Govt to table petro regulatory bill in current session

new delhi: a bill to put in place a regulator for the downstream oil refining and marketing sector is expected to be passed in the monsoon session of parliament, petroleum minister ram naik said on wednesday. "we have prepared a draft bill to set up a petroleum regulatory board and it is pending before cabinet for approval. we propose to present the same during the current budget session of parliament and the bill is expected to be passed in july-august when the parliament meets for the monsoon session," naik said at the inauguration of the indo-us conference on natural gas. pending establishment of the regulator, petroleum ministry would work as a regulator to address the issues arising out of deregulation of the petroleum sector from april 1, 2002, he said. "like some other countries, there will be a regulator in place, to ensure level playing field for all the players, and with the ultimae objective of meeting both the consumers as well as investor interest, in a fair and transparent manner," he said. india would require about 368 million tonnes of crude oil and about 142 billion cubic metres of gas per year in 2025, against the persent requirement of about 100 million tonnes of oil and 40 billion cubic metres of gas per day, naik said. "india has recoverable reserves of 658 million tonnes of crude oil and 628 billion cubic metres of natural gas," he said, adding government was aggressively pursuing exploitation of these.