CM urges to conserve oil

Dimapur, Jan. 17: Chief minister TR Zeliang has appreciated the Petroleum Conservation Research Association under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India, along with Public Sector Oil & Gas companies are organising a month-long campaign on oil conservation throughout the country to create awareness on the need to conserve oil and natural gas. Despite measures being adopted to increase usage of new and renewable energy sources, Zeliang said the demand for petroleum products throughout the country is still growing. As our country has a huge deficit in crude oil production, he said we import nearly 80% of our crude oil requirement at a whooping cost to the nation’s exchequer. As our country’s import bill is high and always dependent on the rate of global crude oil prices, Zeliang said it has become imperative for the country to devise ways and means of reducing dependence on imported energy. “I am happy to learn that the Government of India has formulated various plans and strategies to enhance availability of proprietary oil and gas both from within and outside the country and that Ethanol Blended Petrol and Jathropa based Bio-Diesel are being promoted to have an impact on consumption of fossil fuels. Alongside these initiatives which are yielding substantial benefits, energy consumption efforts need to be intensified to make the whole country energy efficient,” he added. He urged upon the people of the State to actively participate in this great cause and also adopt certain better practices in our way of lives by inculcating various habits such as working, cycling, sharing of vehicle, used of public transport and avoiding using of motor vehicles unnecessarily and so on and so forth. He further congratulated the entire oil industry for organising the Conservation Awareness Month, and wished them all the very best in their endeavours.