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LS passes Oilfields Bill; govt has no intention of privatising oil sector, says minister

The Lok Sabha today passed the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill 1998.

The bill seeks to replace the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Ordinance 1998 promulgated by the president on September 3, 1998.

Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Santosh Kumar Gangwar said the bill was meant to encourage exploration of oil and natural gas in the country.

It was also meant to approve the government's New Exploration Licencing Policy providing 12.5 per cent royalty for crude for inland areas and 10 per cent for offshore areas.

Under NELP, royalty would be paid at different rates depending on the location of the area and depth of the sea waters, he said.

He said the amendment was necessitated because of the government's decision to dismantle the administered pricing mechanism in respect to indigenous crude oil and petroleum products in phased manner commencing from April 1, 1998.

The amended act confers upon the government the powers to notify more than one rate of royalty in respect of the same mineral oil produced from different class of leased area besides vesting it with powers to grant partial or full expemption of the royalty payment in certain circumstances by notification.

Replying to the debate on the bill, the minister said as many as 6000 new LPG dealerships had already been advertised and 50 interview boards had been constituted for the purpose.The result of the interviews would be made public within 24 hours, he said.

The backlog of 12.7 million consumers, waiting for cooking gas connections in the country will be cleared within three years, he assured.

Earlier in the day, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister K Ramamurthy informed the Lok Sabha that the government has no intention of privatising any of the oil sector companies including Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India Limited.

''I say here on behalf of the government that it has no intention of privatising any of the oil companies,'' Ramamurthy said in an intervention during a discussion on the bill.

Moving the bill in the house, the minister said that demand had overtaken indigenous production and the country was dependent on imports to the extent of 54 per cent for crude and other petroleum products.

At the conclusion of the debate, Ramamurthy said the country had identified 48 blocks for oil exploration and invited the foreign capital alongwith advanced technology for the purpose.

The country had received a good response from the multinational companies and some of them had already made offers, he said adding that the government was ready for private and joint ventures in the oil exploration sector.

The minister informed the house that half of Rs 180 billion bond furnished on dues of oil pool account had already been redeemed.

Some Opposition members were apprehensive that there was scope for misuse of the bill as it gives too much authority to the executive.

Satyapal Jain of the Bharatiya Janata Party supported the bill and observed that there was no scope for misuse.

He said that the measure would give a boost to exploration of oil and natural gas in the country.

T R Balu of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, who was the petroleum minister in the United Front government, gave details of the seismic surveys conducted during his tenure and said huge deposits had been identified in the Andamans and several other areas.

UNI

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