OREANDA-NEWS. December 7, 2011. The ONGC-made India Pavilion drew appreciations from global audience, in the 20th World Petroleum Congress (WPC) being held at Qatar-capital Doha during 4-8 December 2011. Designed and erected on the theme ‘Ahead with India: Partnership in Knowledge and Investment’, the Pavilion showcased the strengths of the Indian petroleum industry to the global audience attending the triennial World Petroleum Congress and Exhibition.

The inauguration of the India pavilion was lit up with a brief cultural programme, opening with VandeMataram with an Indian traditional dance rendition, followed by a Jaya Ho remix. The lively inauguration attracted a large number of visitors to the India pavilion who registered their appreciations for the Pavilion. After inaugurating the Pavilion, the Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Mr.Jaipal Reddy also chaired a brief Press Conference in the India Pavilion where he addressed senior petroleum journalists of the Middle East including Reuters, Gulf Times and CNBC. The Qatar Oil Minister also joined the Press Conference.

The Indian Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas praised the India Pavilion, designed and erected by the Corporate Communications team of ONGC at a short notice. The Pavilion, with an overall Indian thematic design, used state-of-art video monitors to present the strengths of the public enterprises in Indian petroleum industry, all in a movie format. The Pavilion stood out among the other Country Pavilions like Angola, China, Nigeria as well as the corporate Pavilions of the global oil majors like BP, Saudi Aramco, Qatar Petroleum, RasGas, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, CNPC and others.

Later, the Indian Petroleum Minister spoke at the Ministerial Session of the Congress. Highlighting the pressures faced by major oil consumers like India due to rising oil prices due to global uncertainties, Mr. Reddy advocated the need to consider establishing position limits and moving from Over-the-Counter (OTC) transactions to regulated exchanges. Referring to the established strengths of the Indian petroleum companies, the Minister pitched for partnerships with Indian companies for energy security. “India is keen to have more relationships, like the one with Qatar for long-term LNG sourcing”.

The Minister is accompanied by Secretary, Joint Secretary and some senior Ministry officials. The CMDs of HPCL, BPCL, Oil India, GAIL and EIL and MD of PLL along with some of their directors are also attending the 5-day Congress.  

The 20thWorld Petroleum Congress is hosted by Qatar Petroleum and is taking place at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) in Doha, Qatar. Since its establishment in 1933, this is the first time that the World Petroleum Congress is being hosted in the Middle East. It is the largest and most reputable oil and gas industry gathering in the world, with over 5000 delegates, 600 media and 550 presenters. Known as the “Olympian Event of the Oil and Gas Industry”, the Theme of this 20th Congress is ‘Energy Solutions for all – Promoting Cooperation, Innovation and Investment’.