BP working with Reliance to develop EV charging infrastructure in India: CEO

BP working with Reliance to develop EV charging infrastructure in India

British Petroleum (BP) is working with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to get electric vehicles charging infrastructure in place for India, said Bernard Looney, Chief Executive Officer, BP.

On the sidelines of B20 Summit India 2023, Looney told reporters that charging infrastructure is going to be critical for India to not just achieve the net zero goal by 2070 but also for the energy independence goal by 2047.

“If we can get two-wheelers and three-wheelers and over time passenger vehicles converted to electric, I think that's going to be hugely important for the country,” he added.

BP CEO said the company is also investing in compressed natural gas (CNG) through venture investments in companies like BluSmart.

In the upstream segment, Looney said the commencement of gas production from the MJ field by Reliance and BP now accounts for one-third of domestic gas production in India.

“We're now producing approximately one BCF (Billion cubic feet) a day of natural gas that is approximately 1/3rd of India's domestic gas production today,” he said.

“And I expect that we will do more in India in the years ahead. Our partnership with Reliance is probably one of our most successful partnerships,” Looney added.

The British oil and gas giant chief said that the energy transition needs to be rapid and orderly. Looney explained that by orderly he meant that investment is required for both, i.e. in the current energy system and in energy transition.

“If we don't do that, we see an example of what can happen. Through the war, we lost 3% of the world's gas supply. The result of that was gas prices went up seven times not 7% or 70% but 700%. And that obviously impacts people because it means that they're spending more of their disposable income on energy. That is not good,” he said.

He added that last year the governments around the world also had to turn to cheaper energy sources such as coal.

Looney said BP now spends 30 percent of its capital on energy transition from 3 percent in 2019. He added that BP expects the figure to rise to 40 percent by the middle of the decade and 50 percent by the end of the decade.

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