New Delhi

The Union Cabinet's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the deregulation of the sale of domestically-produced crude oil.

As per the decision, the government has decided to cease allocation of crude oil with effect from October 1, to ensure marketing freedom for all Exploration and Production (E&P) operators.

"All E&P companies will now be free to sell crude oil from their fields in the domestic market. Government revenues like royalty, and cess will continue to be calculated on a uniform basis across all contracts. As earlier, exports will not be permissible. This decision will further spur economic activities, incentivise making investments in the upstream oil and gas sector and builds on a series of targeted transformative reforms rolled out since 2014," union Minister Anurag Thakur said briefing the media.

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“The policies relating to production, infrastructure and marketing of oil and gas have been made more transparent with a focus on ease of doing business and facilitating more operational flexibility to operators and industry”, he added.