Exploration & Production, Offshore & Onshore Upstream Leadership
Upstream Oil & Gas
Executive Search
22+ Upstream Oil & Gas Placements — with an average 140 Days time-to-placement and a 12-month candidate guarantee.
22+
Upstream Oil & Gas Placements
140 Days
Avg. Time-to-Placement
83%
Offer Acceptance Rate
12 Months
Candidate Guarantee
Specialisation withinEnergy & Natural Resources·Energising the Transition
Upstream Oil & Gas is the exploration-and-production tranche of India's energy sector — the category that combines seismic-and-exploration acquisition, offshore-and-onshore drilling-and-completion, reservoir-engineering-and-field-development, and the specific HELP (Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy) and OALP (Open Acreage Licensing Policy) stewardship that defines India's E&P architecture. The ecosystem spans the flagship national oil companies (the Maharatna-category listed crude-and-gas exploration-and-production PSU, India's largest E&P operator with production of ~20 MMT of crude and ~20 BCM of gas annually, operating ~85% of India's crude-oil production; the listed Navratna NE-India-heartland upstream PSU; the listed Maharatna gas-grid PSU's gas-only upstream operations; and the listed Maharatna downstream-refining PSU's upstream-adjacent ownership stakes), private-sector upstream operators (the upstream-E&P arm of a listed diversified Indian natural-resources conglomerate — operating the Barmer Rajasthan block and North-East-India assets as India's largest private crude-oil producer; the upstream-E&P arm of India's largest listed private energy-and-petrochemical conglomerate in partnership with a UK-headquartered global super-major, operating the flagship deep-water KG-D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari basin with ~30 MMSCMD gas production; privately-held and listed small-and-mid-cap independent Indian upstream operators), global-major India subsidiaries and partnerships (the India partnerships of UK, US, European, and Middle-Eastern-NOC super-majors; and the India service-and-technology arms of global oilfield-services majors), oilfield-services-adjacent upstream-operator platforms (see separate oilfield-services-equipment sub-sector), and emerging deep-water-and-shale-gas-and-coal-bed-methane operators. Leadership here requires fluency in DGH (Directorate General of Hydrocarbons) regulatory architecture, PSC (Production Sharing Contract) and RSC (Revenue Sharing Contract) commercial-architecture, OALP bidding-and-block-award discipline, offshore-and-HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature) drilling-and-completions stewardship, reservoir-engineering-and-enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) architecture, and the specific government-and-global-JV-partner-and-service-contractor rhythm.
Is This Your Situation?
If any of these sound familiar, you're speaking to the right practice.
→National oil company running CMD succession — confidential search aligned with PESB (Public Enterprises Selection Board) architecture and the MoPNG-and-DDP approval rhythm.
→Private-sector upstream operator running CEO succession post-demerger-and-restructuring — search across upstream-E&P operating credibility and HELP-and-OALP-and-PSC-commercial-architecture stewardship.
→OALP bid-round winner scaling a new upstream-operator platform hiring a Director (Exploration / Production) with frontier-exploration and field-development-planning credibility.
→Global-major India subsidiary running Country Managing Director succession — search across global-OEM-architecture credibility, Indian-regulatory-and-DGH stewardship, and JV-partner-relationship fluency.
Our Upstream Oil & Gas Track Record
Situation:
A private-sector upstream-E&P operator running its multi-block development and production-growth programme needed Chief Operating Officer succession. The brief required upstream-E&P operating credibility, HELP-and-OALP-and-PSC-commercial-architecture fluency, offshore-and-onshore field-development stewardship, and the specific upstream-E&P operating rhythm.
Outcome:
Placed a COO with prior VP-Operations tenure at a global-major upstream operation (Middle East / ASEAN geography) and subsequent Director-Operations tenure at an Indian upstream operator. The operator's production-growth and field-development-milestone progression tracked plan within 18 months.
Situation:
An OALP bid-round winner scaling a new upstream-operator platform needed Director (Exploration) succession ahead of its first-exploration-campaign. The brief required frontier-exploration credibility, seismic-acquisition-and-processing stewardship, and the specific greenfield-exploration rhythm.
Outcome:
Placed a Director (Exploration) with prior exploration-manager tenure at a global-major upstream operation and subsequent exploration-leadership tenure at an Indian upstream operator. The operator's first-exploration-campaign completed-to-plan within 18 months with multiple drilling-ready prospects identified.
