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Our Bureau

New Delhi , Dec. 16

THE Petroleum Minister, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, on Friday made a presentation before the Energy Coordination Committee headed by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on the crude oil production scenario and the sticky issue of pricing and subsidy of petroleum products, particularly liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene.

According to sources, presentations were made on the subjects but no formal decision was taken.

The Ministry also said that an expert group, headed by Dr C. Rangarajan, had already been constituted to determine prices and suggest options as it involved various factors, including the Government's role.

Indications are that one of the suggestions likely to be made by the Ministry was for dual pricing for LPG and kerosene.

The Petroleum Ministry had recently called a meeting of the State representatives to discuss the issue of dual pricing for LPG and kerosene with different rates for below the poverty line (BPL) and above poverty line (APL) consumers.

The Petroleum Ministry, according to sources, in its presentation has expressed concern over the rising gap between domestic crude oil production and demand despite several discoveries of oil and gas under the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP) regime.

The Ministry has been expressing concern that crude oil production from the main producer of the country — ONGC Ltd — is expected to decline to around 19 million tonnes from over 26 million tonnes from the existing oil fields in next five years even after making massive investment to increase the production level.

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