India loses out to Latin America, Africa in setting up oil rigs

Countries across the world are stepping up drilling in offshore areas as most companies believe that easily accessible oil and gas in onshore areas has been found. Companies are now going into deeper waters in offshore areas to find oil and gas that will feed energy hungry economies around the world.

However, this rush to find more oil and gas has resulted in a global shortage of rigs, a Delhi-based analyst said.
The rig shortage has also resulted in India delaying its seventh round of auction of oil and gas blocks under the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (Nelp VII), as operators of blocks won under previous Nelp rounds have not yet been able to complete their drilling programmes.

“Three of our offshore rigs have been taken off for repairs. We are looking for new offshore rigs but tight supply around the world is slowing down our deepwater exploration and development work,” said a senior official with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), India’s largest oil and gas exploration company.

Business Standard