Expert Workshop on Carbon Emission Management jointly with World Petroleum Council

29-30-October-2015  

Expert Workshop on Carbon Emission Management jointly with World Petroleum Council

Giving details of the various initiatives launched by India to reduce carbon emissions, the Hon’ble Union Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan assured the audience that the Indian oil companies would play a pioneering role in reducing the carbon emissions in the entire value chain and contribute towards making the world cleaner and greener. He was delivering the inaugural address at the Expert Workshop organised by the Petroleum Federation of India in association with the World Petroleum Council on ‘Carbon Emission Management: Upstream & Downstream Best Practices and Opportunities’ at New Delhi on October 29, 2015. Pointing out that the most adversely affected by climate change are the poor people of developing countries like India he mentioned that this is why our Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi mentioned last month that the discourse must shift focus from ‘climate change’ to ‘climate justice’.



The Hon’ble Minister listed the key initiatives taken by the Government of India during the past 1½ years which will directly or indirectly reduce carbon emissions. He also amplified on the country’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution to improve carbon emission intensity and create an additional carbon sink.



In the Valedictory Address at the end of the 1½ day workshop Mr. K. D. Tripathi, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas exhorted corporates to not wait for Government to drive change but reorient their business strategies and expansion plans with an eye on increasing energy efficiency, reducing GHG emissions and adopting innovative technologies which diminish fossil fuel consumption. The trend set by the top ten global oil & gas companies, and more than four-score others in the United States, for a collective support for effective climate change agreement must be strengthened and taken forward, he added.



During her theme address at the inaugural session Ms. Anita Marangoly George, Senior Director, Energy Extractive Industries Practice, World Bank Group rooted for zero routine flaring by 2030 in accordance with the Mission launched by the World Bank in April this year. To put it in perspective, she said, 140 billlion cubic metres of gas is flared every day. This was at a time when 1.1 billion people in the world don’t have access to energy and 2.9 billion people are without access to efficient cooking fuels. Globally, she said, $ 560 billion are spent on oil subsidies whereas 80% of the subsidies go to top 40%.



The President, World Petroleum Council, Dr. Jozsef Toth in his address complimented PetroFed for organising the workshop.



Mr. B. Ashok, Chairman, PetroFed and Chairman, IndianOil in his address emphasized that energy efficient technologies in industry, transport, building and communities, demand side management, energy storage, and energy efficient end-use equipment can be the key to curbing emissions. Fugitive methane emissions, he added, must be avoided by the oil & gas industry by implementation of current best practice technologies.



Dr. Pierce Riemer, Director General, World Petroleum Council brought out that geo-politics had and will continue to play a vital role in crude oil pricing and that it was imperative to adopt sustainable practices to minimize climate change impact.



While welcoming participants Dr. R. K. Malhotra, Director General, PetroFed presented a very comprehensive analysis of the factors leading to increasing GHG emissions and the key steps to curb them.



The workshop was split into four sessions covering upstream, downstream, midstream, GHG accounting standards and alternatives for carbon emission reduction. The sessions were chaired by eminent experts, namely Mr. D. K. Sarraf, Chairman & Managing Director, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited; Mr. A. K. Dwivedi, Director (Exploration), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited; Dr. Pierce Riemer, Director General, World Petroleum Council; Mr. Prabh Das, Managing Director & CEO, HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited; Mr. U. P. Singh, Additional Secretary (Exploration), Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas; Mr. P. K. Sharma, Director (Operations), Oil India Limited and Mr. M. K. Surana, Chief Executive Officer, Prize Petroleum Co. Limited.



A vote of thanks was proposed by Mr. Y. Sahai, Director (Communication & Coordination), PetroFed wherein special mention was made of the guidance and assistance of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, and in particular of Mr. U. P. Singh, Additional Secretary (Exploration) and Mr. Prashant Lokhande, Director (Exploration), Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.



Click here to view programme, inaugural address of the Hon’ble Union Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas and bio-data and presentations of speakers.



Click here to view Key Recommendations Emerging from the conference delibrations