The Hindu : Business : Deora asks energy sector to maintain growth

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Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009
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Deora asks energy sector to maintain growth

Special Correspondent

Five-day international conference, ‘Petrotech 2009’, begins

PHOTO: S. SUBRAMANIUM

MEETING DEVELOPMENT GOALS: Union Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee (right) with Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora at the inaugural session of Petrotech 2009 in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI: Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora on Monday asked the energy sector to maintain a good annual growth to help the economy sustain a 9-per cent growth for the next 25 years.

“The primary energy supply must grow by 5.8 per cent annually to sustain about 9 per cent economic growth for the next 25 years, which will help in eradicating poverty and meet human development goals,” said Mr. Deora while addressing the five-day international oil and gas conference (Petrotech 2009) that began here.

Biennial event

Over 4,000 experts from across the globe and 273 exhibitors are participating in the biennial event — Energy Independence with Global Cooperation: Challenges and Solutions. Jointly organised by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Indian Oil Corporation, the event has been showcasing the Indian hydrocarbon industry to the world since 1995.

Mr. Deora further said India needed to understand and remove factors behind the global energy supply system. “The more we can do to understand and remove the factors which constrain the global energy supply system and lead to increased market volatility, the better positioned we will be to meet the future energy requirements of a dynamic and growing global economy,” he said.

Expressing concern over volatility in global crude oil prices, Mr. Deora said high and low crude prices were not good for economy. “Experience has taught us that very low prices and very high prices are not sustainable. During periods of low oil prices, capital tends to move out of energy to sectors offering higher returns. Low-priced energy encourages greater consumption. By reducing investment and increasing demand, periods of low prices have set the stage for an inevitable corrective rise in prices,” he added.

Stating that the crude price would be stable in the three months, Oman’s Minister of Oil and Gas Mohammed Bin Hamad Al Rumhy said: “The consumers of energy want security of supply, whereas its producers want security of demand. I think price would hover around $45 a barrel for the next two months and stabilise after that. We are not planning any production cut; rather we are increasing our production.”

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