New Delhi The leeway for oil producers to stagger or defer sharing of profit with the government could go. The upstream oil regulator has proposed that these companies earmark a defined fraction of their revenue for the government, right from the start of production.

Currently, producers can decide whether and how to recover their investments before starting to share profits with the state. The Comptroller and Auditor General has criticised this system as it allows a perverse incentive to front-load capital expenditure and delay government’s share of profits.