Parliament Question: Domestic exploration, production and energy security

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1094 ANSWERED ON 09/02/2026 DOMESTIC EXPLORATION, PRODUCTION AND ENERGY SECURITY 1094 SHRI KESRIDEVSINH JHALA:

SMT. REKHA SHARMA:

SHRI MITHLESH KUMAR:

SHRI NARHARI AMIN:

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

(a) the new oil and gas exploration blocks awarded or made operational during the last three years;

(b) the contribution of domestic production for reducing import dependence;

(c) the manner in which domestic crude oil and natural gas production levels have changed during this period;

(d) whether ease-of-doing-business reforms have improved investment response in upstream sectors;

(e) if so, the details thereof; and

(f) the progress made in deepwater and unconventional hydrocarbon exploration? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (SHRI SURESH GOPI)

(a): Government have launched Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) in

2016. Under this policy, Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) was started. During the last three years, 38 exploration blocks under OALP bid Round VIII and IX covering 1,72,912.95 Square Kilometer in the country have been awarded. List of blocks awarded in offshore areas, States and UTs is placed as Annexure I.

(b) & (c): For the Financial Year 2024-25, total import of crude oil was 243 Million Metric Tonne (MMT). The total domestic production of oil was 28.7 MMT and that of gas was 36.1 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM). The entire quantum of crude oil and natural gas produced domestically contributes towards reducing import dependence. The year-wise domestic crude

oil and natural gas production during the last three years is as follows:

FY 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 Crude Oil (MMT) 29.2 29.4 28.7 Gas (BCM) 34.5 36.4 36.1

Source: Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH)

(d) & (e): Government has taken various policy decisions towards ease of doing business which helped in boosting domestic crude oil and natural gas production and reduce dependency onimport of oil and gas which, inter alia, include:

i. Policy under Production Sharing Contract (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. Approval of Un-appraised areas in Sedimentary Basins under National Seismic Programme, 2017;

viii. Policy to Promote/Incentivize Enhanced Recovery Methods of Oil/Gas 2018; ix. Policy for exploration and exploitation of Unconventional Hydrocarbons under Existing Fields, 2018; x. Lower Royalty Rates, Zero Revenue Share (till Windfall Gain) and no drilling commitment in Phase-I in OALP Blocks under Category II and III basins to attract bidders, 2019;

xi. Natural Gas Marketing Reforms, 2020; xii. Release of about 1 Million Sq. Km. (SKM) “No-Go” area in offshore which were earlier blocked for exploration for decades, 2022; xiii. Revised Domestic Price Guidelines were issued in 2023;

xiv. Amendments in the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act, 1948 to promote ease of doing business, contractual stability, operational efficiency and faster dispute resolution, 2025; xv. Notification of Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules, 2025.

(f): Government have undertaken various policy measures for deep-water and unconventional Hydrocarbon exploration which inter-alia include: i. Announcement of National Deepwater Exploration Mission under Samudra Manthan with an objective to augment hydrocarbon resources and reserves and to enable their timely conversion into production.

ii. Appraisal of Un-appraised areas in Sedimentary Basins under National Seismic Programme, 2017. iii. Release of about 1 Million Sq. Km. (SKM) ‘No-Go’ area in offshore which were blocked for exploration for decades in 2022.

iv. Government have 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. v. Hydrocarbon Resource Assessment Study (HRAS 2025) has been launched on

17.07.2025 for resource assessment across all Indian sedimentary basins. vi. As on date, 22 deep water and ultra-deep water exploration blocks have been awarded under various Open Acreages Licensing Policy (OALP) Bid Rounds. Inthese blocks, 8 exploratory wells have been drilled in the Mahanadi, Cauvery, Krishna-Godavari (KG) and Andaman basins. As a result, 3 hydrocarbon discoveries have been notified in Mahanadi and Cauvery basins.

vii. National Gas Hydrate Programme (NGHP) had been launched by the Government for exploration of Gas Hydrate in India. Till date, two major expedition namely NGHP-01 (2006) and NGHP-02 (2015) have been completed.

*******Annexure I Details of blocks awarded under OALP Bid Round VIII and IX Sr No Block Name OALP Bid Round State 1 AS-ONHP-2022/1 VIII Assam 2 CB-ONHP-2022/1 VIII Gujarat 3 KG-UDWHP-2022/1 VIII OFFSHORE 4 MB-OSHP-2022/1 VIII OFFSHORE 5 GK-OSHP-2022/1 VIII OFFSHORE 6 GS-DWHP-2022/1 VIII OFFSHORE 7 MN-UDWHP-2022/1 VIII OFFSHORE 8 BP-OSHP-2022/1 VIII OFFSHORE 9 KK-DWHP-2022/1 VIII OFFSHORE 10 KK-OSHP-2022/1 VIII OFFSHORE 11 CY-UDWHP-2022/1 IX OFFSHORE 12 CY-UDWHP-2022/2 IX OFFSHORE 13 CY-UDWHP-2022/3 IX OFFSHORE 14 CB-ONHP-2022/2 IX Gujarat 15 GS-OSHP-2022/1 IX OFFSHORE 16 GS-OSHP-2022/2 IX OFFSHORE 17 AS-ONHP-2022/2 IX Meghalaya 18 AS-ONHP-2022/3 IX Meghalaya 19 GK-OSHP-2023/1 IX OFFSHORE 20 GS-ONHP-2023/1 IX Gujarat 21 CY-UDWHP-2023/1 IX OFFSHORE 22 GS-UDWHP-2023/1 IX OFFSHORE 23 GS-UDWHP-2023/2 IX OFFSHORE 24 GS-OSHP-2023/1 IX OFFSHORE 25 MB-OSHP-2023/1 IX OFFSHORE 26 CB-OSHP-2023/1 IX OFFSHORE 27 MB-OSHP-2023/2 IX OFFSHORE 28 GS-ONHP-2023/2 IX Gujarat 29 GS-ONHP-2023/3 IX Gujarat 30 CB-OSHP-2023/2 IX Gujarat 31 CB-ONHP-2023/1 IX Gujarat 32 CB-ONHP-2023/2 IX Gujarat 33 CB-ONHP-2023/3 IX Gujarat 34 MN-UDWHP-2023/1 IX OFFSHORE 35 MN-UDWHP-2023/2 IX OFFSHORE 36 KG-UDWHP-2023/1 IX OFFSHORE 37 KG-UDWHP-2023/2 IX OFFSHORE 38 MN-UDWHP-2023/3 IX OFFSHORE ********