``We have started with pricing reforms...by initiating from April 1...(the process) of moving towards market determined pricing'' the minister said, adding that the policy reforms should give ``clear and unambiguous signals for new investments.'' Ramamurthy's inaugural address at the SPE India Oil and Gas Conference is the first clear-cut commitment to the liberalisation package approved by the previous government.

The petroleum minister has in the past, gone on record as saying that he would take a fresh look at the time-table for phasing out subsidies on popular petroleum products like kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). On Tuesday, he was quite categorical that the new government would certainly not reconsider the policy decision to allow greater private sector investment inoil and gas.

``In the upstream sector (in exploration and production of oil), we would speed up necessary action for encouraging private participation both Indian and foreign,'' Ramamurthy said in his inaugural address at the three-day conference of exploration and production companies and their technology suppliers. Private sector participation in oil exploration and production is now restricted to unincorporated joint ventures with the two national oil companies, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Limited (OIL).

The NELP, which will allow unrestricted private sector investment in oil exploration and production, is pending in the absence of a tax code for the petroleum industry. A tax code devised during the tenure of the United Front government is awaiting a nod from the finance ministry.

``India is an under-explored country and exploration activities need to be increased significantly,'' Ramamurthy said, adding that the ``policy regime would aim at encouraging'' more investmentin upstream activities. Both the minister and the petroleum secretary Prabir Sengupta emphasised the need to increase oil production from both discovered fields and ``new reserves quickly.''

Ramamurthy pointed out that the anticipated 8 per cent growth in demand for petroleum products would mean an annual demand for 110million tonne of petroleum products by the year 2002 and 150 million tonne by 2007. The domestic consumption of petroleum and oil lubricants now is roughly 80 million tonne a year.

``The mandate is quite clear,'' the minister said, ``We not only have to discover and develop new resources but also optimise and enhance the rate of recoveries from out of our existing oil and gas fields.'' The three-day technical brainstorming has been organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

The US-based club of exploration and production (E & P) companies is holding a conference for the first time in India. The conference is sponsored by both the petroleum and natural gas ministry and theAmerican Association of Petroleum Geologists.