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The Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday emphasised that the government’s target of achieving 15 per cent share of natural gas in India’s primary energy mix by 2030 is “not unrealistic”
“We took a decision some time ago that natural gas in our energy mix would go up from 6 per cent to 15 per cent. Now, I happened to get associated with this ministry during the pandemic, when pandemic was its full force. So, I used to get nervous. I said, How are we going to take it?
“I can tell you with confidence. Now, three years after I joined that, a 15 per cent figure in gas in our energy mix is no longer unrealistic. I think we are already eight (8 per cent) plus we are already looking at scenarios available 12 per cent and therefore natural gas will come to one area where we are (working),” the Minister said in his address at the FT’s Energy Transition Summit India.
bp’s Energy Outlook 2024 has projected that the share of natural gas in India’s primary energy mix will reach 8.6 per cent in 2050 from 5 per cent in 2022 under the Current Trajectory scenario. Similarly, Crude oil exporting bloc OPEC in its 2023 annual outlook had also projected that India’s share of natural gas in the energy mix is expected to reach just 10.6 per cent by 2045.
Middle East tensions
The Minister again assured that India will be able to navigate through the conflict in the Middle East, as it did during the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
“As I said, enough oil is available and there is no cause of panic. We will be able to navigate this (Middle East crisis),” he told reporters on the sidelines.
Global oil markets are on the edge after tensions escalated between Israel and Iran last week with Brent prices on Tuesday also trading close to the $80 per barrel mark.
Asked about the mounting tensions in the Persian Gulf, Puri said “What happens when global turbulence takes place? We all, especially India, call for restraint, peace and dialogue. That’s one process. But, if something happens which is outside anybody’s control then sometimes because of diversion freight rates go up, insurance goes up. These are all manageable things. That’s all I said.”
“All the state and non-state actors will hopefully realise what is at stake. It’s not just an India question, it is a global question,” he added.
“As far as India is concerned, as I said yesterday, we are confident because we navigated it in the past. We are confident today and we don’t hypothetically (say) that this will happen or that will happen. But we are confident that whatever we have to face, we will be able to navigate. Why, because there is more than enough oil available in the world today,” Puri emphasised.
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