India Auctions 55 Blocks
India's oil ministry January 18 launched the Bid Round I under Open Acreage Licensing (OAL) Programme for 55 oil and gas blocks.
“For the first time in India, 55 bidder-selected blocks, each carved out by prospective bidders themselves in promising basins with an area of 59,282 km2 were announced for bidding. This is the largest offering of acreages; the government has announced in the past 8 years,” the ministry said. The final date for bidding is April 3, 2018.
During the event, Indian oil minister Dharmendra Pradha launched the e-bidding portal and the Notice Inviting Offer (NIO). The e-bidding portal is a platform on which bidders can submit their bids from anywhere in the world. In parallel, a 'DGH OneTouch' mobile app was also launched which would act as a one stop solution for accessing information about the upstream regulator, the Directorate General for Hydrocarbons (DGH), and its policy initiatives plus other relevant information on the move. “In our oil and gas sector we have completely revamped the licensing policies – changes in revenue sharing, unified licencing, open acreage, marketing and freedom in pricing will enhance the productivity and revenue of the oil and gas sector,” Pradhan said.
Blocks would be awarded to the company which offers highest share of oil and gas to the government as well as commits to do maximum exploration work by way of shooting 2D and 3D seismic survey and drilling exploration wells.