Upstream oil sector to get $100 bn investment by 2030

India’s exploration and production sector will need $100 billion investments by 2030, said oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said highlighting that the government’s focus is on strengthening the domestic production of oil and gas while reducing dependency on imports.

The minister acknowledged that the government’s efforts in the past at increasing production have fallen short.

The minister said that despite the country’s substantial progress, much of the exploration and production potential still lies untapped within 26 sedimentary basins. “I find it strange that India is so heavily reliant on oil imports despite the abundant geological resources available to us.”

The country’s sedimentary basins currently hold about 651.8 million tonnes of crude oil and 1,138.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas. India imports 85% of its crude oil requirements.

So far, the country’s upstream sector companies have explored only 10% of the sedimentary basin. The government is now aiming to increase the explored area to 16% by the end of 2024 after the end of upcoming rounds of bids under Open Acreage Licensing Program.

The government also intends to increase the country’s exploration acreage to 1 million square kilometers by 2030.

In the first 8 bid rounds, the government has awarded a total of 144 blocks covering approximately 244,007 sq. km. of area.

Since its inception in 2015, the  Discovered Small Field (DSF) Policy has attracted investments of around $2 billion and brought in 29 new players in the field.

Puri said that an investment of Rs. 7,500 crores is going into the acquisition of new seismic data, including that of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), financing stratigraphic wells, and acquiring aerial survey data for difficult terrains

He also announced formation of a Joint Working Group (JWG), comprising representatives from private E&P operators, the national oil companies, petroleum ministry, and Directorate General of Hydrocarbons to examine issues relating to the ease of doing business in E&P segment, adequacy of policies and procedures, and the need for their revision. The group will submit its recommendations within eight weeks.