(ET)
The government has forbidden oil and gas production from fields that extend beyond the contract area unless the operator takes prior approval—a significant change in rules to prevent bitter disputes like the one between Reliance Industries and ONGC over output from a reservoir that straddled both companies’ areas.
The government has amended the Model Revenue Sharing Contract (MRSC) of Discovered Small Fields Bid Round-II to insert two key points on reservoirs extending beyond contract areas. “A failure of the contractor to notify the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) about any extension in the reservoir of the discovery area outside its contract area as required under Article 10.9, shall be considered a non-compliance or contravention of the provisions of this contract,” the amended rules, hosted on DGH website said.
