC to the Nation

ONGC is indeed an important organisation in fueling the economy of the nation. I congratulate the ONGC for its achievements in oil and gas exploration which has now lead to the annual production of 27 million metric ton of oil and 25 million metric ton of gas (oil equivalent) in 2004-05. Also ONGC has expanded its activity by working with multinational partners in many countries for oil and gas exploration in a competitive manner through its wholly owned subsidiary ONGC Videsh. In addition to crude oil and natural gas, ONGC is producing and marketing LPG, Naphtha, superior kerosene oil and high speed diesel. Efforts of ONGC have enabled the country to meet around 25% of its oil requirement. We must recognize that the oil and gas derived from the fossil materials from the present wells are fast depleting. Though we are continuously making efforts to find new wells, the success rate is quite low. Hence, there is a need to develop new strategies for realizing energy security followed by energy independence for the nation.

Combating Crisis

When I am with you, I think of the unfortunate accident, which took place in one of the ONGC platform in Bombay High on a rainy day, last month. I would like to commend the ONGC community who bravely combated the situation. All of you worked together to save many precious lives with courage and team work. You did not allow the effect of the accident to percolate in different areas and brought in near normalcy in your operation within couple of days and maintained the rate of production. Nation is thankful to ONGC for managing this crisis in an excellent fashion and maintaining the energy life line of the nation. Let me give a tribute to ONGC based on my experience. I would like to recall what Prof Satish Dhawan, the then Chairman of ISRO, had said after giving me the project "if you do not have a mission, no problem will occur, but if you do have a mission or task definitely problems of varying magnitudes will crop up. But problems should not become the master of the individuals, individuals should become the master of the problem, defeat it and succeed".

International Partnership

I would like to share with you an experience, which I had when I visited Sudan in October 2003. The President of the Republic of Sudan, H.E. Mr. Omar Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir, his Minister for Energy and Sudanese team met me with our ONGC Videsh team. During this meeting the Sudanese members expressed happiness with ONGC team partnership in their exploration and oil transportation. They recognized the professionalism of Indian oil and gas experts. They considered India as a preferred partner in all their future oil exploration project. I am happy that Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gase has given high priority for such projects which is essential for meeting the energy security needs of our country. ONGC Videsh must keep up this momentum and work with many other countries in the years to come.

Diversification Strategies

With our economic growth, oil and gas requirement are continuously increasing and is around 114 million tonnes per annum at present, the import component of which amounts to over rupees one lakh twenty thousand crore. ONGC's production is also required to increase to keep pace with this demand. I understand that ONGC is embarking on deep water exploration and increasing the recovery factor from our wealth which is around 28-29% at present. With all your indigenous resources and international cooperation might, you will be able to reach the target of 50 million tons within the next decade. In such a situation, what can be the vision for ONGC for the next 50 years?

What can be the vision for ONGC

Vision for ONGC, I believe, has to aim at providing to the nation at least 50% of its annual oil and gas need. Since we are dealing with fossil material resources, it may not be possible to meet this requirement fully from conventional oil exploration and extraction alone.

The only way it appears to me is that to meet the 50% oil needs, you have to go to the route of renewable energy, apart from your further exploration of deep sea oil resources and enhancement of recovery factor. ONGC must consider that they are in the broader business of energy and not merely oil and gas exploration. This will enable ONGC to enter into renewable energy routes such as Bio-fuel production and development of solar energy.

Bio-fuel - Jatropha

We have nearly 63 million hectares of wasteland available in the country, out of which 33 million hectares of wasteland have been allotted for tree plantation. Jatropha can grow well in this wasteland with very little input. Once grown the crop has a fifty years of life. Fruiting can take place in this plant in two years. It yields upto five tonnes per hectares oil seeds and produces two tones of bio-diesel. Presently, the cost of bio-diesel through the plant is approximately Rs. 17 to Rs. 19 per litre which can be substantially reduced through choice of right size of the plant and using high yield variety plantation which has already been established by the researchers. Bio-diesel plants grown in one million hectares of land can yield a revenue of approximately Rs. 2,000 crore a year and provide employment to over one million people both for plantation and running of the extraction plants. This is a sustainable development process leading to large scale employment of rural manpower. Also, it will reduce the foreign exchange outflow paid for importing crude oil. Use of Bio-diesel is carbon neutral. This oil can also be used for soap and candle industries. De-oiled cake is a raw material for composting and plantation is good for honey production. We should absorb best of the technologies available worldwide and start commercial operation soon, instead of staying at pilot plant levels. I am happy that some of the States have already taken initiatives in having Jatropha Plantations in waste lands. However, I also learnt that some farmers have problems in sale of their Jatropha produce. Immediate attention should be given by the respective State Governments to solve this problem so that those who grow Jatropha do not suffer.

