India Oil Reserves

Andaman discovery holds potential to change India's oil and gas landscape

The catch is that this is still a find of hydrocarbon presence; whether the basin will actually yield natural gas is still unknown, and even it does, it could take a decade for commercialisation

No international sanctions on buying Russian crude, says Hardeep Singh Puri

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said India will keep importing Russian oil as no sanctions ban such purchases, while stressing PSU oil firms are profitable but undervalued

Indian refiners scour globe for more oil ahead of Trump-Putin summit

India's state processors have bought large volumes of non-Russian crude this week for prompt September-October delivery

India to build three new strategic oil reserves to boost energy security

The new strategic oil reserves in Bikaner, Mangalore and Bina will boost emergency stockpiles, enhance energy security and aid India's push for International Energy Agency membership

Brent crude may cross $110 if Hormuz oil flow halves: Goldman Sachs

But Kotak Institutional Equities believes market concerns are driving oil prices and points to sufficient OPEC+ spare capacity and well-supplied global inventories

ONGC makes promising oil, gas discoveries in Mumbai offshore basin

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has made promising offshore oil and gas discoveries in the Mumbai Offshore basin that could help augment production in the near future. The discoveries have been made in blocks awarded under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) regime, the state-owned firm said in its fourth-quarter earnings statement. The discoveries, which have been named Suryamani and Vajramani, were made in OALP-VI block MB-OSHP-2020/2 and OALP-III block MB-OSHP- 2018/1, both in the offshore Mumbai basin. Exploratory well MBS202HAA-1 on Block MB-OSHP-2020/2 flowed 2,235 barrels per day of oil and 45,181 million cubic metres a day of gas during testing done in the January-March quarter. "This is the first discovery in Basal Clastics in OALP Block MB-OSHP-2020/2. The success in well MBS202HAA-1 was notified as New Prospect Discovery and rechristened as 'Suryamani'," ONGC said. Subsequently, during the current quarter, a second zone was tested on the same wel

Oil regulator mandates LNG terminal registration, scraps carrier rule

The oil regulator has made it mandatory for companies planning to establish new liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals or expand existing ones to obtain prior approval, but dropped the requirement to reserve a portion of the terminal capacity for third-party access. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has notified Registration for Establishing and Operating Liquefied Natural Gas Terminals Regulations, 2025. "These regulations lay down a robust framework focused on registration and oversight of LNG terminals, (and) promotion of competition among entities and prevention of infructuous investments," the regulator said, adding that the rules are a step in alignment with India's vision of increasing the share of natural gas to 15 per cent in the energy mix by 2030. The norms also seek to ensure equitable and adequate natural gas availability across the country, protection of consumer interests through improved access and supply reliability, and facilitate ...

Govt to hold pre-emption right over oil, gas in emergency: Draft rules

The government will hold pre-emption rights over all oil and natural gas produced in the country in any event of national emergency, according to draft rules being framed under a revamped oilfields legislation. A pre-emption right (or preemptive right) is the legal right of a party - often a government or existing shareholder - to purchase or claim a product, asset, or resource before it is offered to others. The inclusion of such rights over crude oil - extracted from underground or beneath the seabed and refined into fuels like petrol and diesel - as well as natural gas, which is used for power generation, fertilizer production, CNG for vehicles, and piped cooking gas, is intended to help the government prioritize national interests and ensure public welfare during emergencies. The producer of oil and natural gas will be paid a "fair market price prevailing at the time of pre-emption", the draft rules said. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has invited comments on draft rules

India strikes back: India's grain, fuel stockpile prepare it for any crisis

As of early-2025, India is importing crude oil from 40 countries, up from 27 earlier

Oil retailers pick 26 PACS to set up retail petrol, diesel outlets: Shah

Oil marketing companies have selected 26 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) out of 286 applications for setting up retail petrol and diesel outlets, Cooperation Minister Amit Shah told Parliament on Tuesday. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Shah said the government has allowed PACS to operate retail petrol and diesel outlets and LPG distributorship. As informed by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), 286 PACS from 25 states and Union Territories have submitted online applications to establish retail petrol/diesel outlets, of which 26 PACS have been selected by OMCs, he said. Under conversion of PACS, Wholesale Consumer Pumps into retail outlets, OMC reports indicate that 116 PACS from five states have agreed to this conversion, and 56 PACS have been commissioned. For LPG distributorship, two PACS have applied for the two advertised locations in Jharkhand. As per the revised guidelines, PACS have been included under Combined Category 2 (CC-2) for retail petrol/ diesel ...

