India Needs Significant Hydrocarbon Discoveries To Meet Future Needs: Petroleum Secretary

India urgently requires significant hydrocarbon discoveries to meet its future energy needs, said Secretary of Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry, Pankaj Jain, on Sunday.

Addressing the 15th Biennial International Conference of the Society of Petroleum Geophysicists here, Jain said the country must pursue bold, time-bound exploration strategies aligned with the National Deepwater Mission to achieve energy self-reliance.

"One day, we will be looking at a situation where alternative forms of energy will increasingly matter more for incremental demand satisfaction than fossil fuels," Jain said.

The petroleum secretary asserted that the immediate focus must be on securing major discoveries through accelerated exploration efforts.

Speaking on the occasion, ONGC Chairman Arun Kumar Singh said that technological breakthroughs in seismic imaging and Artificial Intelligence-driven interpretation would be crucial for future discoveries.

The conference, themed 'Rock to Cloud: Geo-Exploration Empowering Energy Evolution', was attended by professionals from the geoscience community and representatives from leading international organisations including the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (US), European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (Netherlands), and Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists.

Oil India chairman and managing director Dr Ranjit Rath described India as 'one of the most promising destinations for exploration,' citing progressive reforms like the Open Acreage Licensing Policy and Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy, according to a statement.

He urged geoscientists to remain "restless in pursuit of exploration," particularly in frontier basins and ultra-deepwater domains.

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