The need for hydrocarbon focus

Countries across the world have realised that the transition from dirty fuels to clean energy is not a neat, linear path but a bumpy journey with plenty of rough patches and sudden diversions.

- PROSENJIT DATIA

While they invest heavily in new, clean energy capacities, their dependence on older, "dirty" fuels is not going to go away anytime soon.

This is particularly true for India. It is the fastestgrowing big economy but it has a long way to go before it can be considered a developed (or more accurately, a high-income country), and its energy needs are growing exponentially. Over the next few decades, as it adds rapidly to its solar and wind capacities, and builds up a clean energy storage ecosystem (https:// mybs.in/ 2dWXEjg?1719845918), it will also find its demand for dirty fuels like coal (https://mybs.in/ 2cK1pQD?1719846001) and hydrocarbons (crude and natural gas) increasing at a rapid pace.

In oil, India is already the thirdlargest importer and consumer in the world, and the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that India's demand for hydrocarbons (oil and gas) will keep rising rapidly until 2050, though coal demand may come down by then. Given that India imports over 80 per cent of its oil requirements and 50 per cent of its natural gas requirements currently, this leaves the country and its economy particularly vulnerable to any disruptions in the market. What is worse is that oil production in the country is falling because of ageing wells, which are yielding less crude than before. Over the next few years, oil production in India is likely to fall further unless new fields are discovered and production starts from these.