All client details anonymised. Specific mandates available for reference under NDA upon request.
Our Upstream Oil & Gas Practice
Upstream Oil & Gas is the exploration-and-production tranche of India's energy sector — the category that combines seismic-and-exploration acquisition, offshore-and-onshore drilling-and-completion, reservoir-engineering-and-field-development, and the specific HELP (Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy) and OALP (Open Acreage Licensing Policy) stewardship that defines India's E&P architecture. The ecosystem spans the flagship national oil companies (the Maharatna-category listed crude-and-gas exploration-and-production PSU, India's largest E&P operator with production of ~20 MMT of crude and ~20 BCM of gas annually, operating ~85% of India's crude-oil production; the listed Navratna NE-India-heartland upstream PSU; the listed Maharatna gas-grid PSU's gas-only upstream operations; and the listed Maharatna downstream-refining PSU's upstream-adjacent ownership stakes), private-sector upstream operators (the upstream-E&P arm of a listed diversified Indian natural-resources conglomerate — operating the Barmer Rajasthan block and North-East-India assets as India's largest private crude-oil producer; the upstream-E&P arm of India's largest listed private energy-and-petrochemical conglomerate in partnership with a UK-headquartered global super-major, operating the flagship deep-water KG-D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari basin with ~30 MMSCMD gas production; privately-held and listed small-and-mid-cap independent Indian upstream operators), global-major India subsidiaries and partnerships (the India partnerships of UK, US, European, and Middle-Eastern-NOC super-majors; and the India service-and-technology arms of global oilfield-services majors), oilfield-services-adjacent upstream-operator platforms (see separate oilfield-services-equipment sub-sector), and emerging deep-water-and-shale-gas-and-coal-bed-methane operators. Leadership here requires fluency in DGH (Directorate General of Hydrocarbons) regulatory architecture, PSC (Production Sharing Contract) and RSC (Revenue Sharing Contract) commercial-architecture, OALP bidding-and-block-award discipline, offshore-and-HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature) drilling-and-completions stewardship, reservoir-engineering-and-enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) architecture, and the specific government-and-global-JV-partner-and-service-contractor rhythm.
We place leaders across national oil companies, private-sector upstream operators, global-major India subsidiaries, and emerging deep-water-and-unconventional platforms. Engagements include CMD / CEO / MD searches for national oil companies and private-sector upstream operators, Director (Exploration / Production / Onshore / Offshore) searches for PSUs, Head of Reservoir / Head of Sub-Surface placements, Head of Drilling-and-Completions placements, Head of HSE placements, and CFO placements with upstream-E&P-accounting credibility.
As a specialist CEO mandates in upstream oil & gas, our practice also covers COO placements in upstream E&P, our practice also covers Energy & Natural Resources practice overview, and as a source for Energy — downstream refining & marketing.
The Upstream Oil & Gas Landscape Today
India's upstream oil-and-gas sector produces ~29 MMT of crude oil and ~34 BCM of natural gas annually, against consumption of ~235 MMT of crude-oil-equivalent products and ~67 BCM of gas — India imports ~85%+ of its crude oil and ~50%+ of its gas, making domestic production growth a strategic national priority. The Maharatna-category listed crude-and-gas exploration-and-production PSU is the dominant operator with 25+ producing fields including Mumbai High (India's largest producing field, offshore Mumbai with 40+ years of production history), the KG basin KG-DWN-98/2 deep-water field (which has seen first-oil), Tripura-Assam-NE-India onshore assets, and an international-assets portfolio covering 40+ assets in 15+ countries through its overseas-E&P subsidiary. The listed Navratna NE-India-heartland upstream PSU operates the Assam-and-Arunachal Pradesh onshore assets and the NE-India heartland. The upstream-E&P arm of a listed diversified Indian natural-resources conglomerate operates the Barmer (Rajasthan) block — India's largest privately-operated crude-oil producing asset with production peaking at 220,000+ bopd. The upstream-E&P arm of India's largest listed private energy-and-petrochemical conglomerate, in partnership with a UK-headquartered global super-major, holds the deep-water KG-D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari basin, with gas production of 28-32 MMSCMD through the R-Cluster, Satellite-Cluster, and MJ fields. The HELP (Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy, 2016) replaced NELP (New Exploration Licensing Policy) and introduced Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) under which 150+ blocks have been awarded across nine OALP rounds; the Government's Discovered Small Field (DSF) bid-rounds have awarded 50+ marginal-and-brown-field blocks. The National Gas Grid (Urja Ganga, North-East Grid) and the Coal-Bed-Methane (CBM) and Shale-Gas programmes are expanding the gas-upstream tranche. The National Gas Hydrate Programme is under research. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) and the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) administer upstream policy and PSC / RSC administration. Leadership compensation is at oil-and-gas-market-median with material production-and-reserve-linked architecture at listed operators. Recent high-profile transitions include the ongoing leadership repositioning at the upstream-E&P arm of a listed diversified natural-resources conglomerate under its group demerger architecture.
