Union Budget 2013: Oil hunt to get less messy, moneywise

NEW DELHI: The oil hunt will have less scope for monetary disputes with the government moving to a new system of awarding oil/gas blocks by the degree of revenue shared by an explorer instead of the present production-sharing regime. Also in the offing is a review of gas pricing and shale gas policy.
Former ONGC chairman and head of Ficci Hydrocarbon Committee R S Sharma feels the new regime would bring more transparency.And as the next step, BP’s India head Sashi Mukundan wants domestic gas price to move to import parity in the next three years — akin to diesel price reforms. “These measures will help build a sustainable gas market in the country,” he said.
But not everyone is happy. L K Gupta, CEO of Essar Oil, is disappointed that the tax anomaly between branded and unbranded motor fuels hasnot been removed. “We were hopeful on our request for removing service tax on oilfield service providers since it drains away a substantial part of the funds committed for exploration,” he said.
Union Budget 2013
Budget news 2013
Economic Survey