New Delhi, November 15, 2024.
“Energy today has become the spinal cord for economic growth and development,” said Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, during the inaugural ceremony of GEO India 2024, India’s premier South Asian Geosciences Conference and Exhibition in Greater Noida today. In his keynote address, Shri Puri highlighted the critical importance of energy in driving economic progress, especially in a country like India, where the demand for energy is increasing rapidly in line with its growing economy.
The Minister expressed his delight at being part of the event, which brings together leading experts from the Exploration and Production (E&P) sector both from India and abroad. GEO India 2024, organized by the Association of Petroleum Geologists, India, is the sixth edition of the conference and exhibition, with the theme “Exploring New Dimensions of Energy Dynamics.”
With India’s fuel demand growing at three times the global average, Shri Puri highlighted that 67 million people visit petrol pumps every day in India. This surging demand is expected to drive 25% of the global increase in energy consumption over the next two decades. “Balancing the trilemma of availability, affordability, and sustainability is not only a priority but a commitment that we are meeting head-on with a focus on exploration, production, and energy security,” he said.
India’s energy landscape is rapidly evolving, with the country boasting 651.8 million metric tons of recoverable crude oil reserves and 1,138.6 billion cubic meters of recoverable natural gas reserves within its sedimentary basins. Despite these abundant resources, a significant portion of India’s exploration potential remains untapped. Shri Puri pointed out that when the current government took office in 2014, only 6% of India’s sedimentary basins had been explored. Today, this figure has risen to 10%, and with further exploration activity under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) rounds, this is set to increase to 16% by 2025. By 2030, the government aims to expand the nation’s exploration acreage to 1 million square kilometers, further bolstering India’s energy security.
