OIL STRUCK AT KUTCH BY GAIL
Shri Ram Naik, Minister
of Petroleum & Natural Gas, informed the Lok Sabha while replying
to a question that good indications of hydrocarbon were found
during seismic survey and drilling of oil wells at Block No. CB-ONN-2000/1
in Cambay Basin, adjoining Kutch Basin. The commercial reserves
of oil and gas have not been established as yet. The block was
offered under the second round of New Exploration Licensing Policy
(NELP-II) and is with the consortium comprising Gail (India) Limited
(GAIL) and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Limited (GSPCL),
the operator.
Replying to supplementary
questions, Shri Ram Naik informed the House that so far two wells
have been drilled in the block which led to indications of hydrocarbon.
To further evaluate the commerciality of the discovery, four more
oil wells are required to be drilled. In reply to another query
the Minister informed that the new oil reserves of good quality
have been found in the State of Rajasthan as well.
Underlining the impetus
given to maxmise oil self-dependency in the country, Shri Naik
informed the House that a four pronged approach is being implemented
by the Government to achieve this objective. As part of these
70 blocks, in the last four years, have been awarded for exploration
of oil and gas in the country in addition to 24 blocks currently
on offer in the fourth round of NELP. This is against 22 blocks
awarded in the previous ten years. Efforts are being made to produce
coal bed methane gas (CBM) by awarding eight blocks and nine more
blocks being on offer currently. The third initiative include
acquisition of equity oil/acreages abroad with India successfully
bringing its own oil from Sudan oil field in May 2003. The blending
of bio-fuels with petrol and diesel is also being pursued which
will reduce import dependency as also help our farmers in getting
better returns for their sugarcane from which ethanol is obtained
for blending with petrol.
