印度石油天然气行业概览：从NELP到HELP及其他

Research India’sOil & Gas Sector–at a Glance? From NELP to HELP and Beyond March 2025 Research India’sOil &Gas Sector–at aGlance? From NELP to HELP and Beyond March 2025 DMS Code: 120090.2 Ranked as the ‘Most Innovative Indian Law Firm’ in the prestigious FT Innovative LawyersAsiaPacific Awards for multiple years. Also ranked amongst the ‘Most Innovative Asia PacificLaw Firm’ in these eliteFinancial Times Innovation rankings. Disclaimer ThisreportisacopyrightofNishithDesaiAssociates.Noreadershouldactonthebasisofanystatementcontainedhereinwithoutseekingprofessionaladvice.Theauthorsandthefirmexpresslydisclaimallandanyliabilitytoanypersonwhohasreadthisreport,orotherwise,inrespectofanything,andofconsequencesofanythingdone,oromittedtobedonebyanysuchperson in reliance upon the contentsof this report. Contact For any help or assistance please email us onconcierge@nishithdesai.comor visit us atwww.nishithdesai.com. Acknowledgements Sach Chabriasach.chabria@nishithdesai.com Morvi Chaturvedimorvi.chaturvedi@nishithdesai.com Aditya Macedoaditya.macedo@nishithdesai.com Palomita Sharmapalomita.sharma@nishithdesai.com Contents Glossary 1 Introduction Industry at a Glance I.Imports in financial year 2023 - 20245II.Export5III.Major Industry Players6 Recent Initiatives by the Government ofIndia7 Foreign Investment 8 I.Legal Framework10II.Regulatory Framework16 The Discovered Small Fields Policy and Bidding Round19 I.Overview19II.Salient Features of Discovered Small Fields Policy20 Hydrocarbon Exploration and LicensingPolicy (HELP)22 I.Overview22II.Uniform License22III.Revenue Sharing Model22IV.Marketing and Pricing Freedom for Crude OilandNaturalGas23V.Open Acreage Policy23VI.Other Changes24 Hydrocarbon Exploration & Licensing Policy (HELP) Open AcreageLicensing Policy (OALP) Bid Round – 1 I.The Bidding Process25 Dispute Resolution30 I.Conciliation and Mediation31II.Arbitration31III.Litigation32 Conclusion34 Glossary Introduction India is one of the fastest growing major economies in the world and the third largest consumerofpetroleumproducts,afterUSandChina.1Althoughthereisanincreasedfocusonincentivisingenergy production through gas and renewables, demand for oil has always been on the rise, andisestimatedtogrowatleastuntil2040.2AsperthereportpublishedbyIndiaBrandEquityFoundation(IBEF),3India’senergydemandisexpectedtonearlydoubleto1,123milliontonnesofoilequivalent(Mtoe)by2045from723.9Mtoein2016.Moreover,India’sshareinglobalprimaryenergy consumption is projected to increase by two-folds by 2045.4 India’scrudeoilimportsincreasedby3.7percentduringthefirstninemonthsofthefiscalyear2024-25, reaching USD 102.5 billion, up from USD 98.8 billion in the same period of the previousfiscalyear.5.AccordingtotheOrganisationofPetroleumExportingCountries(OPEC),India’soil demand in 2024 is projected to be at 5.59 million barrels per day (b/d), up from 5.37 million b/din 2023, resulting in a growth of 4.1%, thereby making it the third-largest oil consuming nationintheworld.Over2024and2025,Indiaaccountsfor25%oftotaloilconsumptiongrowthglobally.Weexpectanincreaseof0.9millionbarrelsperday(b/d)inglobalconsumptionofliquidfuelsin2024.6Indiaisthefourth-largestLiquefiedNaturalGas(LNG)importerafterJapan,SouthKoreaand China, and accounts for approximately 7 percent of the total global trade.7 India’spetroleumproductconsumptionrecordeda3.5%growthduringApril-JanuaryFY2024-25,reaching 199.2 million metric tonnes (MMT), comparedto 192.5 MMT in the same period of thepreviousyear.IndiahasalwaysbeenanimportdependentnationintheOilandNaturalGas(“O&NG”) sector. India’s total consumption of crude oil or petroleum products rose 4.6% in fiscal2023-24 (FY24) to 233.3 million metric tonne (MMT), while domestic production of crude oil rosemarginallyat0.6%.Thedomesticcrudeoilproductionwasalmostunchangedat29.4MMTin2023-24,comparedto29.2MMTinthepreviousyear.India’sdomesticcrudeoilproductionbarelymet12.3%ofitsoilneeds.8Naturalgasproductionhasshownamorepromisingtrend,with an increase in domestic output driven by deepwaterprojects in the Krishna-Godavari basinandthenorth-east.India’snaturalgasproductioninFY25wasestimatedat35billioncubicmeters(BCM)9, which previously stood at 32.249 billion cubic meters in 2017.10 InIndia,theO&NGindustryhashugepotentialandcontributesover15%totheGDP.ThelandscapeintheO&NGsectorpromisestobedynamicwithscopeforgrowthofbusinessentities.This industry has always attracted foreign direct investments, and according to data released bythe Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the petroleum and natural gas sectorattracted FDI worth USD 8,200.84 millionbetween April 2000 and September 2024.11With only10% of the total 3.36 million sq. km of potential reserves being explored as of 2024, India’s poten-tial in the oil and gas sector is immense and there exists vast headroom for new discoveries.12 TherehasalsobeenanincreaseintherefiningofpetroleumproductsinIndia.IBEF’sreportsuggeststhatinfinancialye