On April 15, Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Pure Gasoline, mentioned “The Indian hydrocarbon sector is coming 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 Subject (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 power eco-system aligned with the imaginative and prescient of Viksit Bharat. Sure, Indian hydrocarbon area has seen shift in coverage with altering occasions, however the outcomes re but to seen.
That India has not seen one other huge 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 presently reliant on imports for 88 per cent of its crude oil and 50 per cent of its pure fuel wants, and that the urgency for home exploration and manufacturing has by no means been better. The Minister reiterated, “Within the subsequent twenty years, 25 per cent of the world’s incremental power demand development 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 worldwide power giants like BG, ENI, and Santos. “We had been decided to unlock India’s untapped power potential, estimated at roughly 42 billion tonnes of oil and oil equal of fuel,” he added.
The Minister’s confidence stems from the reforms launched by the federal government — the amended Oilfields (Regulation and Improvement) 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 direction of inclusive governance and authorized readability, the Minister additionally launched the draft PNG Guidelines Public Session Portal, encouraging business 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 recent 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.
A number of the key parts 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, enormous monetary penalty for, and never imprisonment, for Violation of Act/Guidelines amongst others.
The draft guidelines stipulate the norms that can 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 rivalry 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 knowledge.
Whereas many nuances have been picked up from the present manufacturing sharing contracts (PSCs), there’s nothing a lot within the draft guidelines in regards to the function of Directorate Normal of Hydrocarbons. Does this imply “downsizing” or will the whole lot be centralised beneath Ministry for Petroleum & Pure Gasoline, critics query.
Are also the draft guidelines substituting the contractual framework, as there’s an excessive amount of detailing and takes away the pliability in administering the contracts. Lastly, these proposals within the draft guidelines give a possibility to the federal government to take away a few of the open provisions resembling 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? Probably not, as a result of the draft guidelines proposals do tackle a few of the current ache factors resembling migration and knowledge sharing.
Govt initiatives
However coverage consistency has been the hallmark. . Minister of State in Ministry of Petroleum and Pure Gasoline 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 fuel manufacturing, which embody:
(i) Coverage beneath PSC regime for early monetization of hydrocarbon discoveries, 2014.
(ii) Found Small Subject 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 Gasoline, 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 Gasoline Advertising Reforms, 2020.
(xii) Decrease Royalty Charges, Zero Income Share (until Windfall Acquire) and no drilling dedication in Part-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 also 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 accessible to bidders.
Clearly, persistently coverage construction has been refined, however the issue once more lies in execution, which is a legacy subject. The problem for Puri and his crew shall be to make sure clean implementation of the reforms.
Revealed on April 21, 2025