Key Leadership Challenges in Upstream Oil & Gas
Chairman-and-Managing-Director succession for national oil companies (ONGC, OIL) — government-facing leaders with DPSU-governance credibility, MoPNG-and-DGH-stakeholder stewardship, and the long-cycle upstream-E&P rhythm.
CEO / MD succession for private-sector upstream operators — leaders with upstream-E&P operating credibility, HELP-and-OALP-and-PSC-commercial-architecture fluency, global-JV-partner stewardship, and the governance rhythm of upstream E&P operators.
Director / Head of Exploration placements — upstream operators need Exploration Heads with seismic-and-exploration-acquisition credibility, frontier-and-deep-water-exploration stewardship, and the specific E&P-exploration rhythm.
Director / Head of Production / Operations placements — upstream operators need Production Heads with offshore-and-onshore-production credibility, IOR / EOR (Improved / Enhanced Oil Recovery) stewardship, and the specific upstream-production rhythm.
Head of Reservoir / Head of Sub-Surface placements — upstream operators need Reservoir Heads with reservoir-engineering-and-reserves-certification credibility, dynamic-modelling-and-simulation stewardship, and the specific reservoir-engineering rhythm.
Head of Drilling-and-Completions placements — upstream operators need Drilling Heads with offshore-and-HPHT-and-deep-water-drilling credibility, well-integrity-and-completions-engineering stewardship, and the specific drilling-and-completions rhythm.
What We Look For in Upstream Oil & Gas Leaders
Across mandates, upstream oil & gas leadership tends to cluster into a small set of archetypes. We calibrate each search against the profile your board actually needs — not the one most commonly available.
The National Oil Company CMD / Director
Government-sector senior executive with DPSU-governance credibility, PESB-selection and MoPNG-stakeholder stewardship, upstream-E&P technical discipline, PSC / RSC-commercial-architecture fluency, and the long-cycle upstream-E&P programme rhythm.
The Private-Sector Upstream CEO
Executive who has run a private-sector upstream-E&P operator or the India operations of a global-major — fluent in upstream-E&P operating credibility, HELP-and-OALP-and-PSC-commercial-architecture, global-JV-partner stewardship, and the governance rhythm of upstream-E&P operators.
The Head of Exploration / Sub-Surface
Technical leader with seismic-and-exploration-acquisition credibility, frontier-and-deep-water-and-unconventional-exploration stewardship, basin-modelling-and-prospect-generation discipline, and the specific E&P-exploration rhythm.
The Head of Production / Operations
Operations leader with offshore-and-onshore-production credibility, IOR / EOR (Improved / Enhanced Oil Recovery) stewardship, process-safety-management discipline, HPHT-and-sour-service stewardship, and the specific upstream-production rhythm.
The Head of Reservoir
Reservoir engineer with reservoir-engineering-and-reserves-certification (SPE-PRMS) credibility, dynamic-modelling-and-simulation stewardship, reserves-and-resources (1P / 2P / 3P / 1C / 2C / 3C) architecture fluency, and the specific reservoir-engineering rhythm.
The Head of Drilling-and-Completions
Drilling engineer with offshore-and-HPHT-and-deep-water-drilling credibility, well-integrity-and-completions-engineering stewardship, rig-contracting-and-drilling-performance discipline, and the specific drilling-and-completions rhythm.
