DGH overhauls oilfield approval processes, cuts down paperwork

In a major overhaul, DGH has made it easier for firms to explore and produce oil and gas in the country by limiting the requirement of statutory approvals to only extension of contracts, sale of stake and annual accounts while allowing self-certification and deemed approval for the rest.

The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), the government's technical arm overseeing upstream oil and gas production, said procedures and processes for oil and gas blocks awarded under nine bids round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) and pre-NELP blocks are being simplified and standardised. While state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) produce two-third of India's oil and gas from blocks or areas given to them on a nomination basis, the remaining output is from pre-NELP and NELP blocks.

The pre-NELP blocks include Panna/Mukta and Tapti oil and gas fields in western offshore and Ravva field in the KG basin. But the biggest of oil and gas discoveries outside of the nomination acreage have happened in the blocks awarded under NELP since 2000. These include Reliance Industries Ltd's eastern offshore KG-D6 block and NEC-25. ONGC too has significant finds in NELP blocks. "Ease of doing business is one of the key focus areas of the government in Exploration and Production (E&P) sector with the objective to increase investment and production. Simplification and standardisation of procedures and processes make the system transparent and efficient," DGH said an order dated July 12.In a major overhaul, DGH has made it easier for firms to explore and produce oil and gas in the country by limiting the requirement of statutory approvals to only extension of contracts, sale of stake and annual accounts while allowing self-certification and deemed approval for the rest.