Advisory E&P reform panel cloaked in secrecy
Some people welcome the oil ministry's creation of a panel to recommend solutions to problems stifling upstream growth.
But they're also wondering why the first meeting of an industry veterans and bureaucrats panel on August 3 (2024) at the DGH's office was shrouded in secrecy. Will this exercise, launched by the oil ministry in July 2024, lead to results, or is it just for show? Oil ministry additional secretary Praveen Mal Khanooja heads the panel, named the Working Group for Ensuring Ease of Doing Business.
Other government panel representatives are joint secretary exploration Vinod Seshan and DGH additional director general and financial advisor Akash Goyal. From industry, there are representatives from Invenire Energy, Essar Exploration & Production, Sun Petro, Oilmax Energy, ONGC, Oil India, Vedanta-owned Cairn Energy and Reliance.
A Boston Consulting Group (BCG) representative also took notes at the August 3 (2024) meeting. "The BCG seems to be a permanent consultant to the oil ministry and DGH," says a source.
He adds the oil ministry set up this panel after the DGH-organised the Urja Varta (Energy Discussion) conclave held in Delhi on July 11 and 12 (2024), presided over by oil minister Hardeep Puri. During the event, Puri assured industry participants the oil ministry would take steps to ensure 'ease of doing business' in India.
At the August 3 (2024) meeting, participants (almost) unanimously highlighted significant obstacles when dealing with the government and its agencies. Topmost on the list are delays in environment and forest department clearances.
"These are mandatory before any work can begin," we hear. Another pain point is delayed DGH approvals.
"Apart from that, there's also a lot of drift," we hear. Also highlighted is a chronic absence of commercial expertise at the DGH.
"Many issues with the DGH are techno-commercial," we hear. "The DGH is packed with technical experts, but they back off when deciding on the commercial challenges."
Launching the August 3 (2024) meeting, oil ministry additional secretary Khanooja said the event should be 'off-the-record' for the media and no minutes would be circulated until the group finalises its recommendations for the government. Many found this odd.
"Why be so secretive?" wonders a participant. "We have been raising these problems with the ministry repeatedly; what's the harm in circulating the minutes of each meeting?"