Create Bio-fuel Enterprises: here has been a successful experiment which has been carried out by Daimler - Benz in collaboration with CSIR laboratories of running a Benz car from Pune to Delhi using 10% blend of Bio-fuel, without any modification to the engine. Now is the time, for the state and central governments to come out with the policy which can provide answers to all the questions of the farmers, financial institutions, entrepreneurs who are keen to setup the fully integrated bio-diesel plant using Jatropha seeds from the plantation to production of bio-diesel, by-products and their marketing. It is said that a number of foreign consultants have shown interest in taking up Jatropha plantation and commissioning of plants in different areas of the country. I would recommend ONGC take the lead and enable establishment of model bio-diesel plants with the inputs of Jatropha coming from different parts of the country. ONGC can also undertake research in collaboration with Indian Institute of Petroleum and automobile industry for progressive increase of bio-fuel percentage in blending. Ultimate aim should be to find engines, which can run on bio-fuel alone. This will enable to work for a target of realizing at least 30 million tonnes of bio-fuels within the next decade. The second area where ONGC can enter in a big way is harnessing of solar energy.

Solar Energy

India is well poised for the generation of solar energy in view of the continuous availability of sun shine throughout the year. Installation of centralized solar photovoltaic systems, which can be fed to a grid, will be a long-term economically viable solution with added benefits of pollution control. I am not unaware of the fact that India's economic growth requires addition of 500 MW installed capacity every two weeks and only the well proven conventional technologies such as Hydro, Thermal and Nuclear Plants can fulfill this demand in the short term. But we need to think long term. Present solar cells have the efficiency of 13 to 15%. But the research effort shows that, with the advent of CNT/Polymer Composite Based Photovoltaic Cell, the efficiency of Photovoltaic cell will increase to 50%. This can pave the way for building mini 100 mega watt solar power stations in different regions of the country like Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. ONGC can plan one or two hundred megawatt captive power plants based on solar energy in Rajasthan or Andhra Pradesh. ONGC can also promote indigenous research on mission mode for producing CNT polymer composite based photovoltaic cells with an efficiency of 50% in collaboration with Universities and R&D institutions.

Combating Oil Spills

Another area of concern emanates from possible oil spills in our ports and near our coasts. India's present demand for oil is met through import of about 85 million metric ton per annum. Hundreds of tankers are needed to meet growing import of oil in the foreseeable future. Even if a fraction of the oil imported through these tankers spills in the Indian waters, besides posing environmental danger, there is no comprehensive response mechanism in place to deal with this threat to marine environment. An accident to even one of these very large vessels can spill up to 100,000 tons of oil into the Indian coastal line. India's 7500 kms coastline therefore needs to be safeguarded against ecological devastation from such oil spills.

The need of the day is to launch a mission to deal with oil spills. ONGC has substantial stake in oil production and therefore has to take a lead to find technological response to oil spills in collaboration with Indian Institute of Petroleum and Indian Universities.

Societal Mission

I am happy to know that the ONGC has been promoting the concept of PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Area) in different oil producing zones. ONGC PURA envisages physical connectivity, electronic connectivity and knowledge connectivity thereby creating economic connectivity in the village clusters of ONGC oil producing zone. For employment generation in these areas, they can plan bamboo plantation leading to value added bamboo products enterprises, value added Wax products, Bio-fuel enterprises and other products based on the core competence of the particular region. They can provide knowledge connectivity through establishment of village knowledge centers connected to Kisan call Centers. This type of societal mission will enable ONGC to nurture local talent for their prime activities in addition to providing large scale employment to our youth in the rural sector.

Conclusion

Within the next fifty years, ONGC must aspire to become a global energy giant. They should explore jointly with others and be a pioneer in large scale supplier of energy for making India an energy independent country. For realizing this, ONGC should adopt multiple strategies. One of the important resources in the East and West Coast is Methane Hydrate deposits, which are expected to be available at a depth ranging from 400 -700 meters below the seabed. Seismic studies have shown high probability of existence of these deposits. This can be tapped for producing energy. High-pressure technology will be needed to enhance the gas yield. In addition, ONGC must involve in renewable energy area in a big way. Underground coal gasification is yet another promising area where ONGC can achieve leadership. In essence, I would suggest ONGC to give world leadership in management of energy source, exploration of energy sources, diversification of energy sources, technology in underground Coal Gasification and above all finding new ways of tapping energy wherever it is, to meet the ever growing demand of the country. Once again let me greet all the members of ONGC on this Golden Jubilee occasion. My best wishes to the ONGC in their mission of making the nation energy independent before 2030.

May God bless you.