Emphasising on Assam, which is on its way of becoming a major world trading centre in the export of petroleum products to the South East Asian countries, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday inaugurated and dedicated several Oil and  Gas projects by the Oil PSUs in Assam.

Dedicating eight projects in the sector to the nation in Guwahati, Pradhan said "Under Act East Policy, Assam will become an important centre of world trading as it will send petrol and diesel to Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the South East Asian countries".

The minister said that the extraction of more oil in the next five years would augment Assam's economy. Stating that the Northeast has a huge deposit of gas, he said the development of infrastructure is required to be able to tap it.

"Assam is rich in natural resources. We need infrastructure if we want to increase gas production. The oil companies have been asked to contribute to the development of infrastructure," he said.

The eight projects Pradhan dedicated to the nation were upgradation of pump stations of Naharkatiya-Barauni crude oil pipeline, Greenfield, rail fed POL storage terminal at Digboi, capacity augmentation of LPG bottling plant in Silchar, GGS Borhola to Jorhat CTF crude oil trunk pipeline replacement, capacity augmentation of LPG bottling plant in North Guwahati, effluent treatment plant-cum-water injection plant at Lakhmani, mounded LPG storage at Numaligarh Refinery and Swargadeo Chaolung Siu-Ka-Pha Multi Speciality Hospital in Assam's Sivasagar.

Pradhan also announced the commencement of work of the KB Malaviya National Oil Museum at Guwahati. With five galleries, 3-D theatre, outdoor signs etc, it will showcase the rich history and heritage of the petroleum industry in India.