Manmohan to inaugurate Petrotech meet
Monday, 10 January 2005, 20:30 IST
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will Sunday inaugurate India's biennial oil and gas knowledge networking forum, Petrotech, to be attended by 2,500 experts from the country and abroad.
The sixth international petroleum conference and exhibition, Petrotech-2005, will be held at Pragati Maidan here from Jan 16 to 19.
A.K. Balyan, chairman of the Petrotech-2005 organising committee and director of human resources at the Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), said Monday that the meet would focus on 'value from hydrocarbons - advances in science and technology'.
"In the past, the Petrotech series of international conferences have provided ample opportunities to global players in the hydrocarbon industry to interact and deliberate on various issues," he said.
The focus of the global meet is to promote cooperation among petroleum producing and consuming countries through interaction and sharing of developments in the upstream exploration and petroleum downstream sectors.
Ahead of the meet's formal inauguration, three important sessions on progress in quests by countries to tap gas hydrates undersea, deepwater exploration and production, and Indo-Russian hydrocarbon cooperation would be held.
Said Subir Raha, chairman and managing director of ONGC and chairman of the Petrotech steering committee: "In the quest for new sources of energy, gas hydrates is an important step in which we are moving toward a pilot stage."
Discussions will be held on various aspects of the energy sector, including non-conventional gas sources with participation from Canada, Malaysia, the UAE, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the US, Britain, Switzerland and Norway.
Showcasing the present Indian oil and gas scenario with an eye on the future, Petrotech will see first-time participation from France, Senegal, Serbia, Poland and Israel.
The energy minister from Ecuador, where India is seeking stake in an exploration block, is also expected to attend the mega petroleum event.
Top executives of 229 companies, including 32 from overseas, will be present at the event that will see 432 research papers being presented by Indian experts and 119 papers by overseas experts.
A concurrent exhibition, a buyer-seller meet and a retail track have also been organised in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Confederation of Indian Industry.
The meet is organised by the Petrotech Society, a non-profit organisation of the oil and gas industry, under the aegis of the Indian petroleum ministry.
To be attended by over 2,500 delegates, including 275 foreign experts, the conference will see a special interactive session between academicians and industry.
It will also kick-start India's roadshow to invite bids for the fifth round of exploration blocks being offered under the new exploration licensing policy (NELP).
Source: IANS
Source: IANS