The government of India will use revenue-sharing in an open-acreage, exploration and production licensing scheme for which details are beginning to emerge.
Long under development, the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) is to replace the New Exploration Licensing Policy in use since 1999 (OGJ Online, Aug. 28, 2012).
It will open all of India’s sedimentary-basin acreage for domestic and foreign investment. Companies will identify blocks of interest to be included in biannual bid rounds.
The government offered revenue-sharing instead of profit-sharing in a recent auction of development licenses for small oil and gas fields (OGJ Online, Feb. 16, 2017).
At CERAWeek by IHS Markit in Houston, a delegation led by Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan identified these other features of the new system:
• A single, uniform license covering exploration and extraction for all hydrocarbon prospects.
• Full marketing freedom and free pricing of crude oil and natural gas.
• Ability to explore through the entire contract period.
• No royalty for 7 years for deepwater and ultradeepwater blocks.
• Equal weighting to work program and fiscal bid parameters.
• No oil tax.
• Exemption from custom duty.