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According to a latest report by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) with its rising energy needs, India has emerged as the fourth largest energy consumer of the world after the US, China and Russia.
In its latest report (for 2011) on energy outlook for India released here yesterday, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) stated that although India is the fourth largest energy consumer in the world its per capita energy consumption remains lower than that of developed countries.
According to the report, India was the fourth largest consumer of oil and petroleum products in the world in 2011, after the US, China, and Japan. Of this consumption it depends heavily on imported crude oil, mostly from West Asia, and had 5.5 billion barrels of proved oil reserves at the end of 2012, mostly in the western part of the country. A major reason for the import was attributed to the fact that domestic production has stagnated in recent years, and Indian national oil companies are increasingly purchasing equity stakes in overseas oil fields.
Indian government promotes the country's refining sector, and India became a net exporter of petroleum products in 2001 and has several world-class refineries in Jamnagar, and the refining industry is largely privately owned.
Natural gas, according to the report, serves as a substitute for coal for electricity generation in India.The country began importing liquefied natural gas from Qatar in 2004 and increasingly relies on imports to meet domestic natural gas needs.
India at the end of 2012 had 43.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, mostly located offshore. The two biggest of the oil companies also happen to be state-owned oil companies, ONGC and Oil India, which dominate the country's upstream gas sector. India also became the world's sixth largest liquefied natural gas importer in 2011 and Indian companies have begun investing in new regasification facilities to meet rising demand.
Not a surprise that coal remaines as the country's primary source of energy as it has the world's fifth largest coal reserves and the power sector makes up for majority of the coal consumption in the country. The State retains a near-monopoly on the coal sector as well.
At present India has 211 gigawatts of installed electricity capacity, mostly in coal-powered plants. However because of insufficient fuel supply, the country suffers from a severe shortage of electricity generation, leading to rolling blackouts, the report said.
The report also stated that as some parts of the energy sector, such as coal production, remain relatively closed to private and foreign investment, the Indian government may not be able to deliver secure supplies to meet demand because of fuel subsidies, increasing import dependency, and inconsistent energy sector reform.
