Indian petroleum industry is at the cusp of opportunity and will be able to produce 25 per cent of its crude oil demand by 2030, Union Petroleum and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.

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At present, five million barrels of petroleum is being consumed in our country every day and it is also increasing by three per cent, which is higher than the global average of nearly one per cent, Puri added.

The Union Minister shared this with the media at the three-day South Asian Geoscience Conference, GeoIndia 2022, which began at JECC, Sitapura in Rajasthan`s Jaipur on Friday.

Veteran Geologist Shyam Vyas Rao, former Director (Exploration), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), was also presented with the lifetime achievement award by the Minister in the inaugural session.

Ethanol-blending percentage in petrol increased to 10 per cent in nine years.

In the inaugural session, the Minister said that the ethanol-blend percentage in petrol has increased from 0.67 per cent in 2013 to 10 per cent in May 2022, i.e., five months ahead of schedule.

It is reducing 2.7 million tonne of CO2 emissions which is good for the environment. As per the International Energy Agency estimates, India will contribute a quarter (25 per cent) of the growth in global energy consumption in the coming two decades.

Petroleum Secretary Pankaj Jain said the geology experts should utilise this opportunity to elevate their contribution in the context of increasing demand and scarcity of energy sources.

He asked geoscientific fraternity to develop tailored knowledge for deep water, ultra-deep water and onshore to enhance oil and gas production while doing it in environmental sustainable manner.

Earlier, welcoming the dignitaries and participant, Rajesh Kumar Srivastava, CMD, ONGC, and Chief Patron of APG, said, "GeoIndia has been a major leader in the last 14 years under the aegis of Association of Petroleum Geologists (APG) India. The biennial South Asian Geology Conference and Exhibition has evolved in terms of size and international participation. The global market value of automation technology in the oil and gas sector is projected to nearly double and reach nearly $42 billion by 2030. It is high time that the oil and gas sector take advantage of the digital transformation."

On the first day of the conference, the plenary session was witnessed intensely by experts and policymakers, including Pankaj Jain, Secretary, MoPNG, SCL Das, DGH Director General, ExxonMobil MD Justin Murphy, Equinor MD Desikan Sundararajan, Md. El-Toukhy, Invest India`s Ravneet Mann moderated by Energy affairs expert Narendra Taneja.

The Minister also inaugurated the GeoIndia 2022 exhibition, where a number of Indian and global petroleum companies and service providers showcased their cutting edge services and tools for exploration and production of oil and gas.