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This refers to the editorial, 8216;Troubled oil8217; IE, March 9. Your newspaper has been repeatedly and resolutely pointing an accusing finger at the decisions and actions taken by Directorate General of Hydrocarbons DGH with respect to the exploration and production E038;P activities in India. Firstly, your contention that DGH is usurping the oil ministry8217;s powers is without basis. In fact, the ministry had empowered DGH in September 2006, through a gazette notification. Thus, the actions and decisions taken by the DGH are well within its mandate. Therefore, your argument that the director-general, DGH, is exceeding his brief is not only malicious but wholly untrue.

A responsible newspaper is expected to provide objective assessment. And since the oil industry is one of the most important sectors, it is even more imperative that reports are unbiased and published after garnering all the necessary details and verifying technical facts. In fact, domain experts should write articles. Not adhering to these basic principles results in ill-conceived stories that have the effect of creating a rift between the government, E038;P companies and the DGH. The DGH has officers drawn from ONGC, oil and other PSUs, who are professionals in various disciplines. Decisions are taken after considering all technical information and other aspects within the provisions of the production sharing contract.

Your earlier report on the gas discovery by ONGC is another example of presenting unsubstantiated figures. The reserves figures quoted by you were contested by ONGC itself. Further, this resulted in a waste of the precious time of the ONGC, DGH and the ministry in getting to the bottom of the matter. And since these are matters of national importance, they are bound to come up for discussions in Parliament. We need to keep in mind that the valuable time of the elected representatives of India are not spent in sorting out confusions of this nature. What benefit did The Indian Express derive from creating this wholly unwarranted mess? We do not know the reasons or motives behind your espousing a certain viewpoint. Nevertheless, it does seem that you have taken upon yourself the agenda of maligning the DGH 8212; creating rifts in the oil industry when the need of the hour is to consolidate the gains that we have had in the E038;P sector in recent years. We in DGH have learnt to take such things in our stride. However, in the public interest, I feel that responsible journalism involves treating these matters with the seriousness they deserve.

I would appreciate very much if your newspaper reporters take time off to visit DGH and discuss such technical issues with DGH officers and verify the facts before writing on matters concerning the E038;P sector.

The writer is director general, DGH