To create more transparency in data mining and accessibility as well as preparing itself for monitoring all types of energy sources,  the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) is upgrading its National Data Repository (NDR) and also carving out a Hydrocarbon Efficiency and New Energy Department within its set-up.

At the successive investor roadshows held by the DGH before the exploration rounds, it has been found that the investors are seeking a more liberal regime in terms and stability in doing business here. Also a constant question to all the successive Director Generals in DGH, the technical arm of Ministry for Petroleum and Natural Gas to monitor the exploration and production activities, has been why have the Exxons of the world still not made a mark into India’s upstream space? What is it that they seek?

“A lot of things as far as liberal regime is concerned has been taken care of in the recently introduced Bill (The Oilfields Regulation and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2024) in the Parliament. Besides, separately a working group for reserve-based funding — financing from banks — has also been constituted by the government,” Pallavi Jain Govil, Director General, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons told businessline.  

While all these are happening on a realtime basis, the DGH is also working on NDR 2.0 Project. “Tenders have been floated for various packages for NDR 2.0 Project and tendering process is expected to be completed soon,” she said.

New tools, tech

NDR has been disseminating data to various exploration and production operators, academia and government bodies and plays an important role in powering bidding rounds of exploration and production blocks/fields. Since NDR started operations in 2017, the hardware and software industry has undergone generational changes and new tools and technologies of data management have evolved, she said adding that “Also, the existing NDR IT hardware has reached end-of-life stage.”

For example, disk storage system needs to be enhanced to a higher capacity to host the ever-increasing data volume and for efficient data delivery to end users. Given this background DGH has taken up the project of NDR upgradation to next generation — NDR2.0, which will have new agile cloud-ready applications powered by rich features, enhanced storage capacity and other related services, she said.

While the process of data upgradation is on, the DGH is also preparing itself for dealing with new energy sources. “For the purpose we have set up Hydrocarbon Efficiency and New Energy Department — a dedicated department to facilitate hydrocarbon efficiency, decarbonisation and energy transition by integrating new geological energies such as geothermal and natural hydrogen into current upstream activities,” she said.

“This department will significantly facilitate the exploration and production companies to achieve their Net Zero targets. Furthermore, these efforts will address critical environmental challenges, such as air pollution and climate change, by curbing carbon-dioxide, methane etc. gas emissions and promoting sustainable development in the energy sector,” the DG elaborated.

The department is tasked with encouraging oil and gas operators to move towards net zero targets by adopting practices that enhance hydrocarbon efficiency and incorporating new forms of geological energy. These new energy sources can serve as both supplemental and complementary to existing energy systems, thereby supporting the transition to a more resilient energy sector, she said.

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