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Govt launches tenth round of bidding for oil & gas blocks
With 25 blocks on offer across 1.91 lakh square kilometres, this is the largest in terms of acreage offered in a single bid round under the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy.
The Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas on Tuesday launched the tenth round of bidding for oil and gas exploration & production under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP). With 25 blocks on offer across 1.91 lakh square kilometres, this is the largest bid round in terms of acreage offered in a single bid round under the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy.
The tenth round was launched during the inaugural day of the India Energy Week (IEW) in New Delhi.
The blocks on offer are spread over 13 sedimentary basins. Of the total blocks on offer, 16 blocks with an area of 97,919.6 sq. km (51%) fall in the earlier ‘no-go’ area. About six blocks are on land, another six blocks are in shallow water areas, one is in deep water, and the other 12 blocks are in ultra deep-water areas.
The government says about 19 offshore blocks covering an area of 1.75 lakh square kilometres and 13 blocks covering an area of 1,33,724 sq. km fall in deep water and ultra-deepwater. Further, for OALP round X, a new e-bidding portal is available for transparent and secure bidding with additional ease of doing business features.
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Oil Reforms
This is the first round to be launched after the Oil (Regulations and Development) Amendment Bill was passed by Parliament in December 2024. The bill proposes to broaden the definition of mineral oils, which previously included only petroleum and natural gas and introduces the concept of a petroleum lease. This lease covers various activities related to mineral oils, including exploration, prospecting, production, making them merchantable, and disposal.
The amendment is expected to bring relief in terms of ease of doing business in the Indian upstream petroleum sector.
ONGC, Oil India Ltd, and Vedanta are among the E&P majors that participated in the ninth oil and gas bidding round.
Addressing the inaugural session of the third edition of IEW, prime minister Narendra Modi invited global players to invest in India's oil and gas sector, highlighting that the share of gas in India's energy basket is set to increase further. The government also plans to enhance the country's refining capacity by 20%.
"Several discoveries in the country and a growing pipeline network have increased the natural gas supplies within the country. This will also enhance the natural gas consumption in the country. There will be more and more investment opportunities for you in these sectors," he said.
Modi said that recent reforms, including the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, will facilitate the exploration of oil and gas resources in the maritime sector, increase production, and maintain strategic petroleum reserves.
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Business NewsIndustryGovt launches tenth round of bidding for oil & gas blocks
First Published:11 Feb 2025, 03:55 PM IST
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