On April 15, Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Pure Fuel, mentioned “The Indian hydrocarbon sector is getting into a brand new period of accelerated exploration and growth.” He mentioned this whereas addressing the Open Acreage Licensing Coverage (OALP) Spherical-IX and Particular Found Small Discipline (DSF) Signing Ceremony.
He highlighted that by way of investor-friendly reforms, swift approvals, scientific exploration, and a robust emphasis on sustainability, India is steadily constructing a resilient and future-ready vitality eco-system aligned with the imaginative and prescient of Viksit Bharat. Sure, Indian hydrocarbon area has seen shift in coverage with altering instances, however the outcomes re but to seen.
That India has not seen one other large discovery is an matter of one other debate. However there’s a consistency in coverage reforms, however execution is the ache level.
Puri had additionally identified that India is at the moment reliant on imports for 88 per cent of its crude oil and 50 per cent of its pure gasoline wants, and that the urgency for home exploration and manufacturing has by no means been higher. The Minister reiterated, “Within the subsequent 20 years, 25 per cent of the world’s incremental vitality demand progress will come from India.”
Reflecting on the previous, he mentioned Indian upstream sector between 2006 and 2016 went by way of a “boring decade” marred by coverage paralysis and procedural delays, resulting in the exit of world vitality giants like BG, ENI, and Santos. “We had been decided to unlock India’s untapped vitality potential, estimated at roughly 42 billion tonnes of oil and oil equal of gasoline,” he added.
The Minister’s confidence stems from the reforms launched by the federal government — the amended Oilfields (Regulation and Growth) Act, 1948 (ORDA), which got here into impact from April 15. Terming it as a “landmark reform”, he had mentioned that it modernises India’s upstream regulatory framework and aligns it with worldwide greatest practices.
In search of suggestions
In a transfer in the direction of inclusive governance and authorized readability, the Minister additionally launched the draft PNG Guidelines Public Session Portal, encouraging trade and public stakeholders to share suggestions. These guidelines will assist form future Mannequin Income Sharing Contracts and streamline sectoral laws, he had mentioned.
Whereas guidelines are wanted for the implementation of latest legal guidelines and amendments, guidelines for his or her execution should even be clearly outlined.
The draft Guidelines Portal is to facilitate the identical for ORDA amendments.
Among the key components that had been a part of the ORDA amendments embody — change in mineral oil definition, substitute of mining lease with petroleum lease, additional readability on knowledge sharing, big monetary penalty for, and never imprisonment, for Violation of Act/Guidelines amongst others.
The draft guidelines stipulate the norms that may guarantee no hindrance in mineral oil operation. It additionally clearly defines the phrases for petroleum lease and explains intimately how how migration points stay to be the bone of competition between two key gamers Reliance Industries and ONGC.
The draft guidelines additionally discuss situations beneath which a lease could be cancelled and extension of rights beneath current contract, lease or license to conduct all mineral oil operations. It additionally talks about central repository and aggregation of information.
Whereas many nuances have been picked up from the prevailing manufacturing sharing contracts (PSCs), there’s nothing a lot within the draft guidelines in regards to the position of Directorate Common of Hydrocarbons. Does this imply “downsizing” or will all the things be centralised beneath Ministry for Petroleum & Pure Fuel, critics query.
Are also the draft guidelines substituting the contractual framework, as there may be an excessive amount of detailing and takes away the flexibleness in administering the contracts. Lastly, these proposals within the draft guidelines give a chance to the federal government to take away among the open provisions akin to phrases of extension in leases on identical phrases. It nonetheless leaves it open for the federal government to barter modifications. So is the federal government transferring again to having a conventional framework? Not likely, as a result of the draft guidelines proposals do tackle among the current ache factors akin to migration and knowledge sharing.
Govt initiatives
However coverage consistency has been the hallmark. . Minister of State in Ministry of Petroleum and Pure Fuel Suresh Gopi had knowledgeable Rajya Sabha on March 24 in regards to the varied steps the federal government has been taking to spice up home oil and gasoline manufacturing, which embody:
(i) Coverage beneath PSC regime for early monetization of hydrocarbon discoveries, 2014.
(ii) Found Small Discipline Coverage, 2015.
(iii) Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Coverage (HELP), 2016.
(iv) Coverage for Extension of PSCs, 2016 and 2017.
(v) Coverage for early monetization of Coal Mattress Methane, 2017.
(vi) Establishing of Nationwide Information Repository, 2017.
(vii) Appraisal of Un-appraised areas in Sedimentary Basins beneath Nationwide Seismic Programme, 2017.
(viii) Coverage framework for extension of PSCs for Found Fields and Exploration Blocks beneath Pre-New Exploration Licensing Coverage (Pre-NELP), 2016 and 2017.
(ix) Coverage to Promote and Incentivize Enhanced Restoration Strategies for Oil and Fuel, 2018.
(x) Coverage Framework for exploration and exploitation of Unconventional Hydrocarbons beneath Current Manufacturing Sharing Contracts (PSCs), Coal Mattress Methane (CBM) Contracts and Nomination Fields, 2018.
(xi) Pure Fuel Advertising and marketing Reforms, 2020.
(xii) Decrease Royalty Charges, Zero Income Share (until Windfall Achieve) and no drilling dedication in Section-I in OALP Blocks beneath Class II and III basins to draw bidders.
(xiii) Launch of about 1 million sq. km. (SKM) ‘No-Go’ space in offshore which had been blocked for exploration for many years.
(xiv) Authorities can be spending about ₹7,500 crore for acquisition of seismic knowledge in onland and offshore areas and drilling of stratigraphic wells to make high quality knowledge of Indian Sedimentary Basins out there to bidders.
Clearly, persistently coverage construction has been refined, however the issue once more lies in execution, which is a legacy concern. The problem for Puri and his workforce shall be to make sure easy implementation of the reforms.
Printed on April 21, 2025