India’s newly appointed Petroleum Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, plans to boost domestic production of oil and gas and increase the role of natural gas in the country’s energy mix as India works toward a $5-trillion economy. Puri, who takes over Dharmendra Pradhan, said in a statement carried by Business Standard : “As we transform towards a $5-trillion economy, energy availability and consumption will be of paramount importance. My focus will be on increasing domestic production of crudeand natural gas.” The new Petroleum Minister also vowed to increase natural gas’ share in the energy mix to 15 percent by 2030 as he works “towards development of a natural gas-based economy”. Since 2015, India’s domestic crude oil production has fallen from 35.5 million tons to just over 29 million tons in 2020-2021 due to ageing oilfields and, more recently, the pandemic lockdown. India is struggling with record-high prices. High crude oil […]