Upstream Ahead Summit 2022

Indian stakeholders, policymakers chalk out steps to increase domestic production of Oil & Gas

New Delhi, April 11, 2022: Highlighting Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, 70+ experts and about 10,000+ global attendees came together at Upstream Ahead Summit 2022 and discussed prompt and courageous steps to reduce India’s import dependency of Oil & Gas. The two-day virtual event was organized by Social Friendly / SFC Asia.

The summit was hosted by the leading oil and gas companies including ONGC, Oil India, Cairn Oil & Gas, Vedanta Ltd, MRPL and Kiri Energy besides speakers and participants from all over the globe. This time the theme was Towards Vision 2050: Unleashing Hydrocarbon Potential in Indian Sedimentary Basins.

“I am happy to learn that the ‘Upstream Ahead’ Summit is back for its second edition in 2022, and promises to be bigger, better and even more impactful for India’s exciting upstream sector. It is a significant step towards highlighting India’s energy story. This summit will provide all relevant stakeholders with a forum to discuss the prevalent challenges faced by the E&P operators and to unite to pave a successful way forward. This conference has enormous potential to lay the foundation for dialogue toward a solution-driven for achieving our collective dream of an energy­ independent India by 2047,” read the message of Shri Hardeep S Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India.

The Upstream Ahead 2022 summit are divided into three categories – Spotlight Sessions, Future Forward Sessions and High Density Discussions. In Spotlight Sessions, the discussions will be on flagging prevalent challenges faced by the E&P operators, Indian and global, and coming up with solutions to pave a successful way forward. Whereas, in Future Forward Sessions, there will be a highlight on Indian Oil & Gas Sector through a global lens, discussing the long-term way forward. And, as the name suggests, the High Density Discussions will have round-table meeting for having a focused approach at raising the most pressing issues faced by the CEOs and Leaders of major organizations, and then engaging in powerful discussion to address each of those.

“It’s our top priority that we work for the betterment of the areas, where hydrocarbons are found and implement new ways through which Oil & Gas discovery can flourish. Upstream Ahead is one of the most important events in the E&P sector of India. This summit provides a platform to all the stakeholders to have a discussion and come up with the solutions. Keeping in mind the coronavirus pandemic and the current crisis in the oil and gas sector, the industry should also make some changes in their strategies so that they can get adapted with the changing times,” said Shri Rameswar Teli, Minister of State, MoPNG.

This year there are some interesting sessions such as Accelerated Exploration for Unleashing the Hydrocarbon Potential in Mature and Frontier Basins, Exploration and Production of Unconventional Hydrocarbons in Indian Basins, Expeditious Monetization of Discovered Fields – Lessons Learnt, Maximizing Recovery Factor in Producing fields, Making India an Attractive Investment Destination, Facilitating a Future-Ready Workforce, Strengthening the E&P Service Sector in India with a Focus on Indigenization, Leveraging Digital Technologies in the E&P Industry for Operational Excellence, ESG and Sustainability Lenses for Indian Energy Landscape and Evolving Global Energy Outlook.

Shri Amar Nath, IAS, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, who was one of the key speakers at the inaugural session, said a special impetus should be given on our current resources.

“The importance for energy security in India has increased a lot & we have to focus on our resources if we have to develop our economy. Upstream Ahead is an event driven by the people & there lies its force,” he added.

Speaking at the Evolving Energy Outlook session, Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad has clearly stated that fossil fuels are not going to extinct in the coming years.

“I am very clear in my mind that fossil-fuels will be here for the next 30-40 years to come,” he added.

The first edition of the summit was a grand success and was attended by over 6000 participants from all over the world, including Indian and Foreign universities. The 60+ speakers in the summit were CMDs, CEOs, Directors and Experts from ONGC, OIL, Vedanta Ltd., British Petroleum, Shell, ExxonMobil, DGH, MoPNG and the Oil & Gas industry. Looking at the impact of the summit, AS(Exploration), MoPNG had advised to form a Monitoring Committee under the summit to come out with a comprehensive report charting out the way forward for the oil and gas industry, towards Vision 2050.