India’s budget offers gas exploration incentives
Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented this year’s budget on Monday. (PA)
India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the third budget of his government on 29 February. Although expenditure cuts were announced for the oil and gas sector – which is dominated by government-owned companies – Jaitley also introduced critical policy changes with regards to gas pricing and oil taxation, which are expected to encourage exploration.
Jaitley announced calibrated gas-pricing freedom for companies such as Reliance Industries – which produces gas from KG-D6, India’s largest gas block – and state-owned oil and gas behemoth Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC). No timeline was given for the policy’s implementation, but the new pricing will be applied to new discoveries only.