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• Which should prevail, concerns of energy security or of national security? The row the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is now confronted with is between the Petroleum and Defence Ministries over security clearance for oil and gas exploration in eight blocks off the east coast and in the Andamans. These blocks are among the 34 that the Petroleum Ministry awarded under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) last year to Indian and foreign companies. The blocks were auctioned only after securing clearance from the Naval headquarters, according to the Petroleum Ministry. Yet, after the blocks were awarded in early 2011, the Defence Ministry refused permission for exploration activity in three specific blocks as the Navy was using these seas for submarine manoeuvres and training. Though a truce was reached, with the Navy promising to review its stand and the Petroleum Ministry agreeing to demarcate no-go zones for exploration, the stand-off continued forcing the PMO to intervene. The Petroleum Ministry has complained that its credibility in the eyes of prospective investors in oil exploration is at stake.

• Energy security is important but national security is paramount, and in any clash between the two, the latter has to prevail. If oil exploration activity encroaches into the Navy's training and operational theatres, there is absolutely no way that it can be permitted. That said, there was evidently a lack of application of mind by the Navy and the Defence Ministry in the first instance — that is, when the Petroleum Ministry referred the blocks to them before the auction. Having given permission, to retract it later and that too after the blocks were auctioned, is clearly not the right thing to do. The PMO has to question the Defence Ministry on this if only to ensure that such instances do not recur. As for the Petroleum Ministry, a lot of embarrassment could have been avoided if it had decided not to auction blocks that fall in defence-sensitive areas, such as the ones the Navy is now objecting to. The problem arises because after nine rounds of NELP, all the easy-to-tackle blocks have been contracted out and what remain are the difficult ones from a technological or security standpoint. Maybe, it is time for the Petroleum Ministry to go slow on the auctions, which have not attracted much foreign investment anyway, and to focus on regulating the blocks that have been already contracted. Auctioning newer blocks is, after all, not the only way to increase oil and gas output.

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