The three-day mega international event ‘GEO India 2022 - the 5th South Asian Geosciences Conference and Exhibition’ was inaugurated with great enthusiasm and high spirit on 14 October 2022 at the JECC, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. The biennial event, being organized by APG India, was inaugurated by the Chief Guest and Hon’ble Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri.

The guest of honours Secretary Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Pankaj Jain, Director General-DGH S C L Das, MD Oil India Limited Dr Ranjit Rath, were accompanied by Chief-Patron APG & CMD ONGC Dr R K Srivastava, President-APG S N Chitnis, and Vice-President APG Dr Ravi Misra on the dais to grace the occasion.

Hon’ble Petroleum Minister and dignitaries on the dais

The chief guest inaugurated the event by lighting the lamp of wisdom to mark the beginning of knowledge sharing and also released program e-book of GEO India 2022 on this occasion.

Lamp lighting ceremony and release of program e-book by the Hon’ble Petroleum Minister

CMD ONGC Dr R K Srivastava welcomed the participants to this momentous occasion.  He highlighted how APG has grown in size & stature since its inception in 1998 and the platform it provides for confluence of national and international experts. GEO India 2022 will have a host of international experts who will showcase their cutting edge technologies, collaborate and cooperate to solve the emerging issues highlighted in this year’s theme. Additionally, house was informed about various pre-conference activities held to further enhance the knowledge of the professionals. 200 technical presentations, and more than 50 exhibitors from multiple domains of the energy sector are participating in this mega event. Stressing upon the importance and aptness of the theme “fossil fuels, decarbonization and changing energy dynamic”, the conference is capturing the challenges and opportunities hidden beneath for the energy industry to excel. Highlighting the role of digital technologies and AI,  he said E&P Industry is a knowledge driven venture hence their full utilisation is the need of hour to achieve the reserve targets and Net Zero ambitions. Commenting on the global value of automation in Oil and Gas which is projected to reach 42 billion dollars by 2030. He summed up with “in exploration coming together is a beginning, staying together is a process, and working together is a success”, and platforms like GEOIndia will help shape the energy agenda of the nation.

Chief Patron APG & CMD ONGC Dr. R K Srivastava addressing the house

Addressing the gathering, Secretary MoPNG Pankaj Jain said,  “What should be the shape of the production to meet the ever growing energy demand?”. He highlighted various government initiatives such as opening up 230,000 SKM of unexplored areas especially in Deep-Ultra deep and shallow water. He urged the geoscientific community to replicate the success story of onshore areas to these newer geographies. Stressing upon E&P being a responsible industry, it should encompass entire gamut of activities in a sustainable manner without comprising energy needs of the nation. In conclusion, he said  “we have the capabilities, but just a certain churn is required to become the very best”.

Secretary MoPNG unravelling the current expectations of the government

The prestigious lifetime achievement award was awarded to S V Rao, former Director (Exploration), ONGC for the outstanding contribution to the petroleum industry, in general and nation as a whole. Mr Rao thanked the APG team for the recognition and devoted it to peers, colleagues, friends and family. He shared his journey from field geologist to data interpretation. Encouraging the geoscientists to explore the new areas, he quoted poet Dushyant Kumar, “Mere seene mein na sahi, tere seene mein sahi kahi bhi ho aag jalani chahiye”.

Hon’ble Petroleum Minister felicitating S V Rao with APG’s prestigious lifetime achievement award

Hon’ble Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep S Puri, addressing a packed house of Geoscientists, said “The best is yet to come and energy sector will need more experts”. Citing the interest of global players in the Indian basins he emphasised on the potential that India holds in the E&P sector. He said that the theme of the conference beautifully captures the need for transition to clean, green and sustainable energy while facing the associated challenges.

Hon’ble Minister addressing the gathering

Hon’ble minister while citing his recent interaction with the Secretary (Energy) USA share  that the initiatives of Government of India for green energy are being recognized globally. Highlighting the green initiatives, the minister said that under ethanol blending programme (EBP) 10.5% have been achieved, and will soon reach 20% by 2024-25.

In the context of the present energy scenario the Hon’ble Minister said “Greening is necessary but not at the cost of compromising energy demands”. Enumerating the initiatives taken by the Govt. of India in providing fillip to the E&P activities, the minister listed “reduction of No-go areas by 99.6%, opening up new 9.1 Lakh SKM areas for exploration,  creation of NDR 9 Petabytes of geological data for free of cost visualization, and drilling of stratagraphic wells at the expense of the govt”.  The minister concluded by saying that the government is determined and is ready to “Walk the Talk” and work in a collaborative, interactive & fully understanding manner with all the stake holders.

Chief Patron felicitating Hon’ble Petroleum Minister and dignitaries with exotic Zeolite crystals

At the end, vote of thanks was offered by the President-APG India S N Chitnis. He thanked Petroleum Minister for consenting to inaugurate GEO India 2022 which will play the role as a consolidator of segregated ideas to achieve the PM’s vision of energy security, availability,  accessibility and affordability. He also thanked Secretary MoPNG for being a source of intellectual guidance to experts and  DG-DGH for being the facilitator and pillar of support. He thanked MD, OIL for his esteemed presence and CMD, ONGC for the stewardship and guidance. S V Rao who had come in person to receive the award as well as all the silent contributors from various disciplines were also thanked.

Vote of thanks offered by President APG Shri S N Chitnis

He ended his vote-of-thanks with a big announcement that MD OIL Dr. Ranjit Rath has agreed to host the next edition i.e. GEO India 2024.

GEO India 2022 is expecting to see over 1500 geoscientists and 600 delegates from all over the world including the USA, Norway, and European Union to discuss the issues and share their experiences in the carefully chartered plenary session, three panel discussions and over 200 technical deliberations.