India is comfortable with the current crude oil price range, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said.

Speaking to reporters at the third India Energy Forum by CERAWeek, Pradhan said, “Let’s accept the changing geo polity. These are the new normal. Price is now around $60 a barrel. It is going to range between $58 and $61 a barrel. This is a reality today and an assurance from a consuming country. A lot of crude oil is coming from North America to the global market,” Pradhan said.

“In today’s reality, there is a price band and it suits India,” he added.

Commenting on the domestic gas production and demand, Pradhan said, “By conventional assessment, some gas and oil fields will get depleted from the levels of today. The major change will be addition. BP-Reliance is going to produce natural gas in a big way after a long period in the KG Basin in the second quarter of the next calendar year. ONGC will be following them and has started producing a substantial amount in the Vashisht area. Vedanta is very aggressive on the Barmer field, now they will be producing gas.”

“All our reforms are primary centring around gas. So I am confident there will be a substantial growth in domestic gas production and there will be a substantial import of LNG,” he added. He said there will be a new regional gas price in the domestic market as more supplies meet the higher demand.

Responding to a query on the domestic gas price, Pradhan said, “The government has no business in price. It’s market driven.”

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