ONGC wins 7, Reliance-BP one oil, gas blocks
Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said 10 blocks for exploration and production of oil and gas were offered in the eighth round of Open Acreage Licensing Policy
Representative Image (IANS)
NEW DELHI: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) won seven areas for exploration of oil and gas while a consortium of Reliance Industries Ltd and BP Plc walked away with one in the latest bid round.
Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said 10 blocks for exploration and production of oil and gas were offered in the eighth round of Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP-VIII).
Contracts for the 10 blocks were signed on Wednesday morning, he said.
Of the 10 blocks offered, ONGC won seven while Reliance-BP, Oil India Ltd and Sun Petrochemicals Pvt Ltd got one area each.
Parallelly, three coal-bed methane (CBM) blocks too were awarded and the ninth round of OALP was launched for bidding.
“Estimated investments in awarded blocks for a committed exploration work programme is to the tune of USD 233 million,” an official note said.
India had offered 10 blocks for bidding in the eighth round of the OALP in July 2022. After extending the bid deadline a few times, the round closed in July 2023.
Five companies -- ONGC, Vedanta Ltd, Oil India Ltd (OIL), Sun Petrochemicals Pvt Ltd and Reliance-BP Exploration (Alpha) Ltd -- put in 13 bids for the 10 blocks on offer in OALP-VIII, according to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH).
Seven of the 10 blocks on offer received single bids and the other three blocks had two bidders each. Global energy giants like ExxonMobil, Chevron and TotalEnergies, which India has been courting to give a fillip to exploration and production, did not put in any bid.
ONGC was the sole bidder for six blocks while Reliance-BP was the sole bidder for the ultradeep sea block in Krishna Godavari basin, according to the DGH.