New Delhi. Crude oil prices in the international market have more than tripled in March this year compared to April 2020. In such a situation, the discussion is in full swing about efforts to eliminate dependence on imported crude. In this context, it is also necessary to mention this goal of the Central Government, in which it had talked about reducing the country’s dependence on imported oil by 10 percent by the year 2022 and 50 percent by the year 2030. However, the data itself suggests that the ground reality is quite different.
In fact, in the last three years, domestic production of crude has fallen by 10 percent. During this period, crude oil production has come down from 35.6 million tonnes to 32.17 million tonnes. However, the Petroleum Ministry is confident that domestic crude and natural gas production will grow well in the next decade.
According to government figures, crude production in the country was at its highest level in 2011-12 with 38.8 million tonnes. But since then there has been a steady downward trend. Due to this, the quantity of imported crude is continuously increasing.
According to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), an agency under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, India imported 21.07 million tonnes (210 million metric tons) of crude in the year 2014-15, which increased in the year 2019-20. The tax has increased to 27.007 million tonnes. The figures for April to July of the current financial year show that 16.28 million tonnes of crude has been imported.
Thus, there is a possibility that there will be a decrease in crude imports during the year 2020-21. But this is not due to an increase in domestic production, but due to a huge reduction in demand for several months due to Corona. According to PPAC, the total consumption of petroleum products in the country between April 2020 to February 2021 has been 175 million tonnes. It stood at 214 million tonnes during the last financial year, 213 million tonnes in its first year 2018-19 and 206 million tonnes in the year 2017-18.
In a recent report of the International Energy Forum, India has become the third largest country in the world after China and America in terms of crude consumption. Not only this, till 2040, crude oil will remain a major source of fuel in India. On the other hand, the Petroleum Ministry says that its policy of promoting domestic oil and gas production, the hydrocarbon exploration and licensing policy (HELP), will be visible in the next 10 years.
India still imports crude up to 85 per cent of its total consumption, which puts the country in a lot of trouble at times. India takes 60 percent of the oil it needs from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and other Gulf countries. Whenever there is instability in the Gulf region, it affects the crude and the common people of the country have to suffer.
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