“I am very pleased to join you this afternoon to inaugurate PETROTECH-2014. I have been associated with PETROTECH earlier as well and have been impressed by its thoughtful agenda and selection of themes. The theme this year - “Vision 2030: Emerging Global Energy Basket – Challenges & Opportunities” is also very appropriate as we move forward to seek clean and affordable energy solutions to fuel our growth aspirations.
I take this opportunity to congratulate all those gentlemen who have won the award for lifetime achievement. I compliment ONGC, the PETROTECH Society and all others who have contributed to organizing the PETROTECH series of conferences. .
An adequate supply of energy at affordable prices is critical to our economic growth. India currently is the world’s seventh largest energy producer, accounting for about 2.5% of the world’s total annual energy production. But, it is the fourth largest energy consumer and is slated to become the third largest by the year 2020. This implies that we need to increase our energy supply by 3 to 4 times over the next two decades. The conference theme is therefore of special relevance to our country. I am hopeful that useful recommendations will emerge from this conference to enable us to design policy and technology initiatives which will help us in fulfilling our growing energy needs.
As India configures its policy framework to get back to the high growth-rate trajectory envisioned in our 12th Five-year plan, the development of the energy sector and particularly the hydrocarbon space must be given particular attention. There is a need to bridge the ever-increasing gap between demand and domestic supply. With this in mind, we are encouraging domestic and global companies to explore potentially hydrocarbon-rich areas in the framework of a stable and enabling policy environment. We are also pursuing other options to achieve energy security. We have made a number of changes in our energy policy regime in the last few months and I am sure you would be aware of them.
The global oil and gas industry today requires new technologies and processes, innovative thinking and creative business models to meet emerging challenges now on the horizon. The best way of achieving these ends is through partnerships amongst various stakeholders. Such partnerships could result in outcomes like improved recovery from mature fields, exploitation of ultra-deep water energy reserves and progress in complex frontier areas. They could also help in exploitation of unconventional forms of energy, apart from addressing concerns about environmental degradation and climate change.
It is at forums like these that a consensus can be reached at the international level for establishing targeted collaborations in the oil and gas sector. I am sure that this conference will see forward progress in this direction, apart from informing the participants about the latest developments and international best practices in various sub-sectors of the oil and gas sector.
We are already witnessing the debilitating consequences of unclean energy consumption. As global concerns and mitigation strategies converge through dialogue, events like PETROTECH can also be useful in furthering access and assimilation of environment friendly technology into countries that need it most.
India is committed to reducing its carbon footprint as a responsible member of the global community. The challenge of achieving high economic growth and yet reducing emissions is a formidable one indeed. But, we are determined to meeting this challenge fully. This entails work in several areas like demand management, energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy technology. It also requires focused Research & Development Initiatives. I would urge all agencies and individuals associated with the energy sector to contribute to these efforts.
I am informed that PETROTECH-2014 is a carbon neutral event and this is surely an example worth emulating. It also reflects the approach of the hydrocarbon sector of our country towards addressing climate change concerns. I commend the organizers of PETROTECH-2014 for this creative initiative.
It gives me immense pleasure to declare this conference open. I wish PETROTECH-2014 all success. I am confident that it will result in outcomes that are of great benefit to our energy sector, and to the energy sectors of other countries as well. With these words, I wish you all a very pleasant stay in our country.
