Lok Sabha passes Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, 2024

New Delhi: The Lower House of Parliament has passed the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, 2024 on Wednesday, paving way for fundamental changes in India’s oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) sector.

“Historic day in India’s quest towards energy security and energy self-sufficiency under the dynamic and firm leadership of PM Sh @narendramodi Ji. Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill 2024 successfully passed in Lok Sabha today! Far-reaching amendments made in the existing legislation will further strengthen and propel India’s energy sector under the leadership of PM Modi Ji, and ensure policy stability, international arbitration, extended lease periods etc,” said Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri in a post on X.

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“The present global energy scenario and the hydrocarbon landscape has dramatically changed. Hence, there was a need to amend the Act to reflect current realities, national priorities, promote Ease of Doing Business (EoDB), decriminalise provisions and align India’s Exploration and Production (E&P) framework with practices of competing geographies,” said Puri on X.

Oilfields (Regulations and Development) Amendment Bill, 2024

The bill seeks to amend existing law governing exploration and production of oil and gas, and delink petroleum operations from mining operations to boost investment in the sector. The ORDA Bill, 2024 was passed by Rajya Sabha in December 2024. The bill aims to decriminalise some of the provisions of the original 1948, the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act, by introducing “penalties, adjudication by an adjudicating authority and appeal as against the order of adjudicating authority.”

“By virtue of the fact that we are going to rely on conventional energy for some time we need to step up our exploration and production activities. Today’s successful passage of the bill will be a constructive and positive step in this direction. Utilisation of energy is a reasonably good indicator of economic performance. Today we are consuming 5.5 Million Barrels of crude oil in a day. Just three-and-a-half years ago, this consumption was 5.0 Million Barrels. If we continue to grow at the rate at which we are, we will go upto 6.5-7.0 Million Barrels Per Day. India’s transformation to being #ViksitBharat will require a large amount of energy in all forms. Steps have been taken to enhance India’s energy exploration and production,” said the Petroleum Minister on X.

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