Lok Sabha Question No. 4429 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-27
Subject: Pace of Exploration Activities
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Shri Ramvir Singh Bidhuri

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4429

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 27 th March, 2025

## Pace of Exploration Activities

- † 4429: SHRI RAMVIR SINGH BIDHURI:

## पेट Ō ोिलयम और Ůाक ृ ितक गैस मंũी

Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS be pleased to state :

- (a)  whether  the  Government  is  taking  any  measures  to  accelerate  the  pace  of  exploration activities, if so, the details thereof; and
- (b)  the  importance  of  the  exploration  and  production  sector  in  achieving  energy  selfsufficiency and sustaining economic growth?

## ANSWER

## पेĚोͧलयम और Ĥाक ृ Ǔतक गैस मंğालय मɅ राÏयमंğी ( Įी सुरेश गोपी )

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (SHRI SURESH GOPI)

- (a)  &  (b):    The  Government  has  undertaken  various  policy  and  technological  initiatives  to enable National Oil Companies (NOC) and other operators to discover new potential sources of crude oil and natural gas. These, inter-alia, include:
- i. Policy  for  Relaxations,  Extensions  and  Clarifications  under  PSC  regime  for early monetization of hydrocarbon discoveries, 2014.
- ii. Discovered Small Field Policy, 2015.
- iii. Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), 2016.
- iv. Policy for Extension of PSCs, 2016 and 2017.
- v. Policy for early monetization of Coal Bed Methane, 2017.
- vi. Setting up of National Data Repository, 2017.
- vii. Appraisal of Un-appraised areas in Sedimentary Basins under National Seismic Programme, 2017.
- viii. Policy to Promote & Incentivize Enhanced Recovery Methods for Oil & Gas, 2018.
- ix. Policy Framework for exploration and exploitation of Unconventional Hydrocarbons under Existing Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs), Coal Bed Methane (CBM) Contracts and Nomination Fields, 2018.
- x. Natural Gas Marketing Reforms, 2020.
- xi. Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), 2019 facilitating lower Royalty  Rates, zero Revenue  Share  (till  Windfall Gain)  and  no  drilling commitment in OALP Blocks under Category II and III basins to attract bidders.
- xii. Release  of  about  1  Million  Sq.  Km.  (SKM)  'No-Go'  area  in  offshore  which were blocked for exploration for decades in 2022.
- xiii. Government is also spending about Rs.7500 Cr. for acquisition of seismic data in onland and offshore areas and drilling of stratigraphic wells to make quality data  of  Indian  Sedimentary  Basins  available  to  bidders.  Government  has approved acquisition of additional 2D Seismic data of 20,000 LKM in onland and 30,000 LKM in offshore beyond Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of India.
- xiv. New  technologies  like  Airborne  Gravity  Gradiometry  and  Gravity  Magnetic Survey, Passive Seismic Tomography (PST), Low- Frequency Passive Seismic (LFPS)  Surveys  have  been  implemented  to  acquire  high  quality  data  for processing and interpretation.

Exploration and Production (E&P) activities contribute to reducing the country's dependence on imported oil and gas through various mechanisms. The production of crude oil has been 29.36 Million Metric Tonne (MMT) during 2023-24 and currently about 53% of gas (36.43 Billion Cubic Meter) is being domestically produced by E&P companies.

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