In order to reach net zero emissions by 2040, Oil India Ltd. (OIL) chairman and managing director Ranjit Rath announced on Thursday that the state-owned corporation wants to invest Rs.25,000 crore in renewable energy.
The corporation has made the decision to invest in projects to end flaring as well as green hydrogen, solar, geothermal energy, 2G ethanol plants, compressed biogas facilities, and carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS).
The oil firm will invest 8,000 crores of the 25,000 crores in the construction of the 2G ethanol plant. The expense of switching all of its diesel-fired engines to petrol engines is also included in the investment. By compressing and pushing the gas to the city gas distributors (CGD) network, the company intends to reduce gas flaring in line with the government’s objective to increase the share of gas in India’s energy mix from 6.2% to 15%.
Gas will be sent to Duliajan in Assam by an 80-kilometer pipeline from Arunachal Pradesh, where it would then be passed into the northeast gas grid and ultimately the national gas grid. OIL has formed collaborative ventures to build solar power facilities. Together with Assam, it is constructing a 620 megawatt (MW) solar capacity, and with Himachal Pradesh, it is constructing a 150 MW solar facility.
The corporation has set a target of producing 4 MMT of crude oil and 5 BCM of natural gas by the fiscal year 2024–2025 after recording its highest-ever oil and gas production in FY23 at 3.18 MMT and 3.18 BCM, respectively.
According to Rath, the company’s capex for FY23 was Rs.5,500 crore. Due to expansion at NRL, it has budgeted capex of Rs.7,500 crore on a standalone basis and Rs.14,000 crore on a consolidated basis. Rath stated that about the repatriation of dividends from Russian assets, the company is assessing legal possibilities, talking with banks, and looking into options to purchase Russian oil with the stranded income.
