Releases.........pt2

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Prime Minister's Office                 

PM congratulates ISRO for successful launch of Oceansat-2 Satellite

New Delhi: September 23, 2009

 

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has congratulated the ISRO team for the successful launch of Oceansat-2 Satellite. In his message he said:

 

"I am delighted to learn that the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C14 (PSLV-C14) launched today from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota has successfully launched India's OCEANSAT-2 satellite and six nano satellites from European Universities and agencies. PSLV has once again demonstrated its versatility and reliability through this fifteenth successful launch in a row. The OCEANSAT-2 satellite will herald a new beginning in our understanding of the oceans.

 

I congratulate the entire ISRO team responsible for this achievement, and wish ISRO continued success in future missions."

 

akt/ad/lv/vk/dk/kol/14:31 hrs

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

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Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas                     

NELP-VIII and CBM-IV Road show at Perth held successfully; 40 companies/Organisations participate

 

INDIAN DELEGATION DISCUSS ENHANCING COOPERATION IN ENERGY SECTOR WITH WESTERN AUSTRALIA MINISTER FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND LANDS

New Delhi: September 23, 2009

 

Shri R. S. Pandey, Secretary, Petroleum & Natural Gas inaugurated the Road Show of the eighth bid round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP-VIII) and fourth round of Coal Bed Methane Policy (CBM-IV) at Perth on 22nd September,2009. This was the fifth road show, in the series of promotional road shows organised by Government of India at various places, first at Mumbai on 8th August 2009 and second at Houston on 20th August 2009, third at Calgary on 24th August 2009 and fourth at London on 8th September 2009. He invited exploration and production companies and prospective investors to avail of the highly attractive investment opportunities which are unparalleled in any other Bid Rounds and offered under NELP-VIII and CBM-IV. Shri Pandey delivered a key note address at the Roadshow to promote 70 exploration blocks under NELP and 10 blocks under CBM offered for global competitive bidding.

A total of 70 delegates from more than 40 companies/Organisations including some the leading E&P companies and service providers participated in the successfully held road show at Perth. These included 20 E&P companies, 13 oil and gas field service providers and 11 other organizations, including investors. Some of the main E&P companies which participated in the Road show were Woodside Energy Limited, Santos, GE Oil & Gas, Oilex and Mantle Mining Corporation.

Secretary, Petroleum & Natural Gas stated that NELP-VIII is being offered in the backdrop of 71 oil & gas discoveries which have already been made in 21 exploration blocks by accretion of in place hydrocarbon reserves of more than 600 Million Metric Tonne of Oil Equivalent (MMTOE). Under NELP regime, major natural gas production in KG basin commenced from April, 2009. With this, the gas production in India would be doubled as against production of 2008-09. Total committed investment in NELP rounds for exploration so far is around 10 billion dollars and actual investment made is around 11.9 billion dollars.

Shri Pandey informed that the recent huge discoveries have significantly changed perception about the geological prospectivity of India's Sedimentary Basins. This is a significant development which E & P companies need to look at. The investors were informed of the opportunities that exist under NELP and CBM as well as information on the exciting new development in E&P sector.

Shri Pandey also informed that at present, area under exploration is about 50% of Indian Sedimentary Basins. During XI plan period, area under exploration has been targeted at 80% of total Indian Sedimentary Basins

Smt. Sujata Singh, High Commissioner, High Commission of India in Australia, in her welcome address mentioned on opportunities and potential for exploration and Government's efforts to accelerate the exploration coverage and increased oil and gas production. She referred to the early trade between the two countries which started in late 18th century which centred on coal from Australia and food grains from India. She then referred to the present day business environment wherein the interests and complimentaries between the countries could be utilized for developing strategic partnership.

Mr. Richard Sellers, Director General, Department of Mines and Petroleum, Government of Western Australia, invited the attention of the Australian companies to the opportunities being made available and urged to increase their presence in E&P sector of India, considering the supportive regulatory regime and attractive commercial terms.

Some of the important E&P companies operating in India namely Oil India Ltd (OIL) and Santos International made presentations to demonstrate their success stories in India's E&P sector. They also gave an account of their perceptions of geology and hydrocarbon prospectivity in India. Confederation of Indian Industry made a presentation about its perception on India's Business climate and investment opportunities. KPMG made a presentation on the oil & gas taxation regime in India.

Shri V.K.Sibal, DG, DGH made a presentation on Geological prospectivity of NELP-VIII and CBM-IV blocks. Shri D.N.Narasimha Raju, Joint Secretary (Exploration) in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas made a presentation on Policy, Fiscal, Legal and Contractual framework for NELP-VIII and CBM-IV Rounds. Shri Sanjay Gupta, Director (Exploration) in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas made the concluding remarks and vote of thanks.

To facilitate data viewing by Exploration and Production companies, the Government of India has opened a data centre at Noida , India, and at other centres at Houston, London, Calgary, Perth and Brisbane the data centres will be available for access on request. The data for NELP-VIII &CBM-IV can be viewed by companies at any of these centres as well as online through website and thereafter interested companies may purchase data.

Promotional Road show for CBM-IV has been planned also at Brisbane (24-25 September 2009) and Investors Meet has been organised at Singapore on 28th September 2009.

The bid closing date for NELP-VIII 12th October, 2009. It is expected that NELP-VIII bid round would result in a very good response from E&P companies and prospective investors as they are likely to avail of the excellent investment opportunities being offered through NELP-VIII. Government is committed to complete evaluation, award and signing of production Sharing Contracts in a reasonable time frame and the whole process would be completed in a transparent manner as demonstrated in past rounds of NELP.

 

Bilateral Meetings

During the visit, the delegation met Mr. Brendon Grylls, MLA and Minister for Regional Development; Lands, Government of Western Australia, Perth and held discussions. The areas of common interests and complementary capabilities leading to the strategic partnership were noted. The Minister emphasized on the existing synergies between Western Australia in particular and India and expressed keenness of Government of Western Australia to promote relationship in areas of LNG, trade in minerals and education. Secretary (P & NG) mentioned about the Road shows in Perth and Brisbane to seek participation of E & P companies in Australia. He emphasized the need to move forward and develop further on areas such as gas infrastructure and regulation, reservoir development, collaboration with experts from universities & institutes in Western Australia in E & P sector. The High Commissioner of India to Australia referred to the need to enhance food security and energy security and take advantage of complimentaries between India and Western Australia.

The delegation also met the Director General, Department of Mines and Petroleum and held discussions on mutual areas of interest and on the areas of co-operation under the MOU signed between DGH and Department Of Industries and Resources (DOIR).

 

rcj/perth nelp roadshow/dk/kol/14:31 hrs