NEW DELHI: Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday made it clear that the government would not give statutory powers to upstream oil and gas regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). The minister pointed out that the sector has not fully developed yet and needs government assistance.
Pradhan was speaking at a FICCI seminar in New Delhi on Thursday. The minister added that it was not right to put jargons like statutory regulator for the sector.
DGH is the technical arm of the oil ministry and also acts as a regulator of the upstream sector. At present, it is charged with responsibilities such as implementation of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), matters concerning the Production Sharing Contracts for discovered fields and exploration blocks, and opening up of new unexplored areas for future exploration, among others.
However, DGH does not have the power to recruit personnel for its working and depends mainly on the borrowed workforce from state oil companies such as ONGC and OIL. Various committees in the past have recommended that DGH be given more independence.
In another development, Pradhan said that the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) would start auctioning gas distribution licences this month as a means to raise the share of gas in the country’s energy mix from 6.5 per cent to 15 per cent. PNGRB has already given away gas distribution licences for about 80 cities.