India’s upstream at a crossroads

摘要

India has postponed its latest licensing round as the government considers major policy changes and price reforms to revive flagging upstream interest and stem rising import costs. By relaxing 15-year-old policy rules and easing bureaucracy the government aims to accelerate development of areas awarded under the first nine New Exploration and Licensing Policy (Nelp) rounds, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan says. And it is formulating a new policy for its 10th round. Previously, committees comprising the upstream regulator and oil ministry officials were required to sign off all upstream expenditure and changes to work plans.