Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily on Friday said petroleum ministers are threatened by import lobbies not to cut India’s oil imports. However, he refused to name anyone who may have threatened the ministers.
Instead he said, “History will speak about it. It’s for you to judge,” he said, adding that oil imports will rise dramatically if domestic production is not incentivised through right pricing policy.
Moily has been under attack from CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta for proposing to hike natural gas prices by 60 per cent. Moily said he has been striving to attract investments in the almost stagnant oil and gas exploration, which will lead to higher domestic output and lesser reliance on imports — an attempt that will help the government ease its burden of rising twin deficits — current and fiscal.
“This increase in oil imports will work to the detriment of the country. We are challenged by the vagaries of international price,” he said.
In a bid to revive investor confidence, a revision of natural gas prices has been on the cards. The move could also help attract investments in the oil and natural gas sector.
“For the last 4-5 years, investor sentiment is not that high... We have to give right price, otherwise nobody will come. One well in the ultra deepsea may sometime cost millions of dollars,” he said.
Moily said he has proposed to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) the raising of domestic gas prices from the current $4.2 per million British Thermal Unit (BTU) to $6.775.
Moily said he will not be cowed down by any lobby and said, “ If anybody thinks that decision-making process in the oil sector will be prevented they are totally wrong.”