Govt to provide $647 mn to support strategic reserve oil purchases in FY26

The budget proposals also include an allocation of about Rs 180 crore for operation and maintenance of the SPRs and about Rs 335 crore for purchase of land and construction of new caverns

ISPRL seeks private firms to build 2.5 mn tonnes petroleum reserve at Padur

In 2021, India overhauled its policy to allow part of SPRs to be used commercially, mirroring a model adopted by countries such as Japan and South Korea that allows private lessees, mostly oil majors

ONGC awaits mining lease for new oil field discoveries in WB's Ashokenagar

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has made four more discoveries since it first made an oil field near Asokenagar in West Bengal six years back but is still awaiting the state government's nod for a petroleum mining lease to develop them, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday. ONGC notified the first Asokenagar discovery in Block WB-ONN-2005/4 on September 24, 2018, Puri said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha. The discovery, he said was the outcome of continuous exploration efforts of ONGC in the Bengal sedimentary basin over five decades. As per initial laboratory studies, crude oil, which is refined into fuels like petrol and diesel, discovered in the Ashokenagar discovery is a light variety with American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity of 40-41 degrees and is almost similar to Bombay High and Brent Crude. "ONGC, accordingly, applied on September 10, 2020, to the Government of West Bengal for a grant of Petroleum Mining Lease (PML) for an

Indian refiners cancel palm oil contracts on duty hike, price rise

India, on average, imports 750,000 tons of palm oil every month, and the cancellation of 100,000 tons represents about 13.3 per cent of monthly imports

India raises US oil imports in June, marginally cuts supply from Russia

Refiners in India together shipped in 1.98 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian oil in June, down 3.7% from the previous month, the data showed.

India's oil, gas exploration offers $100 bn opportunity, says Oil Min Puri

Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday called for stepping up oil and gas hunt to cut India's reliance on imports and making available fuel at an affordable and sustainable way. Speaking at the Urja Varta conference, he said the exploration and production (E&P) sector is integral in the journey towards energy self-sufficiency, which is critical for sustained economic growth. "E&P offers investment opportunities worth USD 100 billion by 2030," he said. Stating that India's exploration and production potential still lies untapped, he said, "I find it strange that India is so heavily reliant on oil imports despite the abundant geological resources available to us." The Indian sedimentary basins hold about 651.8 million tonnes of crude oil and 1138.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas, he said. Puri said only 10 per cent of our sedimentary basin area is under exploration, which will rise to 16 per cent by 2024-end after the current bid ends. "The focus of our exploratory ...

India in talks with Norway's Equinor for oil reserves, says report

State-run Indian Oil Corporation was in talks with nearly a dozen liquefied natural gas suppliers for long-term supply contracts

Unrestricted Russian oil trade unacceptable, price cap to stay: US

The US on Thursday said permitting an unrestricted Russian oil trade was and remains "unacceptable" and the western price cap on Moscow's petroleum products is designed to force it to continue selling oil but for lower prices than it could otherwise obtain. At the same time, US officials said Washington has not asked India to reduce the volume of its oil import from Russia. The G7 price cap mechanism made it possible to stunt a major source of funding for Moscow's war machine while also maintaining a stable energy supply to Europe and to emerging markets, US Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Eric Van Nostrand said at an interactive session at the Ananta Centre. "Emerging markets like India benefited from the discounted price of Russian oil relative to global markets," he said, asserting that the price cap mechanism was aimed at forcing Russia to sell oil at lower prices. Nostrad noted that the price cap is designed to foster a market in which Russia supplies energy at a heavi

World on cusp of last big refining boom as India starts capacity expansion

Expansions in the West are non-existent," said Giovanni Serio, Vitol Group's head of research

Vedanta's Cairn Oil & Gas submits development plan for Jaya gas find in Guj

Vedanta Ltd's Cairn Oil & Gas on Thursday said it has submitted a field development plan for the Jaya gas discovery in an area in Bharuch district of Gujarat. The firm made a gas and condensate discovery in an onshore OALP block in August 2020. "Through exploration and appraisal successes, Cairn has now submitted a field development plan (FDP) to produce more than 2,000 barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas per day, initially," the firm said in a statement. It, however, did not give details of the investment plan and how long will it take to bring the field to production from the date of FDP approval. The FDP has been submitted to the government's Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). "This field has the potential to contribute to the company's goal of doubling production capacities and driving energy aatmanirbharta for India. This will be the first FDP submitted in the OALP regime, among 144 blocks awarded under 8 OALP rounds by the government to various companies," the ...