Twelve small oilfields lying idle for years would trigger off a rolling of about Rs 4000 crores in Assam’s economy apart from adding to the country’s oil output in the next few years once handed over to private bidders, Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, said in Guwahati on Saturday. Pradhan, who was speaking at an interactive session with about 200 potential bidders for the 12 small oilfields of the state, also dismissed fears that handing over these oilfields to private parties would reduce job opportunities to the local youth. [related-post] Watch Video: What's making news The 12 Assam oilfields are among 67 such small oilfields across the country that have been put up for bidders under ‘Discovered Small Fields Bid Round – 2016’ by the government. These oilfields together are estimated to hold in-place oil and oil equivalent volumes of 86 million metric tons, he said. “These 12 oilfields, which have a resource potential worth Rs 17,000 crore, would not only help roll about Rs 4,000 crore in Assam’s economy, but also create jobs and add to the state’s revenue from oil royalty,” Pradhan said amid protests by Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) against handing over these fields to private parties. Police in fact resorted to caning to disperse about 400 protestors who had raised slogans outside the hotel where petroleum minister Pradhan was engaged in an interactive session with the potential bidders. The protestors raised a protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Petroleum Minister Pradhan and Assam's newly elected Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal for allegedly going back on their promises made during the recent Assam assembly elections. “The BJP had promised to protect the land and resources of the people of Assam during the elections. But within just one month of it coming to power (in Assam) it has put up 12 oilfields for sale to private companies,” Akhil Gogoi, president of KMSS alleged. While Gogoi’s supporters raised slogans accusing Modi, Sonowal and the BJP of allegedly betraying the people, police resorted to caning the protestors and arrested many of them. Minister Pradhan said India’s energy requirement was increasing at a very rapid rate and the country had recently emerged as the third largest consumer of oil in the world. “Around 79 per cent of India’s demand for oil and 42 per cent of its demand for gas is met by imports. Prime Minister Modi has envisioned a target of reducing import dependency on oil and gas by 10 per cent by 2022. The current bid round aims to augment the domestic oil and gas production in the country,” Pradhan said. Saturday’s event in Guwahati saw the participation of industry leaders several top companies including GeoEnpro, Nippon Power, Eagle Offshore, Jubilant, HOEC, GEECL, Jaybee Energy, SKG Global, Cheval Developers, KEI-RSOS, PFH Capital Advisors, Nityam Resources, Siddharth Enterprises, ONGC, OIL, BPCL, BPRL, NRL, AIDC, and ICC.
