The reputation of Indian technical institutes is spreading far and wide. For the first time, Chevron Corp of the US, one of the largest global energy companies, will be recruiting from Indian institutes for its global operations.

The company was in talks with the Indian Institutes of Technology (Kanpur and Madras), said Jeet S Bindra, president, Chevron Global Refining. He was talking on the sidelines of CHEMCON 2007 organised by the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE).

Chevron currently recruits from countries such as the UK, South Africa and Brazil. The company employs 58,000 people across 180 countries.

The San Francisco-based company conducts business across the entire energy spectrum, including exploration, production, transportation of crude oil and natural gas together with refining, marketing and distribution of fuel and other energy products and services.

Chevron plans to recruit nearly 6,000 persons globally next year, said Bindra.

"We are planning to integrate our ability to process unconventional sources of hydrocarbons into high-value products, as well as work more strongly on developing alternative sources of energy without contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. We will recruit professionals including chemical engineers," he added.

Chevron was the world's largest producer of alternative energy and had invested $2 billion in developing energy transformation technology as well as geo-thermal sources of energy in the last two years, Bindra said. It plans to invest another $2.5 billion for the same in the next two years.

The demand for crude oil is expected to rise from 84 million barrels per day (mbd) in 2005 to 116 mbd in 2030, growing at the rate of 1.5 per cent per year.

"While hydrocarbon-based fuels will continue to dominate for the next 20-25 years, it is necessary to do more than just keep up," said Bindra. Therefore, developing alternative sources of energy was important, he added.

Capital spending of $4.1 billion in 2008 is budgeted for global downstream operations, including $2.3 billion for projects in the US. The rest will be spent on international operations.

Bindra refused to divulge any specific details of the company's India plans. The company has a liaison office here.

Chevron has a 5 per cent stake in Reliance Petroleum [Get Quote], and has signed a memorandum of understanding with the company that will allow Chevron to explore the possibility of collaborating across the entire value chain from exploration, production, movement of crude oil and natural gas, refining and distribution, marketing potential bio-fuels technology centered establishments.

India's turn

• For the first time, the US giant is seeking hands for its global operations from Indian institutes
• San Francisco-based company conducts business across the entire energy spectrum, including exploration, and production
• Chevron currently recruits from countries such as the UK, South Africa and Brazil. The company plans to recruit nearly 6,000 persons globally next year