Govt forms joint working group to enhance oil and gas production: Puri

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri has said, the government intends to increase country’s exploration acreage to one million square kilometre by 2030 under exploration and production activities. He said, the open acreage licensing policy has increased the exploration and production growth. The Union Minister was addressing a gathering during an event – ‘Urja Varta’ organised by Directorate General of Hydrocarbon in New Delhi on Thursday. He added that the government is spending heavily on promoting data driven exploration. Puri said, an investment of Rs7,500 crore is being done on the acquisition of new seismic data including that of area of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for Hydrocarbon Exploration and Development.He said the exploration and production (E&P) sector is integral in the journey towards energy self-sufficiency, which is critical for sustained economic growth."E&P offers investment opportunities worth USD 100 billion by 2030," he said.

Did you know the full potential of India's 26 sedimentary basins still remain untapped? We have over 651.8 million metric tonnes of crude oil and 1138.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas waiting to be explored. Under leadership of PM Modi, we are committed to making India the…

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) July 11, 2024

The Petroleum Minister said, currently only 10 per cent of Indian Sedimentary Basin Area is under active exploration. He said, however, with the initiatives of Government, more areas will come under exploration and it is estimated that after award of blocks under forthcoming bidding rounds, about 16 per cent area will come under exploration by end of year 2024.Puri announced that Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) has formed a joint working group (JWG), with officials from E&P sector, national oil companies and Government, in a bid to enhance oil and gas production as well as to attract investments.“It will examine issues relating to the ease of doing business in exploration and production (E&P), adequacy of policies and procedures, and the need for their revision. It will submit its recommendations within eight weeks,” he added.