Why India’s oil sector revamp may not be enough to attract foreign players

[SINGAPORE] India’s first rewrite of its 77-year-old oilfield rules kicked in on Apr 15, with New Delhi hoping it will help turn around a decade of sluggish output and ease its growing reliance on imported crude, which stands at over 85 per cent.

But analysts say there’s still too much red tape in a system that seems to favour local players, making it tough for foreign drillers to break in.

Currently, international players form less than 10 per cent of India’s total oil and gas (O&G) production, noted CreditSights’ South and South-east Asia corporates team.