Proposed law on oilfields won’t take away states’ rights: Govt in LS

New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) A bill seeking to amend the existing law governing exploration and production of oil and gas, and delink petroleum operations from mining operations to boost investment in the sector, was tabled in Lok Sabha on Wednesday with the government asserting that it will not take away the rights of the states or give preferential treatment to private or public entities in the oil sector.

The Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, 2024, was passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 3 last year.

While moving the bill for consideration and passage in Lok Sabha, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the proposed law does not alter the existing level-playing field for both public and private sectors.

“The oil bill aims to resolve one of the biggest grievances of global oil companies interested in investing in India by providing stability in operation, both in terms of tenure of the lease and the condition. The bill also does not alter the rights of the states, which will continue to give petroleum leases and receive royalties as before.

“The bill also does not alter the existing level-playing field and offers no preference to either the private or the public sector,” Puri said.

The bill aims to decriminalise some of the provisions of the original Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act, 1948, by introducing “penalties, adjudication by an adjudicating authority and appeal as against the order of adjudicating authority”, he said.

The bill proposes to introduce ‘petroleum lease’ and expands the definition of mineral oils to include crude oil, natural gas, petroleum, condensate, coal bed methane, oil shale, shale gas, shale oil, tight gas, tight oil and gas hydrate, with a view to raising domestic output and cutting reliance on imports, he said.

Initiating a debate on the bill, Congress MP Manish Tewari said the draft law “lacks vision and roadmap”.

Referring to oil imports, Tewari claimed that India was not “future ready”.

“What is required is a roadmap to make India energy sufficient, which unfortunately is completely missing. What is the government planning to do to encourage independent oil explorers? Is there anything in the bill that incentivises them,” the Congress MP asked.

“As far as the bill is concerned, it makes minor changes here and there but a vision is missing… You’re not a government that was sworn in yesterday, but 11 years ago,” Tewari said.