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Raghuvir Srinivasan

New Delhi , Jan. 18

THE Petroleum Minister, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, called himself a "travelling salesman" and certainly made an impressive job of it with his sales pitch for the 20 blocks being offered under the fifth round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP).

The occasion was the first roadshow for NELP V and it was the perfect platform for Mr Aiyar to focus on the hydrocarbon potential of the country. "It has been said in the past that we are a hydrocarbon-poor country. We believe we are a hydrocarbon potential country and possibly even a hydrocarbon-rich country." He backed up his statement by pointing to geological studies that show prognosticated reserves of 225 billion barrels in the sedimentary basins of the country and also the two big finds in recent times of Reliance Industries in the KG basin deepwaters and of Cairn Energy in Rajasthan. Mr Aiyar pointed out that the latest round of offerings was different from past ones in the sense that the process has been streamlined and made simpler. The last date for bidding is May 31.

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