- Vedanta Limited has notified the Management Committee, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas of an oil discovery in the Krishna Godavari basin. Oil has been discovered in the second exploratory well H2, located in the offshore block KG-OSN-2009/3, Krishna-Godavari basin.
- The Krishna Godavari basin is a proven petroliferous basin with commercial hydrocarbon accumulations. It is located on the east coast of India. It includes the extensive deltaic plain formed by Rivers Krishna and Godavari in the state of Andhra Pradesh and the 16adjoining areas of Bay of Bengal in which these rivers discharge.
- The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), was established in 1993 under the administrative control of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. It is the technical arm of the ministry which overseas upstream oil and gas exploration and production activities. The DGH acts as the nodal agency for implementing Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP).
- The functions of DGH are: a) advice Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas on Exploration Strategies & Production Policies, b) evaluate the hydrocarbon reserves discovered and estimated by the operating companies, c) promote investment in Exploration and Production Sector, d) monitor exploration and production activities including review of reservoir performance of producing fields, e) manage production sharing contracts, f)open up of new unexplored areas for future exploration and development of non-conventional hydrocarbon energy sources.
- HELP, introduced in 2016, is a contractual and fiscal model for award of hydrocarbon acreages towards exploration and production. It brings all hydrocarbons such as oil, gas, coal bed methane etc. under a single licensing framework.
- HELP introduced Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP). Under OALP, exploration companies can select their operation blocks without waiting for the formal bid round from the Government.
