British Petroleum (BP) is working with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to set up an electric vehicle charging infrastructure in India, said Bernard Looney, BP’s chief executive officer.

Speaking on the sidelines of the B20 India 2023 Summit, Looney told reporters that charging infrastructure will be critical for India not only to reach the net-zero goal by 2070 but also to reach the goal of energy independence by 2047.

“If we can convert two-wheelers and three-wheelers and, over time, passenger cars to electric vehicles, I think that will be of enormous importance for the country,” he added.

BP’s CEO said the company is also investing in compressed natural gas (CNG) through venture investments in companies like BluSmart.

On the upstream segment, Looney said the start of gas production from the MJ field by Reliance and BP now accounts for a third of domestic gas production in India.

“We are currently producing about one BCF (billion cubic feet) of natural gas per day, which is about a third of India’s domestic gas production today,” he said.

“And I expect that we will do more in India in the years to come. Our partnership with Reliance is probably one of our most successful partnerships,” added Looney.

The head of the British oil and gas giant said the energy transition must be quick and orderly. Looney explained that by “properly” he meant investing in both the current energy system and the energy transition.

“If we don’t do that, we’re seeing an example of what can happen. Because of the war, we lost 3% of the world’s gas supply. The result was that gas prices went up sevenfold, not 7% ​​or 70%, but 700%. And that’s obviously affecting people because it means they’re spending more of their disposable income on energy. That’s not good,” he said.

He added that over the past year, governments around the world have also had to switch to cheaper energy sources such as coal.

Looney said BP now allocates 30 percent of its capital to the energy transition, compared to 3 percent in 2019. He added that BP expects that share to rise to 40 percent by mid-decade and by the end of the decade will rise to 50 percent.

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