Policy stability, tax cuts needed for Oil & Gas exploration: Vedanta

India should ensure policy stability and lower taxes to incentivise exploration, a top Vedanta executive has said. "From the government side, we need stability in the contracts," Steve Moore, deputy CEO of Vedanta's oil & gas division, told an industry conference. "We need the contracts to go beyond current expiry date so that we can make the large investments required, and when necessary, we need tax terms to be tweaked so that we can actually afford those investments with the enhanced oil recovery (EOR)."

Moore also highlighted how penalties for not completing work programmes discouraged bidding and an incentive could help boost carbon capture and storage initiatives by the private sector.

BP India unit chief Kartikeya Dube called for policy stability and inclusion of natural gas under goods and services tax.


ONGC chairman Arun Kumar Singh said the company was putting all its might behind exploration as it was critical to boosting domestic oil and gas output. He pointed out that the international oil companies have reduced their exploration intensity across the globe though the speed of asset monetization has risen.