We will import more oil

India’s dependency on oil imports is likely increase to about 85% by 2012 from the current level of 70%, driven by the rising demand for energy, industry body Assocham said on 16 August.

This despite “refining capacity in India poised to increase by 58% to touch 235 million tonnes in the next five years... in view of the growing demand for energy with little resources at its disposal for harnessing alternative sources,” the chamber said in a statement.

A chamber paper on ‘Future Imperatives of Crude Oil Scenario’ shows that India’s dependence on crude oil import would rise, as domestic discoveries have not been taking place, to touch the level of 12-13% compared to 7-8% at present.
Even in case of the alternative sources of energy, which is available in abundance in India, their harnessing is again becoming a problem, the statement added.
It said even projects that are likely to be commissioned during 11th plan by companies such as Reliance Petroleum, Indian Oil Corporation, HPCL and BPCL would employ higher imports of crude oil, if domestic crude oil production continues to languish.

However, the chamber is of the view that the higher crude oil imports would not impact the trade deficit adversely as most of the addition in the new capacities are aimed at exporting value added products.

During financial year 2005, India exports of petroleum products recorded a growth of 96%, while in 2006, petroleum, oil and lubricant worth $11.5 billion were exported, registering a growth of 65%.