Page 8 - AsiaElec Week 18 2021

AsiaElec GAS-FIRED GENERATION AsiaElec

ONGC downplays restructuring reports

INDIA INDIA’S state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. players in suitably sized Category-II and Catego-
(ONGC) has downplayed reports of government ry-III assets. Fields in Category-II and III basins
pressure on company management to divest are defined as having seen little to no exploration.
some of its assets as part of a wider restructuring Such assets are auctioned using more attractive
effort. bidding terms, with work commitments deter-
Indian newswire PTI reported on April 25 mining the winning bids.
that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas ONGC added that it also has also plans to
had directed the state major to partner with acquire much larger acreage through the Open
private firms in producing oilfields and for- Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP), which was
eign players in its deepwater gas projects in the launched in June 2017 to replace the New Explo-
Krishna-Godavari (KG) Basin. ration Licensing Policy (NELP). OALP seeks
Moreover, the ministry is also understood to boost interest in the country’s upstream by
to have directed ONGC to sell existing infra- offering attractive terms such as reduced royalty
structure while also creating a new company rates and removing an oil tax, while also provid-
to managing drilling and other services. All of ing marketing and pricing freedom, year-round
these efforts combined are reportedly expected bidding and the ability for investors to propose
to help bolster the company’s production in the the borders of blocks they are interested in bid-
long run. ding upon.
ONGC responded on April 28 by rebranding At the same time, however, the state major
its talks with New Delhi over a “potential restruc- also aired some of its grievances around gov-
turing” as the government simply encouraging ernment policy with regard to production from
the company “to play a much larger role in the fields that were either directly awarded to the
context of India’s oil and gas sector”. company or won under NELP.
ONGC said its talks with Ministry of Petro- ONGC said: “Despite uneconomical gas
leum and Natural Gas were nothing new and prices, ONGC has been aggressively pursuing
served to help the company to act as the “ful- its deepwater projects in East Coast and couple
crum” for a thriving oil and gas ecosystem. of shallow-water projects in West Coast.”
The state developer noted that as part of its It added: “There are certain issues around
effort to boost production it had created a sep- structure where decisive steps can be evaluated
arate gas business, was trying to augment its only once the industry is completely under [the]
renewables portfolio and was also looking at GST regime.”
strategic relationships with key international ONGC has consistently lobbied for higher gas
players through ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL). prices, arguing that the current structure does
The company wants to partner with foreign not reflect market realities. ™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 18 05•May•2021