The importance of natural gas in supplying the world's energy needs continues to grow at a rapid pace. As the Indian economy grows at over 8.5 %, the primary energy growth has been in excess of 6.5 % in the past five years with current energy consumption of 423 mtoe. Indian Natural Gas Market has moved through some very dynamic events over the past few years. Today natural gas forms just 9 % of overall energy mix in India, however it is expected to grow at the expense of other sources of energy.
The average daily gas supply scenario in the country in 2006–07 is in excess of 106 MMSCMD with domestic production accounting for around 83 MMSCMD and the balance being import of LNG. This is set to rise dramatically with major discoveries in the recent past in eastern Offshore. Moreover the potential of future discoveries are huge as only about 20 % of 3.14 million Sq Km of India's sedimentary basin is presently explored.
The gas demand too growing rapidly and is expected to increase to 280 MMSCMD by 2011–12. The Indian market is highly price sensitive, specially the fertilizer and power sectors which account for over two thirds consumption. The gas pricing for public sector companies is regulated by the government for priority area like fertilizers. However ample opportunities exist in the blocks obtained through bidding by operating companies during various rounds of NELP, where market driven pricing is allowed.
Conclusively, the paper focuses to demonstrate the upcoming opportunities in the gas business in India to meet the growing demands in addition to the challenges associated with the opportunities.
Adequate, affordable and sustainable supply of energy is one of the fundamental parameters determining the economic growth of any country. Goals of improving the quality of life of our citizens and national security need energy for their realization. The energy requirements of the Asia Pacific region are rapidly growing. That the bulk of the world's population lives in this region is only a part of the reason for this. A more important reason lies in the rapid economic growth in this part of the world in recent years. India and China alone account for nearly half of the total Asia Pacific energy demand.
Energy supply in India is mainly based on conventional sources namely coal, petroleum, hydroelectricity and atomic energy. India is one of the five largest economies of the world in purchasing power parity terms and is home to about one-sixth of the world's population. It is presently the 5th largest energy consumer and consumes about 3.9% of the world energy consumption. The per capita energy consumption in India is one of the lowest in the world and is estimated to be 0.38 toe as against the global average of 1.29 toe. Although the per-capita energy consumption is very low, it is rising quickly. At the targeted GDP growth rate of 9–10% it is expected grow considerably in the coming years. The future energy supply in India is expected to be dominated by coal with about 50% share, hydel and nuclear is expected to be nearly same, however eminent shift from oil to gas is anticipated.
