New Delhi, July 12 -- In a move aimed at improving operational flexibility and ease of doing business in India's upstream oil and gas sector, the Union government has approved a long-pending recommendation to allow transfer of participating interest (PI) among existing partners without requiring government consent-as long as there is no change in operatorship.

Participating interest means, in respect of each party constituting the contractor, the undivided share expressed as a percentage of such party's participation in the rights and obligations under the contract.

Under the current contractual provisions of production sharing contracts (PSC), revenue sharing contracts (RSCs), discovered small fields (DSF) and coal bed methane (CBM), a...