GAS AND OIL RESERVES IN HIMALAYAS
Shri Santosh Gangwar,
Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas, informed the
Lok Sabha in a written reply today that the Government has awarded
one exploration block, namely HF-ONN-2001/1 in Himalayan Foothill
area in the State of Himachal Pradesh, to ONGC under the third
round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP). Production Sharing
Contracts for these blocks were signed on 4.2.2003. In addition,
ONGC is holding two Petroleum Exploration Licences (PELs) one
each in the States of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh,
on nomination basis. Oil India Limited (OIL) is also holding one
PEL in Kashipur block, on nomination basis in the Himalayan Foothill
area in the States of Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh.
Shri Gangwar further
informed the House that during the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07),
the total expenditure envisaged on exploration by ONGC and OIL
is Rs. 77.30 crore and Rs. 53.20 crore respectively and there
is no fund constraints for taking up any additional work programme
which may arise during the above period.
The National Oil
Companies (NOCs), namely ONGC and OIL are vigorously pursuing
exploration activities to get a break-through in Himalayan areas,
although no commercial success has been achieved so far. Since
exploration is input deterministic and output probabilistic in
nature, no timeframe can be laid down for the same, the Minister
added.
