Rising fuel prices highlights need to explore oil within India
Rising fuel prices highlights need to explore oil within India. Geographical conditions in India have relegated the country to the 23rd spot in a list of oil producing nations.
India currently relies for oil on the Bombay high (Arabian Sea), Digboi (Assam), Gujarat and Rajasthan. However, exceeding usage of oil has forced the country to import almost 75% of its crude oil from Saudi Arabia and Iran. India is the top five oil importers in the world with a daily import of 3.8 million barrels of oil. NGC, MRPL and HPCL are major Indian clients who import oil which is made ready for use by oil refineries spread all over the country.
In order to lower imports and improve GDP of the country, India is looking to explore prospective oil sites in the Himalayas. It is also inviting foreign players to set up base in the country; however, there has been a lukewarm response to this initiative. It’s not long before the next diesel and petrol price hike is announced. With international crude prices incresaing, and india’s decision to steadily increase diesel prices through this year, HPCL, Indian Oil, and BPCL will soon announce a hike of upto 50 paise and Rs. 1 per litre for petrol and diesel, respectively.
