Puri seeks foreign, private investments in oil and gas production

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has promised an open-door policy to resolve any issue faced by the industry as he sought foreign and private investments to boost domestic oil and gas production. The government stands ready to partner with you both in the identification of what remedial steps we need to take in the ecosystem and what need to do to overcome hurdles,he said. He was addreing an investor meet called to promote India's latest offering of discovered fields for bidding in New Delhi on Friday.  Puri said India, besides offering the world's fastest-growing energy markets, also offers a rule-based regime.

Puri said the government wants foreign and private firms to get involved in the Indian oil and gas exploration and production. The Indian economy, he said, is poised to take off and the same is going to contribute to the growth of energy demand. And to meet that, domestic exploration and production has to be increased.  Stating that he is very bullish about the Indian economy, the minister said per capita energy consumption in India is one-third of the global average and it will rise as incomes grow and urbanisation rises.Responding to a participant's comment, Puri said dealing with the government was a "dreadful experience" 20 years ago.

As many as 32 oil and gas blocks with 75 discoveries have been offered in the Discovered Small Field (DSF) round-III. These small and marginal fields were discovered by state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) but they were not economically viable to be developed due to the fiscal regime and their small size. Under DSF, liberal terms including pricing and marketing freedom are offered, making them viable.