(ET)
The government will formulate a bold new policy this year to bring private capital and technology to substantially increase crude oil production in major oilfields such as Mumbai High that were given to state-run firms ONGC and Oil India Ltd without an auction or a production sharing contract. The new policy, in which private companies will be able to bid for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) contracts in line with best global practices, will be announced in the current fiscal year. It is based on oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s decision to regularly monitor each nominated field. That’s a major departure from the past practice of government scrutinising the activity of only those fields that were auctioned after the sector was opened up for private investment in the 1990s.
