Govt to form JWG comprising PSUs, private companies to review India’s E&P policies: Puri

New Delhi: Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri announced the formation of a Joint Working Group (JWG) which will review E&P policies and will suggest revisions to enhance ease of doing business. Puri said, “I am glad to announce the formation of a Joint Working Group (JWG), comprising representatives from private E&P operators, the National Oil Companies, MoPNG, and DGH. It will examine issues relating to the ease of doing business in E&P, adequacy of policies and procedures, and the need for their revision. It will submit its recommendations within eight weeks.”

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Addressing the inaugural session of Urja Varta 2024, organised by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) on Thursday, Puri stressed the need to increase exploration and enhance domestic production to reduce the country’s import dependency and tap into the available oil and gas reserves.

India’s E&P sector offers investment opportunities worth USD 100 bn by 2030

The Exploration and Production (E&P) sector offers investment opportunities worth USD 100 billion by 2030, said Puri. Despite our substantial progress, the minister said, “Only 10 percent of our sedimentary basin area is under exploration today. After the award of blocks under the forthcoming Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) rounds, it will increase to 16 percent by end-2024.” He added that India intends to increase its exploration acreage to 1 million square km by 2030 and the focus should pivot towards discovering yet-to-find resources.

Investment of Rs 7,500 cr going into acquisition of new seismic data: Puri

Highlighting the focus of the government on promoting scientific data-driven exploration, Puri said that an investment of Rs 7,500 crores is going into the acquisition of new seismic data, including that of the EEZ, financing stratigraphic wells, and acquiring aerial survey data for difficult terrains. “We now have geo-scientific data for the Kerala–Konkan basin and the Mumbai offshore basin on the West coast, and the Mahanadi and the Andaman basins on the East coast,” he said. He also referred to the upgradation of the National Data repository to a cloud-based NDR by DGH. It will enable instant dissemination of seismic, well and production data, he said.

Talking about the efforts of the government to ensure Ease of Doing Business in the E&P sector, he noted, “We have consolidated and simplified 37 approval processes into 18, with 9 processes now eligible for self-certification. However, we recognise the need to push these reforms further.” “We must explore the feasibility of expanding self-certification across additional processes,” the minister continued. He said, “Reducing delays in the approval of field development plans, annual plans, and other regulatory permissions is crucial, especially as our nation’s import dependency continues to rise.”

New department within DGH launched

On the oaccasion, Puri launched a new department within DGH — Centre for Hydrocarbon Efficiency & New Energy (CHENE). This department will focus on briging in efficiency in hydrocarbon operations through CCUS technologies and will monitor flaring, venting and leakages in oil and gas operations. It also aims to develop projects which integrate new geological energy sources such as geothermal and natural hydrogen into the existing E&P operations.

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