India's crude, gas consumption up but output fell in last 10 years: Report

India is second biggest growth driver of primary energy consumption in the world, behind China.

India’s crude oil and natural gas production declined in the past decade even though consumption increased by 60 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively, shows BP Statistical Review.
 

The recently released report cited that growth in global energy markets slowed in 2019 in line with weaker economic growth. Oil reserves in India dropped from 5,000 million barrels (mb) in 1999 to 4,700 mb in 2019. The annual oil production fell from 38 million tonne (mt) in 2009 to 37.5 mt in 2019, the report showed. This is even after touching a high of 42.5 mt in 2013.
 

Oil consumption simultaneously rose by 60 per cent from 3.29 million barrels a day in 2009 to 5.27 million barrels per day in 2019. Among the products, the majority of the growth came from methane and LPG, where the consumption rose 118 per cent from 470,000 barrels a day in 2009 to 1.02 million barrels in 2019. 
 

For natural gas, the reserves increased from 0.6 trillion cubic metre (tcm) in 1999 to 1.3 tcm in 2019. Despite a push from the government to increase the share of natural gas in the energy basket to 15 per cent, its production declined 25 per cent from 36.1 billion cubic metre (bcm) in 2009 to 26.9 bcm in 2019, the BP data showed. On the other hand, consumption during the past 10 years rose 22 per cent from 49.1 bcm in 2009 to 59.7 bcm in 2019. 

 

“With new production coming from KG-basin, production is expected to increase as infrastructure. On the crude side, we should focus on taking equity in overseas producing blocks,” said Debasish Mishra, partner at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

 

Based on a forecast by the International Energy Agency, India is set to see an estimated 28 billion cubic meter (bcm) per year increase in total consumption during 2019-25, owing to a combination of supportive government policies and improved liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pipeline infrastructure. According to IEA, India’s LNG imports may increase by 16 bcm annually and reach 48 bcm by the end of 2025.
 

The BP report indicated that India was the second biggest growth driver of primary energy consumption in the world, behind China, in 2019. This was despite a drop in demand in oil and coal. World coal consumption fell by 0.6 per cent, its fourth decline in six years, displaced by natural gas and renewables, particularly in the power sector. As a result, coal’s share in the energy mix fell to 27 per cent, its lowest level in 16 years. Growth in India, usually a key driver of coal consumption, was only 0.3 per cent, its lowest since 2001.