He was the first Director General of Hydrocarbons in the Ministry of Petroleum & He has 46 years of experience of working in Oil & Gas Sector both in India & in many countries abroad. Natural Gas (MOPNG) for 11 years at the level of Special Secretary to Government of India .He worked with all the important Oil Sector Agencies in India like ONGC , OIL , OIDB , OCC ,Energy Division of Planning Commission and with Foreign Oil Companies abroad. He was on the Boards of different National Oil Companies for more than 11 years between 1992 to 2003 viz , Oil India Limited , ONGC-VIDESH Ltd , Lubrizol India Ltd . , Engineers India Ltd ( EIL) & Oil Industry Development Board ( OIDB ) . He was also on the Boards of Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC ) & Gas Authority of India (GAIL ) as a Special Invitee. His Geological work established for the Ist time Rajasthan as a commercial oil & gas producing Region in 1990 . He was the first person to map all the Deep & Ultra Deep Water areas of the country . Based on his work all Deep Water Blocks in India were awarded between 1999 - 2004. He created a unique record by 2003 as 70 blocks were awarded through Ministry of Petroleum in 4 years ( i.e. 73% of the then acreage of India ) . With this India can double its Oil Production and increase Gas production 4-6 times , in due course. For example, drilling along East Coast , confirmed his Interpretation and led to several , world class discoveries with resources of almost 100 TCF Gas + Crude oil (production potential of gas being 150-300 MMSCMD) This made India as the 5th such Deep Water Producing region in the world . He was the first to introduce the concept of Coalbed Methane in India , and awarded through Ministry 16 Blocks . Thus , making India again 5th such country in the world .CBM Production Potential of India is about 40-50 MMSCMPD . He started India’s National Gas Hydrate Program NGHP & was its first Technical Coordinator. The Govt. of India retained him as “ Chief Consultant “ in Oil Industry Development Board after his retirement . Currently , he is on the Boards of OIDB & EIL , the two Govt. Organisations and also on the Board of a Foreign Oil & Gas Company . He runs his own company as CMD of Petrobiz Private Ltd and is advising on Oil & Gas Blocks in 6 countries besides India .Between 1991 to 2003 he arranged Road Shows on Indian Petroleum Sector on behalf of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas in 8-9 countries , each year .

Dr V K Rao OSD / Advisor Reliance Natural Resourses Limited.   Dr. V. K. Rao has more than four decades of professional experience in all facets of upstream Oil & Gas sector. He has served at Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, Gas Authority of India Limited, Reliance Energy Limited Previously & currently is Advisor (E&P /Gas Business), Reliance Natural Resources Limited.

He has been Head of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) & CBM Rounds in Directorate General of Hydrocarbons under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, covering five rounds of NELP & CBM rounds.

Dr Rao has proven capability in building Startup Organisational structure for E & P Domain and leading then to successful business ventures.

Dr. Rao has been on several overseas assignments for Oil field Development, Data evaluation, Project Assignments & as a Team Member of High Level Delegation for Road Show Presentations. He has been the key note Speaker in many Seminars/Conferences.

Dr. Rao is a Board Member of American Biographical Institute, Raleigh, USA; Board Member, Research Council, Andhra University; Listed Biography in “Reference Asia Book” and in “Indo-France Directory of Scholars”

He has authored more than 20 technical Publications in various national & international Journals. Recently,Dr Rao has authored a Reference Book on “Oil & Gas Exploration and Production in India:2009” which has evoked keen response from the Industry.

Dr Rabi Bastia Sr Vice President Head of Exploration Assets in Reliance Industries Ltd   Dr. Rabi Bastia, is a well known exploration and management leader in the Hydrocarbon Industry. He obtained his Masters degree in Petroleum Exploration from Norwegian Technological University, Norway and a Doctoral degree in Geology from IIT, Kharagpur. He has been serving the Indian petroleum industry for about 3 decades in different capacities with distinction.

Dr. Bastia’s contribution in exploring for hydrocarbons in the deep water regions of India is commendable. He has provided a high level of leadership in directing and implementing several major exploration programmes in the deepwater regions of the east coast of India which have resulted in major hydrocarbon discoveries. The gas discovery in the Krishna-Godavari basin is the world’s largest find of the year 2002. The discovery in the Mahanadi offshore is another tribute to his foresight, particularly due to the fact that this discovery was preceded by a long spell of unsuccessful exploration by previous operators. Dr. Bastia’s approach in development of new concepts coupled with several technological innovations has added a new dimension to the Indian Hydrocarbon scenario and earned India a place of pride in the deep water map of the world.

In recognition to this outstanding contribution in the field of Science and Engineering the Government of India has conferred him the “Padma Shree”, one of India’s highest civilan awards in the year 2007.In the same year, he has also been awarded The “ Bharat Gaurav” from the state of Orissa, another landmark achievement and very recently the “Infraline Service to Nation Award in Energy Excellence”. He has also been conferred with “Who’s Who in the World” in the year 2008, in recognition to his outstanding professional excellence in the field of petroleum.

Besides his industry assignments, he is also actively pursuing some research projects in the field of oil exploration with Stanford University, USA, University of Utah, USA and Norwegian Technological University, Norway. He is currently teaching a course in “Petroleum Exploration” as Adjunct Professor in IIT, Bombay. He has written a book titled “Geologic Settings and Petroleum Systems of India’s East Coast Offshore Basins: Concepts and Applications”.

Mr U C Grover Director, Technical & Offshore Services Shipping Corporation of India   Topic : Logistic support -- a challenge, bridging the gap   Shri Umesh C. Grover started his sea career after graduating from DMET, Kolkata in November 1971 with The Shipping Corporation of India as a Shipboard Engineer. After sea-career of 14 years, he joined the

shore services of SCI in March 1987. In 1991, he was deputed to Irano Hind Shipping as Director Technical & returned in 1994.

From 1994 to 1997, he handled Technical Operations of Bulk carriers & Dry cargo fleet. In 1997 he was given a commercial assignment in Container Services & Marketing Dept. and as GM (Container Services & Marketing) he was in charge of network of global container services operated by the SCI.

Shri Grover was appointed as the Director, Technical & Offshore Services Division by the Govt. of India on 01.04.2006. He and his team is responsible for planning and implementing the SCI’s ship acquisition programme involving new & second acquisitions, shipbuilding, ship disposal. He is also in charge of all Offshore activities of SCI and providing technical consultancy to various Government and Scientific & Research bodies. Also in charge of Information Technology Dept. and responsible for implementation of information technology in SCI.

He has vast experience of ship management (both technical & commercial), marketing, liner conferences/bilateral matters, maritime training & implementation of ISM Code.