Two key developments in India’s gargantuan oil economy caught attention and made headlines over the past week. First, Oil and Gas Minister Hardeep Puri told The New Indian that India may be on the cusp of discovering a game-changing oil reserve in the Andaman Sea — comparable to ExxonMobil’s prolific Guyana discovery of over 11.6 billion barrels. This is certainly significant, given that India’s exploration has largely been soporific for many years now despite claims of some big finds, leading to a stagnant domestic output.The second update came from the International Energy Agency, which said that India will lead global oil demand and add as much as 1 million barrels per day by 2030 on the back of economic expansion. Thus, India’s demand for crude oil is projected to rise steadily from 5.64 million barrels per day to 6.66 million barrels per day. Even as the global oil demand is forecast by IEA to plateau around 105.5 million barrels per day by 2030, India’s crude consumption will continue to move up and is estimated to double from the 2024 levels to 11 million barrels per day by 2045.
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