Parliament clears Bill to amend law governing oilfields development
Parliament on Wednesday passed the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, 2024, a landmark legislation aimed at boosting investment in India’s oil and gas sector by delinking petroleum operations from mining.
The Bill, which was cleared by the Rajya Sabha on December 3, 2024, received final approval from the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri, while presenting the Bill in the lower house, assured that it does not alter the existing level-playing field between public and private sector players.
“The Bill addresses one of the biggest concerns of global oil companies investing in India by ensuring operational stability in terms of lease tenure and conditions. Importantly, it does not alter the rights of the states, which will continue to issue petroleum leases and receive royalties as before,” Puri stated.
One of the key aspects of the amendment is the decriminalisation of certain provisions in the original Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act, 1948. The Bill introduces penalties, adjudication mechanisms and an appeals process instead of punitive legal measures.
It also expands the definition of mineral oils to include crude oil, natural gas, petroleum, condensate, coal bed methane, oil shale, shale gas, shale oil, tight gas, tight oil and gas hydrates — a move aimed at boosting domestic output and reducing reliance on imports.