Efforts on to reduce dependence on imported crude oil, govt tells Rajya Sabha

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The government has been taking various measures to reduce the import of crude oil, Minister of State (MoS) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli informed the Rajya Sabha on March 21 in a written reply.

The steps include promoting the usage of natural gas as fuel or feedstock across the country and promoting renewable and alternate fuels like ethanol, second-generation ethanol, compressed biogas and biodiesel.

Efforts are also being made to improve refineries and increase the production of oil and natural gas through various policies under the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) regime.

The MoS apprised that production of crude oil till February 2022 has been 28.51 million metric tonnes (MMT) against the target of 31.80MMT during the current financial year. The drop in production has been due to natural decline and an increase in water cut in wells of matured fields, according to a statement by the Oil Ministry.

The ministry informed the House that oil and gas companies, after meeting the domestic demand, export surplus production of petroleum products.

The details of import of crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas and export of petroleum products (quantity as well as value) in the last five years, year-wise, are as under:

The government has provided functional freedom to national oil companies, and for wider private sector participation streamlined the approval processes by including an electronic single-window mechanism.

To give a major thrust to Ethanol Blending Programme, the government through oil marketing companies (OMCs) is establishing 2G Ethanol plants across the country.

A statement from the ministry also said that to promote the use of Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) as automotive fuel, Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative has been launched under which oil marketing companies are inviting expression of interest (EoI) from potential entrepreneurs to produce CBG.

Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programmes are also being encouraged with the broader objectives of providing a boost to the domestic agriculture sector, environmental benefits, reducing import dependency and savings in foreign exchange.

With such high objectives, ethanol produced from sugarcane is not sufficient. Hence the FCI had allowed ethanol production from damaged foodgrains, maize and surplus rice.

Moreover, the production of ethanol from grain-like maize gives a co-product called Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles (DDGS), which is a very high source of protein and is also used as cattle and poultry feed.

Teli also informed the Rajya Sabha that the per capita consumption of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries has increased from 3.01 refills in 2019-20 to 3.66 refills in the current financial year (till February 2022).