The Petroleum Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas M Veerappa Moily has emphasised the need for greater investment in the oil and gas sector.

   He said this while addressing an Assocham Seminar on Indian Economy in the context of global energy scenario.

   The minister said the government was committed to deal with the energy security issues. It is in this context that the gas pricing formula was recently revised based on the recommendations of Rangarajan Committee.

   This, he said, will boost investors’ sentiments in the sector and the exploration is expected to be greatly encouraged by implementation of forward-looking Rangarajan Committee recommendations.

   The minister reiterated that at the current gas price of $4.2 per MMBTU, DGH has been rejecting development plans gas discoveries finding them unviable.

   Moily also said that the investment in the sector on the one hand has been declining in recent years, while the imports have been growing. Therefore, he added, people should understand the necessity of the recent decision.

   He also said that government has taken a number of measures to boost investment and accelerate exploration work. These include allowing exploration work in mining lease area, securing defence clearance to long pending blocks, revision of gas pricing etc. Further, the Minister said, CBM Policy and Shale Gas Policy are being finalised while work on setting up National Data Repository (NDR) has also commenced.