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WORLD OIL & GAS ASSEMBLY IN HYDERABAD
WHO SAYS THERE IS NO OIL?
By M H Ahsan
HYDERABAD: The world's most powerful oilman visited Hyderabad and urged India to increase its search for oil and gas. Recently, Hyderabad residents were in for a surprise. The Falaknuma Palace, once home to the Nizams, was bedecked as if the royals were back to running the state. But the event was special as the world' s richest businessman, Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani, hosted a dinner in honour of the delegates visiting, what was arguably the continent's best oil and gas show, the World Oil & Gas Assembly (WOGA).
No one questioned how Ambani' s personal staff turned the palace into a veritable fairyland and why the city' s airport was choc-a-bloc with private jets. Despite this being its third edition in as many years, WOGA remains an event exclusive to its high-profile delegates. Joining the senior Ambani in Hyderabad, the gateway to the hydrocarbon-rich Krishna-Godavari basin, was, among others, the world' s most powerful oil magnate, Saudi Aramco president and CEO Abdallah S. Jum'ah — described by The Financial Times as the one man on whom the future of global prosperity rests — and Gholamrezza Manouchehri, CEO of Petropars, the biggest producer of gas in Iran.
There were others — ONGC chairman RS Sharma, India' s Petroleum Secretary MS Srinivasan, Indian Oil chairman Sarthak Behuria and Director General-Hydrocarbons VK Sibal. And that the show remained out of bounds not for the media but for the country' s politicians — regular at global economic events — was indeed surprising. It seemed, for a change, the participants wanted to talk business.
The Ambani dinner and an afternoon laser show in a makeshift hangar of Taj Krishna by gizmo geeks from Australia flown especially by British Petroleum were the lighter elements of the conference. At the show, Jum' ah discounted the prevalent theory that global oil and gas production had peaked and supplies were dwindling worldwide. ' There is no alternative to oil and gas at this point of time. But the world has enoughsupplies for another 200 years,” the Saudi Aramco president told delegates in his keynote address.
Many say the global thirst for oil - fuelled by Beijing and New Delhi' s ever-increasing consumption patterns impacting the current daily 85 million barrels — could hit the ceiling by 2012. Those in attendance took this as his hint at the recent debate on whether or not bio-fuels were an ideal alternative to global hydrocarbon supplies. Farmers worldwide are divided on the issue, especially because such cultivation dries up ground moisture levels inordinately fast.
Jum'ah, who is delivering increases in Saudi Arabia' s oil production that consuming nations — India included — are counting on, should know. The Saudi kingpin received ample support from Ambani who urged Indian companies to seek oil and gasfields across the world for both exploration and production. ' India needs to put more focus on securing oil and gas for its economy.
That is the best way forward for Indian companies in the current global environment. India' s energy security is absolutely essential to its economic security,” added Ambani, also the WOGA chairperson. Indian hydrocarbon companies have often drawn flak for not having the expertise for deep sea drilling, a reason why many have not ventured into the hydrocarbonrich Bay of Bengal.
JP Morgan' s managing director (energy and natural resources) Ivor Orchard agreed. In his address that drew interesting parallels in the energy business between New Delhi and Beijing, Orchard highlighted the need for a proper legal and environmental framework saying it was essential for seeking the right kind of energy investments.
Also in tune with the mood was ONGC' s Sharma, who said his own company would soon be seeking tie-ups with state-owned oil and gas companies, which make up nearly 90 percent of the world' s supplies. ' We are increasingly heading that way and will seek more such tie-ups to boost production and supplies,” said Sharma, setting the tone for the two-day conference and also as a message to the heads of other state-owned Indian companies attending the show.
ONGC, India' s largest exploration company, is in advanced stages of negotiations for exploration and production joint ventures with Petrobaras of Brazil, ENI of Italy and StatOil of Norway. In fact, Manouchehri — in his address — made an instant offer, saying Petropars would be keen to seek such mutually beneficial co-operation with Indian oil and gas companies. ' Regional co-operation with Iran is the best answer to ensure regional security.” No one took that as a political statement, especially participants from India that has few reserves and imports 70 percent of its crude at a bill at a whopping Rs 250,000 crore.
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