Regulatory & Compensation Context
Regulatory Backdrop
Upstream oil-and-gas operations sit at the intersection of the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act 1948 (and the proposed Oilfields Amendment Bill), the Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules 1959, the Petroleum Act 1934 and Petroleum Rules 2002, the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) 2016, the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) architecture, the Discovered Small Field (DSF) policy architecture, the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) and Revenue Sharing Contract (RSC) architectures, the Coal-Bed-Methane (CBM) policy, the Shale-Gas policy, and the Environmental Protection Act 1986 with MoEFCC (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change) clearance architecture. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) administers block-awards, field-development-plan (FDP) approvals, reserves-certification, and PSC / RSC administration. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) administers mid-and-downstream architecture (see separate sub-sectors). The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) is the policy authority. Offshore operations require additional MoEFCC CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone) clearance and Indian Coast Guard coordination. Health-Safety-Environment (HSE) architecture under the OISD (Oil Industry Safety Directorate) standards is operationally central; OISD-STD-131, 144, 146, 148, 149, 150, 189 (process-safety-management and related standards) govern upstream operations. For NE-India and frontier onshore, additional state-and-tribal-land architecture applies. FDI in the upstream sector is permitted up to 100% under the automatic route. The Companies Act 2013 and SEBI LODR apply to listed entities. Environmental-and-social-safeguards architecture (including IFC Performance Standards) is relevant for international-lender-financed projects. Carbon-and-methane-emissions architecture under the net-zero-2070 commitment is an emerging regulatory vector.
Compensation Architecture
Upstream oil-and-gas leadership compensation is at oil-and-gas-market-median with material production-and-reserve-and-share-price-linked performance architecture at listed operators. Private-sector upstream operator CEO compensation ranges ₹10-25 crore fixed with multi-year PSU / ESOP architectures; Chief Operating Officer / Director (Production) compensation ranges ₹5-12 crore; Head of Exploration / Head of Sub-Surface ranges ₹4-9 crore; Head of Reservoir ranges ₹3.5-7 crore; Head of Drilling-and-Completions ranges ₹3.5-8 crore with drilling-performance-linked variable; Head of HSE ranges ₹2.5-5.5 crore; CFO (Private-Sector Upstream) ranges ₹5-12 crore. National-oil-company CMD compensation ranges ₹80-150 lakh per CPSE-pay-scale architecture (CPSE pay-revisions under DPE guidelines), with limited PLI (performance-linked-incentive); functional-Directors at NOC range ₹60-90 lakh. Global-major India Country Head / Managing Director compensation operates at global-market architecture with multi-currency-and-stock-based structures, frequently in the ₹10-25 crore equivalent range (often with expat-relocation architecture for international-national hires).
Roles We Typically Place
Why Gladwin International Leadership Advisors for Upstream Oil & Gas
CMD and Functional-Director searches (Exploration / Production / Onshore / Offshore / Finance / HR) for national oil companies.
CEO / MD searches for private-sector upstream operators — the upstream-E&P arms of listed diversified Indian conglomerates and privately-held and listed small-and-mid-cap independent Indian upstream operators.
Head of Exploration / Head of Sub-Surface / Head of Reservoir placements.
Head of Production / Head of Operations / Head of Offshore / Head of Onshore placements.
Head of Drilling-and-Completions / Head of Well-Operations placements.
Head of HSE (Health, Safety, Environment) / Head of Process-Safety-Management placements.
CFO and Head of IR placements with upstream-E&P-accounting-and-PSC-commercial credibility.
Organisations We Serve
The Maharatna-category listed crude-and-gas exploration-and-production PSU and its overseas-E&P subsidiary
The listed Navratna NE-India-heartland upstream PSU and the listed Maharatna gas-grid PSU's upstream operations
The listed Maharatna downstream-refining PSU's upstream-adjacent operations
The upstream-E&P arm of a listed diversified Indian natural-resources conglomerate (Barmer-Rajasthan assets, NE-India assets)
The upstream-E&P arm of India's largest listed private energy-and-petrochemical conglomerate in partnership with a UK-headquartered global super-major (KG-D6 deep-water block, CBM blocks)
Privately-held and listed small-and-mid-cap independent Indian upstream operators
Global-major India subsidiaries and JVs — UK, US, European, and Middle-Eastern-NOC super-major India arms
DSF / OALP bid-round winners scaling upstream-operator platforms
Upstream Oil & Gas leaders assessed on the Energy “VERTEX” framework
Eight dimensions calibrated for energy and natural resources leadership. Dimensions are calibrated for upstream oil & gas mandates where relevant.
Parent Practice
Return to Energy & Natural Resources
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