December 19 is celebrated as the Foundation Day of Keshava Deva Malaviya Institute of Petroleum Exploration, of ONGC in Dehradun on Thursday.
The occasion is annually celebrated by offering tributes to the father of the oil industry, Pandit Malaviya by all ONGCians. The day is also marked by the Keshava Deva Malaviya Memorial lecture where globally renowned oil industry experts are invited to share their knowledge and domain expertise.
The speakers invited for today’s programme were Prabir Sengupta, former Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India and David Mullins, Senior Director, in PFC Energy’s Upstream Practice.
NK Verma, Director (Exploration), ONGC was the chief guest for the programme. NK Verma, Director (E) raised serious concern for the precarious energy scenario where demand is growing at a much faster pace than supply.
He opined that it is imperative that we leverage the knowledge pool, technology and available resources to increase production.
He further said that ONGC is expanding its horizons and growing from a pure E&P company to an integrated energy company.
Speaking on the relevant issue of ‘ Energy security and a sustainable approach’, Prabir Sengupta, distinguished fellow of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) said that in 1984-85 India had attained 80 per cent self-sufficiency in oil whereas currently 80 per cent of our oil requirement is imported.
The factors for increase in demand are numerous and why our country has been unable to expand supply ofenergy is of major concern for all of us. He focused on the various actions initiated by Government of India but emphasized that there is a lot more to be done if
India dreams to energy independent. An aggressive thrust for renewable energy, integrated urban transport, energy efficiency in industrial and domestic sector, optimization of bio-fuel resources and rational energy pricing could be the way forward for India’s energy graph. David Mullins, Senior Director, in PFC Energy’s Upstream Practice gave an insight into the “ E&P competition and challenges through 2020”.
He gave a lucid presentation on the rapidly changing business practices in the global energyscenario. With oil being replaced by lNG and future outlook shale gas, oil market dynamics and prices have made the environment extremely competitive.
Many national oil companies have witnessed a decline and only those companies which can identify the market potential and adapt to it are in a position to survive.
He said that beyond 2020 if international shale takes off like North America, the World will witness a major shock to global supply and demand balances.
Earlier welcoming the invited speakers, honoured guests and veteran geo scientists to the 17th Deva Malaviya Memorial lecture, Dr DKDasgupta, Head of KDMIPE highlighted the significance of the
Institute as ONGC’s R&D in exploration originated at this center. Thedignitaries released three special publications- Gravity Atlas of India, ONGC Bulletin, Annual Report 2012-13.