Consider the following activities :
- I.Production of crude oil
- II.Refining, storage and distribution of petroleum
- III.Marketing and sale of petroleum products
- IV.Production of natural gas
How many of the above activities are regulated by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board in our country?
Show answer
Answer: B. The PNGRB Act, 2006 lets the Board regulate refining, processing, storage, transportation, distribution, marketing and sale of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas. It expressly excludes production of crude oil and natural gas. So activities II and III are regulated, and I and IV are not. That makes only two.
Watch for: Upstream production (crude oil, natural gas) is not under PNGRB; it is handled by the Ministry of Petroleum and the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Only one is wrong, because both refining/storage/distribution and marketing/sale are regulated.
- C. Only three is wrong, because production of crude oil and natural gas is outside PNGRB's scope.
- D. All four is wrong, because upstream production is not regulated by PNGRB.
Source to check: Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006 (Preamble and Section 2); PNGRB website
Answer from the official UPSC key. Written and fact-checked by AI against the official key. Spotted a mistake? Report it.