Report on Sustainability practices in Oil and Gas Industry

In todays world, Oil and Gas accounts for a large percentage of the worlds energy consumption. The industry forms the backbone of many economies in the world. Oil accounted for the 30 percent of Indias total energy consumption in 2011-12. But this overdependence on oil has extremely damaging effects during production, distribution, and use on the environment. The combustion of fossil fuels produces greenhouse gases and other air pollutants as by-products, pollutants include NOx, SOx, volatile organic compounds and heavy metals. Some of the major environmental catastrophic of recent times can be listed as follows: A) Kuwait War: During the Gulf war in 1990-91, Iraqi forces set fire to 789 individual Kuwaiti oil wells, unleashing an irrevocable environmental and ecological damage. B) BP oil spill: The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which released approx. 5 million barrels of crude oil for three months starting April 2010 caused huge damage to the marine and wildlife habitat. C) Jaipur Oil Depot Fire: The fire at IOCLs depot in October 2009 cost 12 people their lives, besides leaving behind it huge environment degradation caused while burning petroleum products over a week. Oil companies across the world are feeling the need for diversification and in our case, for realizing the vision of achieving the energy security for India (as Market is dominated by PSUs), these companies have taken many initiatives to diversify their energy portfolio and improve the energy access to the poor. Following are some of the sustainability practices started by the industry: Investment in renewable energy: the leading oil companies in India have undertaken various initiatives in tapping non-conventional energy sources like bio-diesel, bio-ethanol, wind energy, solar energy and Nuclear energy. Bio Diesel: BPCL has launched Bio diesel value chain project in Uttar Pradesh. The company has identified about 1 lakh acres of waste /arid land out of which 3122 acres of Jatropha plantation has been done across the State. BPCL is also in discussion with the State Governments of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka to set up Bio-Diesel Value Chains in these states. Wind energy: Indian Oil has set up a 21 MW wind power project in Gujarat which has been operational since Jan 2009. The project has been registered as a CDM project in May 2011.the second wind power project of 48 MW in Andhra Pradesh is under implementation. Methane reduction: As a part of its sustainable development strategy, ONGC pioneered carbon management and works on the Global Methane Initiatives (GMI). As a result, it has reduced about 0.62 million cubic meters of methane from its installations, which is equivalent to reducing 8900 tons of CO2 emission into the atmosphere. Nuclear Energy: Indian Oil has set up a JV company with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. to put up a 2 X 700 MW nuclear power plant at

Rawatbhata, Rajasthan with Pressurized Heavy Water Based Reactor (PHWR) technology. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2017 Solar Energy (Grid): Indian Oil has won the competitive bid to install a 5 MW solar power project in Rajasthan under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission Phase I Batch I. The solar power project was commissioned in January 2012. Investment in Coal Bed Methane and shale gas: unlike other natural gases, coalbed methane (or sweet gas) contains very little heavier hydrocarbons. Hence ONGC is currently operating in five Coal Bed Methane blocks. Secondly, it is increasingly believed that commercial production of gas from shale (fine grained rocks) will increase the availability of gas, which is inherently less GHG intensive as compared to coal and crude oil. For the first time in India, ONGC has started working on a pilot project near Durgapur, West Bengal. Establishment of PCRA: Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) is an independent body that carries energy audits and creates awareness among masses about oil conservation. As one of its prime objective, it supports and facilitates Research, Development and Deployment efforts for adoption and dissemination of fuel efficient technologies and substitution of petroleum products with alternate fuels, and renewable. IOCLs Kisan Seva Kendras: with the goal of energy inclusion in mind, IOC has created the Renewable Energy & Sustainable Development group at the corporate level in 2010. IOC uses Kisan Seva Kendras to provide fuel and non-fuel services to the rural market. By partnering with GoI on schemes such as Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitaran Yogana and through KSKs, IOC has distributed over 30,000 solar lanterns during 2010-11. Investment in R&D: To consistently follow the current trends of technological advancement, companies such as BPCL leverage the R&D capabilities to provide newer and better formulations to the existing portfolio of products. It has filed two Indian and two foreign patent applications for achieving higher engine performance of 4stroke 2 wheelers, farm equipment and creating synthetic high temperature industrial lubricants.

As petroleum is a non-renewable natural resource, the industry is faced with an inevitable eventual depletion of the worlds oil supply, which places the burden on oil companies to diversify its product portfolio and employ the best technologies to produce low emission products to become sustainable and competitive. With changing focus on long-term profitability while ensuring energy inclusiveness, these companies have recognized that a societys economic goals are intricately intervened with its social and economic goals. Most of these initiatives often make business sense.

Submitted by:

Name: Dipak Shamrao Haridas Roll no. : G12079 (Sec. B) XLRI - GMP (2012-13)