Government plans a new policy to enhance oil production

The government is planning to formulate a new policy to facilitate private capital flow and the use of technology to substantially increase crude oil production in major oilfields such as Bombay High (that were given to state-run firms Oil and Natural Gas Corporation [ONGC] and Oil India Limited [OIL] without an auction or a production sharing contract). The new policy, in which private companies will be able to bid for enhanced oil recovery contracts in line with global best practices, will be announced in the current fiscal year (2017-18). This will be a major departure from the past practice of the government scrutinising the activity of only those fields that were auctioned after the sector was opened up for private investment in the 1990s.