Question : OIL EXPLORATION AND PETROLEUM REFINING

(a) whether the Government have recently reviewed the performance of various agencies working in the field of oil exploration and petroleum refining;

(b) if so, the details thereof along with the emerging trends; and

(c) the policy decision taken to meet growing requirements?

Answer given by the minister

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas (Shri Ram Naik)

(a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (C) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 268 DATED 10.8.2000 REGARDING OIL EXPLORATION AND PETROLEUM REFINING

(a)

(i) The performance of the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in the oil sector is reviewed through the system of Quarterly Performance Reviews. In addition, every year, Government enters into Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with the PSUs of the oil sector for setting their Annual Performance targets and on completion of the year, targets are compared with the actual achievements and accordingly performance ratings are worked out.

(ii) The performance of Private/JV sector in exploration is reviewed in the management committee set up under various Production Sharing Contracts(PSCs), where Government is represented by Director General of Hydrocarbons and other officials of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons.

(iii) There is no system of review of performance of the Private and Joint venture refineries.

(b)

(1) As a result of exploration activities, the estimated reserves of oil and gas added by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Oil India Limited (OIL) and the private sector is given below:-

1997-98	29.59	1998-99	85.20	1999-2000 Oil+Oil Equivalent of Gas(MMTOE)+	63.40

2. PSU Refineries

The actual crude throughput of PSU refineries as compared to their MOU targets for the last three years are given as under:-

1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000
Target	Actual	Target	Actual	Target	Actual
Crude Throughput 59.450	61.314	63.705	64.466	67.815	68.835

(MMTPA)++

(c):

(1) The following steps are being taken by Government to increase the indigenous production of oil:-

(ii) Finding new hydrocarbon reserves through intensified exploration activities such as : exploration at greater depths in existing fields, extending exploration activities to deep waters and frontier areas, increased private participation in exploration activities through various rounds of bidding for exploration blocks and New Exploration Licensing Policy under which 22 Production Sharing Contracts were signed on 12th April, 2000

(iii) Faster development of new discoveries.

(iv) Optimizing production from existing fields through better reservoir management and use of advanced and cost effective technologies.

(2) Government has taken the following measures to increase the refining capacity in the country:-

(i) Permitting refining capacity additions by way of expansion of existing refineries and setting up of new refineries in public sector, joint sector and private sector.

(ii) Delicensing of refining sector in June, 1998.

(iii) Allowing 100% foreign direct investment in the refining sector from June, 2000.

Note:

+	MMTOE	:	Million Tonnes of oil plus oil equivalent of gas	++	MMTPA	:	Million Tonnes Per Annum

Question : OIL EXPLORATION AND PETROLEUM REFINING

Answer given by the minister

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